Budiey
BIG GLOBAL LOYALTY PROGRAMME LAUNCHED IN THAILAND
It will be Asia’s largest loyalty card, says Fernandes
Following its successful rollout in Malaysia and Indonesia in end 2012, the global loyalty programme BIG was today officially launched in Thailand.
A collaboration between the world’s best low-cost airline, AirAsia, and Tune Money, the financial services arm of the Tune Group of companies, BIG is an innovative global loyalty programme that allows members to earn points when travelling and shopping with its partners worldwide in order to redeem the accumulated points for exciting rewards including AirAsia and AirAsia X seats.
Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld, Tune Money CEO Peter Miller and CEO of BIG, Johan Aris Ibrahim with BIG partners and merchants during the official launch of BIG Global Loyalty Programme in Bangkok, Wednesday 22 Feb 2012.
In conjunction with the BIG launch in Thailand, new BIG members, also known as BIG Shots, who apply online today until 31 March 2012 will receive 250 free BIG Points. The offer is exclusively for applicants from Thailand. On top of that, BIG Shots can also earn double points at participating stores with this limited time offer. More information is available from www.tune2big.com.
As a global loyalty programme, BIG membership is borderless and open to anyone aged 2 and above anywhere in the world. Each member, nicknamed ‘BIG Shot’, is issued with a BIG card carrying the cardholder’s name and membership identification number, or BIG Shot ID. BIG enables members to earn loyalty points called ‘BIG Points’ when travelling and shopping with programme partners.
Tune Group Co-Founder and Group CEO of AirAsia, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes says, “I’m very excited that the BIG Card is now in Thailand so you’ll be able to fly AirAsia and shop with our partners to get BIG Points and redeem them for free flights on AirAsia and other rewards. I also encourage all merchants to join this programme. This is very important to us and like AirAsia, from our humble beginnings of flying just 200,000 people to now 32 million guests a year, I believe the BIG Card is going to be the largest loyalty card in Asia. Join us now and let the people of Thailand enjoy more free flights.”
Commenting on the BIG launch, Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia says, “As an airline committed to ensuring that “Now Everyone Can Fly”, we have come a long way since we started off 8 years ago. The launch of the BIG card marks another milestone for us as we continue to offer more value and convenience as a token of appreciation and gratitude to our loyal passengers. Now every time someone purchases a plane ticket or add-on service including pre-booked meals or travel insurance with AirAsia Insure, points can be earned and redeemed for a free AirAsia plane ticket.”
Tune Money CEO, Peter Miller says, “BIG is targeted to the ‘young at heart’ who would like to fly for free. Essentially, BIG is a a card for the majority of consumers who are comfortable transacting online such as booking AirAsia and AirAsia X flights and would like the opportunity to earn free flights and more from their online transactions.”
Providing further details on how the BIG loyalty programme works, BIG CEO, Johan Aris Ibrahim says, “Earning points or BIG Points is simple. Just present your BIG card or quote your BIG Shot ID when you shop online and BIG Points will automatically be loaded into your account. For a limited period until 31 March 2012, new BIG applicants will be receiving 250 free BIG Points so apply now at www.tune2big.com.”
Since it was first launched in Malaysia in November 2011, and followed by Indonesia a month later, BIG has received more than 120,000 applications globally, comprising 125 nationalities. Apart from Malaysia and Indonesia, its members are from various other countries like Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and even Australia, the UK and other European countries.
Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld (centre), Tune Money CEO Peter Miller (2nd left) and CEO of BIG, Johan Aris Ibrahim (2nd right) at the official launch of BIG Global Loyalty Programme in Bangkok, Wednesday 22 Feb 2012.
Apart from AirAsia and its related businesses like AirAsiaGo, AirAsiaRedTix, AirAsia Courier and AirAsia Megastore, BIG global partners include Tune Hotels that currently has 17 hotels globally, car rentals services Avis, Budget and Hertz, and Hilton’s loyalty programme Hilton HHonors.
In Thailand, local participating stores and businesses include Dtac, The One Card, Black Canyon, SSP (Restaurants at Suvarnabhumi Airport), KPI, Garmin and Vertec. Local banks including the Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, TMB, Thanachart, KTC as well as Citibank and Diner’s have also become partners of BIG in Thailand. So are magazines and publications in the MEI group.
BIG Shots can collect points from these participating stores in addition to 2,000 more ShopBIG online stores. Redemption for AirAsia flight seats starts from 500 BIG Points with the cash top-up option for those without sufficient points.
For more information on BIG and to sign up as a BIG Shot, visit www.tune2big.com. To stay tuned with BIG’s latest promotions and updates, follow BIG on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BIGShotsThailand or via Twitter @myBIGShots.
