SAA DEVALUES VOYAGER POINTS

VOYAGER members will have until April 15 to redeem miles at the current threshold, after which the airline will implement a series of significant programme revisions, increasing the number of Voyager miles needed to acquire tickets and upgrades.

SAA Head Group Corporate Affairs, Fani Zulu, said the adjustments would help the carrier to absorb the “escalating cost of running the loyalty programme” but that benefits would be kept in line with, if not exceed, those of competitor reward schemes.
 
“This is our first adjustment in five years. Despite the changes that will be introduced next month, we remain competitive. It is just a case of reviewing the Voyager business model,” he explained. “The rewards compared with the number of miles required to earn them have clearly been mismatched.”
 
The increase in redemption requirements include:
- MileageKeeper Awards will increase by six percent;
- AnyDay Awards for domestic and regional flights will increase by an average of 14 percent;
- AnyDay Awards for International flights will increase by between 11 and 28 percent;
- Upgrade Awards will increase by approximately 14 percent, 12 percent and 35 percent for domestic, regional and international services respectively; and
- Accra and Dakar will be added to the region “Travel between South Africa and Africa 2”
 
For passengers looking to upgrade from Economy to Business Class on a roundtrip flight from Johannesburg to Hong Kong, for example, the change will require customers to cash-in 58,000 miles as opposed to the 50,000 currently required.
 
Domestic Economy fares, the highest-used category for mile usage, will rise from 18,000 points to 19,000.
 
Although members will need to spend more miles for flights, Voyager will introduce a new category - the SuperPlus Awards - which will fall between the MileageKeeper and AnyDay Awards categories, making more seats available to those who still want to save miles.

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