The UK’s biggest airline is finally launching a loyalty scheme
It’s been a long time coming, but easyJet is expected to launch its own loyalty scheme in 2027. That’s still (at least) seven months away, but for frequent users of the airline, this will be a positive introduction.
What has easyJet announced?
The Financial Times has reported that the scheme will start “next year”. easyJet’s CEO said that there are “opportunities in this space” while specifically mentioning British Airways. The reality is that it is harder than ever to collect Avios from British Airways flights, and it’s becoming more and more expensive.
There was no specific mention of lounges. It does feel less likely with easyJet, but they may offer a halfway house. Instead of giving full lounge access, there may be the opportunity to swap points for access to some of the paid-for lounges across the UK. You will not be seeing easyJet-branded lounges at UK airports.
What could the scheme be like?
Given the drive towards revenue-based schemes, where you’re rewarded based on the amount of money you give the airline rather than the distance you travel, it’s likely that you will earn points based on the booking value.
It’s also likely that you’ll be able to spend points on both flights and add-ons. I think there will be far more interest in using points to pay for ancillary items like seat selection or luggage. Effectively migrating a basic booking to a Smart or Smart+ booking.
Whether you’ll be able to earn, or spend, points on easyJet holidays is another question. It would make sense to allow this, given the extra margin the airline earns on them. It may not be possible at launch, given the complexity of systems.
easyJet already has a long-standing relationship with Emirates. In fact, you can use Emirates points to book easyJet flights via their Skywards scheme. Whether you’ll be able to swap your short-haul, economy class points for an Emirates First Class suite is another question. Given how Emirates is devaluing and building a moat around Skywards, it seems unlikely.
How will this impact UK travellers?
easyJet has a significant presence in the UK. Unlike British Airways, they have a lot of flights outside of London, in particular from Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh. Whereas BA has cut back its regional routes, more recently removing all Leeds flights, easyJet covers Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester in the North West.
They fly from Newcastle in the North and in Scotland they cover four cities: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness. They also fly from Bristol, Southampton, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Newquay and Southend.
In London they fly from Stansted, Luton and Gatwick. They have no presence at Heathrow. They also fly to three airports in Northern Ireland and to the Isle of Man.
Their intra-UK routes are not as strong as BA. You can fly from Manchester to Newquay, the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland. Newcastle has flights to Bristol and Northern Ireland. Scottish airports have more options, for example, from Glasgow you can fly to all the London airports, as well as Birmingham, Bristol and Southampton.
The reality is that most easyJet passengers will be heading abroad, and to somewhere in Europe. The airline offers a “better” budget airline experience than Ryanair. Travellers are going to be earning points when they go on holiday, rather than commuting.
That will mean fewer high-rollers and a wider spread of points across more people. I can see a lot of people building up a small balance of points, which means they will need a way to get value from a low number. Swapping them for seat reservations
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