Reassessing the State of Loyalty for Travel and Lifestyle Credit Cards in 2023

This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.

After a strong 2022, the travel market is expected to continue on a strong growth trajectory this year. As confirmed by a recent iSeatz report, consumers across all age groups are planning to travel more in 2023, despite rising prices. In order to capture this growing demand, financial institutions have invested in their credit card reward programs. 

But how can banks evolve their offerings to drive engagement, loyalty, and customer satisfaction? The key words are control, confidence, and flexibility. Modern travelers are savvier than ever — they want to be able to design their own experience, find the options that best suit them in one place, and receive support when needed. This is particularly true for millennials and Gen Z, who make up 42 percent of the U.S. population and are more eager to travel this year compared to older generations. Millennials are particularly budget-conscious and tend to belong to multiple reward programs, choosing those that help them find the best deals on each occasion.

“Consumers — especially younger generations — want to be the masters of their own destiny when it comes to their booking and travel experience,” said Kenneth Purcell, founder and CEO at iSeatz. “They want to use their loyalty points not just to reach their destination, but to experience it, and to know they’re getting the best value from their rewards program. Platforms at the top of the market are providing many of the features consumers want, and they’re seeing strong growth as a result, but this report shows that there’s still room to capture a greater share of the customer journey and wallet.”

To help credit card issuers develop rewards strategies that meet the needs of all consumer segments, iSeatz has released its second annual “State of Loyalty: 2023 Credit Card Rewards Report.” 

The report presents a detailed comparison of the travel and lifestyle point-redemption opportunities offered by major credit card issuers in North America, using publicly available information. It also provides insights into new and existing trends in the credit card rewards space.

“As more banks expand and invest in their platforms, the lifecycle from emerging trend to table stakes is getting shorter and shorter.” Purcell continued: “That’s why now, more than ever, it’s critical to have a scalable and configurable technology solution that allows brands to easily adapt and expand their offerings in order to attract and retain cardmembers.”

In this report, you’ll find:

• A detailed overview of the travel and lifestyle point-redemption opportunities offered by credit card reward programs of the major North American financial institutions
• A look into the gap between the growing demand for experiential products and the lack of related point redemption opportunities, and why things may change this year
• Insights on the increasingly important role of personalization in loyalty marketing and the major roadblock faced by credit card reward platforms
• Traveler perceptions of personalization during the shopping and booking processes, and why AI platforms may be vital to taking personalization to a new level
• An overview of the current state of four major travel loyalty trends — buy now pay later, digital wallets, pay with points, and cryptocurrency rewards — and a comparison with predictions from last year’s report
• Data from a recent iSeatz survey examining the disconnect between what cardholders want and what loyalty platforms are delivering

This content was created collaboratively by iSeatz and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.