AirTran makes a play for Milwaukee


AirTran is no stranger to poking fun at other airlines and doing what they can to poach frequent flyers from those carriers. They basically have no shame in that regard. And why should they? Marketing is all about going after the customers, right? Being able to do so with a sense of humor is an added bonus. In the case of their latest promotion, they’re going after the Midwest/Frontier combination in Milwaukee, and once again they’re being creative about it.

For starters, they are offering a status match to anyone who holds Midwest Miles Aspire or Executive status. Those customers can become AirTran A+ Elite simply by submitting a request. Considering the reciprocity between the AirTran and Frontier programs that is now coming to an end this makes sense as an effort to hold on to those customers.

And then there is the creative part. AirTran is also offering Midwest Miles members the opportunity to earn AirTran A+ credits simply by redeeming their Midwest miles. Yes, there are some restrictions. Midwest Miles members must redeem their miles for a charity donation through the Midwest program. Credit in the A+ program will only be earned at the 50,000 and 100,000 levels of donations/redemptions. But if someone chooses to redeem their miles that way they essentially can convert the reward miles from one program to the other – causing a donation to be made in the process – and the devaluation of the points isn’t all that horrible.

Like I said, quite a creative way to gain customers. And now that the new Midwest/Frontier is no longer Milwaukee’s hometown airline there is decent motivation for those customers to go looking.

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Seth Miller

I'm Seth, also known as the Wandering Aramean. I was bit by the travel bug 30 years ago and there's no sign of a cure. I fly ~200,000 miles annually; these are my stories. You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.