What are s7 status miles? S7 started selling elite statuses
S7 Airlines is making changes to its loyalty program for passengers from August 1: new statuses Junior, Master, Expert and Top are being introduced. They will be assigned after completing 4, 8, 12 and 16 one-way flights, respectively, and will complement the already existing elite statuses Silver, Gold and Platinum (after 20, 50 and 75 flights), Natalya, S7 Group loyalty program development director, told Vedomosti Nikolaev. S7 is the largest private carrier in Russia (including Sibir and Globus airlines) and the second largest after Aeroflot.
“We thought about how to make the program truly loyal to passengers, because 2% of program participants achieve elite status and corresponding privileges, the remaining 98% do not have privileges and can only accumulate miles,” says Nikolaeva. In the classic version of the loyalty program, according to her, to accumulate miles for an award ticket, you need to make an average of 10 flights - Russians fly much less often (miles expire after three years). In 2017, the number of flights per capita in Russia was 0.72. US residents fly more than three times a year.
Now, after four flights, an S7 passenger will receive an additional 10% of miles and will receive 30% cashback on the first purchase of tickets on the S7 website using an S7-Tinkoff card, after eight - the right to choose a seat for free, and the number of additional miles will reach 15%, continues Nikolaeva . After 12 flights, the right to carry an additional piece of baggage will be added for free, after 16 - the right to buy a ticket for miles even in the highest season with a discount of 33% of the fare, in the last two intermediate statuses of the classic level, the passenger will receive an additional 20% of miles. To qualify for new statuses, existing and new program participants will be able to take into account flights made since the beginning of 2018.
The goal of the program is to motivate passengers to fly with S7 Airlines, to become the airline of first choice for them, says Nikolaeva: “Currently there are more than 2.5 million participants in the loyalty program (two years ago - 1.5 million), only 2% of passengers (owners) enjoy privileges elite statuses), we expect that by the end of the year this figure will be at least 10%.”
At the end of 2017, Aeroflot had 6.7 million people in its loyalty program; the number of elites in 2016 was about 150,000.
Not a single Russian or European airline has a classic-level loyalty program with intermediate statuses, Nikolaeva claims. Only Norwegian introduced statuses for a small number of flights a few years ago, the first step starts with six segments, but, like a low-cost airline, it does not have elite statuses, for example, there is no access to business lounges.
“If the idea of the new S7 program turns out to be successful, other airlines may repeat it,” says Oleg Panteleev, director of the Aviaport agency. “The idea is interesting; classic carriers, especially participants in global alliances (S7 is part of One World - Vedomosti), do not have such a proposal. The most interesting privilege is 30% cashback, and it is one-time in nature,” says independent expert, creator of the aviablogger resource Konstantin Parfenyonok. Previously, the Russian market was characterized by price wars and a willingness to work at a loss for the sake of a share. Competition remains, but there are more effective players who compete for passengers with quality service, adds Panteleev.
Now elite statuses of the S7 Priority bonus program can not only be flown, but also purchased: if you do not fly as often as you need, but you have, for example, a lot of bank miles or money, then silver, gold and platinum status can be obtained for a modest bribe.
It's very simple: see how many miles or segments you need to get status and buy them. One missing segment or a thousand miles will cost 3,000 rubles or 7,200 miles. The same rules apply to extending previously received statuses. Statuses are valid throughout the OneWorld alliance.
Embraer-170 VQ-BBO in the new S7 Airlines livery
There is, however, one caveat: you can get no more than 20% of the missing miles or segments. However, there is another way: an S7 Airlines gold card can be purchased for an arbitrary period with a monthly payment. It costs 15 thousand rubles or 30 thousand miles. An excellent scheme: “gold” allows you to carry an additional piece of luggage for free, including on baggage-free fares, and visit business lounges with one companion: that is, the costs are recouped many times over, even if in a month you just fly somewhere together from the regions with a transfer.
By the way, elite statuses have generally become much more attractive since September 6: now platinum status members receive two free upgrades per year from economy to business for themselves and fellow travelers on the same booking. Fees have also been waived for Platinum members, and rates for changes to award tickets have been reduced for Gold and Silver passengers.
S7 Airlines now awards miles from its bonus program for the purchase of various additional services: in particular, the transportation of excess baggage, the reservation of a pre-booked seat or a premium seat, special meals or an upgrade to business class. Moreover, miles can be obtained completely free of charge by registering online.
However, be careful: in this case, if you have not paid for the seat selection, the algorithm will try to seat you as close to the back of the cabin as possible and at the same time between the passengers. This is not done out of harm, but because these are the places that are least popular among those who pay for their choice, so it is logical to leave the more popular places to those who are willing to pay for it (the choice costs 350 rubles). Meanwhile, when checking in at the counter, you can ask for a window or aisle seat for free (they usually remain free), so choose: 50 miles per segment or the chance to get a more comfortable seat.
01.08.2018
S7 Airlines, a member of the oneworld® global aviation alliance, announces changes to the S7 Priority loyalty program. The airline is introducing four new statuses in the program, which will allow participants to receive privileges after the fourth flight.
Previously, the program had four levels - Classic, which the participant received after registering in the program, as well as three elite levels - Silver, Gold and Platinum, which are awarded upon reaching 20, 50 and 75 flights during the year. The Classic level now includes four additional statuses - Junior, Master, Expert And Top.
“The new conditions will allow passengers to receive additional privileges, starting from the fourth flight with S7 Airlines. This will make the program attractive to most passengers. Until now, only 2% of program participants who fly more than 20 times a year could use privileges, the remaining 98% could only save and use miles. We understand that not all of our passengers can fly so often. However, we are grateful for the loyalty of S7 Airlines and are pleased to offer new privileges to make the travel of our members even more comfortable,” said S7 Group Loyalty Program Development Director Natalya Nikolaeva.
Junior status a program participant can receive by making four flights with S7 Airlines since the beginning of the year. This status allows you to quickly accumulate miles - the accrual of miles for a flight increases by 10%, and also receive a 30% cashback on your first purchase of an air ticket using an S7-Tinkoff credit card.
Master status assigned after eight flights and will allow the passenger to receive 15% more miles for flights with S7 Airlines and book the selected seat for free when purchasing an air ticket.
Expert status, which is assigned after 12 flights, increases the number of miles for a completed flight by 20%, and also entitles you to an additional piece of baggage in addition to the norm indicated on the ticket.
Top status, corresponding to 16 flights since the beginning of the year, in addition to the privileges of the previous levels, gives a 33% discount on the purchase of an air ticket using miles at the “Priority” fare.
The status is valid until the end of the calendar year. To qualify for new statuses, current and new S7 Priority members will be able to take into account flights made since the beginning of 2018.
S7 Priority is the S7 Airlines loyalty program. Program participants can earn miles for flights on S7 Airlines, other airlines of the oneworld alliance, as well as partner airline Emirates. You can accumulate miles faster by making purchases with an S7-Tinkoff card, as well as using the services of numerous program partners - hotels, retail chains, car rental companies, and insurance companies. You can use the accumulated miles to issue award tickets for flights of S7 Airlines and partners, as well as to purchase additional services on your own S7 Airlines flights. You can find out exact information about the program by calling the S7 Priority contact center 8 800 700-90-10 (calls within Russia are free).
