Grant Martin

New tools geared for driving engagement at Hilton have created strong growth in its loyalty program. But does Marriott also get part of the credit?

It's now possible to earn bonus points and other perks as an elite Marriott Rewards member flying on Emirates and vice versa. Sure, Emirates may not fly to every destination on the planet, but free points are free points.

Delta's strategy now appears to be driving loyalty in a different way: Instead of flying on the carrier because of SkyMiles, passengers simply want to fly on a better product.

It used to be that hardcore loyalty nerds would avoid Delta's SkyMiles program because of its poor earning and redeeming channels. Now thanks to constant product improvements, those concerns may be moot.

Like a similar program now in place between American and Hyatt, the partnership between Accor and Air France-KLM aims to share customers between similar target markets. Unlike its American cousin though, this partnership is open to all loyalty tiers.

A new series of unbundled business class fares coming to market pushes many frequent flyer benefits to the side. For those religious about loyalty programs, the fares are worth avoiding.

Broad changes to the frequent flyer program employed by Qantas should largely be welcomed by the airline's road warriors, a rarity in today's airline loyalty industry.

Hyatt has big plans for its World of Hyatt loyalty program, as illustrated by a recent presentation by CEO Mark Hoplamazian and yet another partnership in the works.

While last week's eco-friendly flight was as much marketing as it was real innovation, United is still leading the way toward environmentally friendlier skies.

Provisional partners are all the rage in the airline alliance community. Fiji last year joined Oneworld as an interim partner. Now, Thai Smiles is doing the same with the Star Alliance.