Among the things you'll learn:
- Analyze successful partnerships: Gain insights into the partnership between Breeze Airways and Barclays US Consumer Bank, including the launch of their co-branded credit card and loyalty program, and its role in driving customer loyalty and brand recognition.
Transcription:
Chana Schoenberger (00:09):
So this is one of my favorite subjects, airline rewards card. So does everyone here have an airline rewards card? I do. Okay. Does anyone have this card? The Breeze card?
Trent Porter (00:19):
Oh, I'm the only one.
Chana Schoenberger (00:22):
Okay. Alright. So, okay. So just to kick off Trent, so can you tell us a little bit about what Breeze is? Some of us have not flown with you before.
Trent Porter (00:35):
Sure, absolutely. First thanks to whoever got these seats, they're nice and tight on an airplane. So I'm right at home.
Pete Mellor (00:44):
I'm looking for the belt.
Chana Schoenberger (00:46):
We'll be serving tiny packets of pretzels in a few minutes.
Trent Porter (00:49):
I didn't pay for the upgrade I guess, but yeah, so I'm Trent Porter, CFO Breeze. Breeze Airways has been around for three years. We got launched in the middle of the pandemic May of 2021, and since then we have announced, or we are currently serving 69 cities in the US so that would be 69 underserved markets, and that's a total of 250 routes that we are flying right now. So we are a growing business. When you look at how we've grown, we've served over 8 million guests since launch. 4 million of those have been served over the last 12 months. So our growth has been exponential. It's been fantastic. And part of that growth has come with the benefit of having a fantastic co-brand partner.
Chana Schoenberger (01:42):
It looks like a plane ticking off, right?
Trent Porter (01:44):
Yeah, absolutely. That's exactly right. A little bit of a hockey stick, but yeah. Yeah.
Chana Schoenberger (01:49):
Awesome. Okay. And you fly to San Francisco?
Trent Porter (01:53):
We do fly to San Francisco. So we fly to San Francisco from some underserved areas, places that nobody else is flying. So what we have focused on since we launched and what we do differently is we fly the underserved, underserved guests to places that they want to go. We typically avoid the competition on a direct head-to-head basis and focus on the leisure and visiting friends and relatives type of a guest. We do have some business travel in there, but we fly to San Francisco from places like Louisville, from Provo, Utah, and we we're looking to grow. There's potentially up to 1900 more markets just in the US that we can grow in a non-competitive way. We have so far.
Chana Schoenberger (02:37):
So this is the guy to lobby. If your in-laws live in an inconvenient hundred percent to your city, you really want to get there from wherever you live. Okay. So Pete, tell us real quick, what does Barclays do with airlines?
Pete Mellor (02:49):
Yep. Barclays is one of the leading co-brand credit card issuers for airline co-brands and for all sorts of co-branded partnerships. So we were pleased to almost a year ago launch our program with Breeze Airways and we're very pleased that Breeze chose us to partner with them working with Breeze. They've helped us to kind of change the way that we think about our airline co-brands and our business overall. And that's one of the areas where we can kind of come together. We can benefit from the thinking and the innovation that Trent and his colleagues at Breeze Airways, how they approach their business helps us to challenge how we approach our business and we can get better together. As an example of that, just kind of the way that we look at how our digital app needs to serve our customers, we've made enhancements to that to add value to it and to align to the digital first strategy that Breeze has introduced in their program, in their company. Yep.
Chana Schoenberger (03:51):
Okay. So talk a little bit about the partnership. It's a year ago, this month that you launched. How did it get started? How did you two come together?
Trent Porter (04:01):
Yeah, do you want me to start? Yeah, I guess it starts with an RFP, right? Yeah. So when we launched the airline, we knew that we wanted to get a loyalty program as quickly as we could. And the best way for us to do that and start to establish what that loyalty program should look like overall is through a co-branded partner so that we can start to gather data, understand what the guest is desiring and how we can actually enhance their travel experience. So we did do an RFP and within a year and a month of signing the agreement, we actually had launched the card.
Chana Schoenberger (04:38):
Is that fast?
Trent Porter (04:40):
It is fast in the airline industry. My prior experience at a previous ed carrier had been three years from when we signed to when we actually launched. So this was fast for us and it is been fantastic. It's been an awesome year watching it grow. Part of that RFP process was finding a partner that could be innovative. We like to do things different. One of our values is ingenuity and we wanted somebody that would be able to run with us, somebody that wouldn't necessarily be tied up with the way that things have been done in the past. And so sitting down with Barclays, understanding everything that they had going for them and understanding how they were forward looking and things like the innovation lab that they have set up, they seemed to be the perfect partner for us.
Chana Schoenberger (05:31):
Okay. So from your end, you said that they've pushed you to do things differently. What sort of things?
Pete Mellor (05:36):
Yeah, I mentioned the digital app as one example. Just how we want to make sure that we can serve our customers in a way that and interact with them in a way that they would like to interact with us to make sure that we can provide the capabilities, the benefits, the services to them so that they can take advantage of that kind of anywhere, any place they are. And Trent spoke to the 13 months that it took us to launch the program. I would say if we just wanted to launch something, we could do it quicker than 13 months. I think in this 13 month journey that we were on, this was the beginning of the formation of our partnership. It's coming together, understanding the needs and the aspirations that Breeze had for the program at a very detailed level, coming together, innovating together, and really designing a program where we think our card can really amplify the loyalty program that Breeze is putting into place. So we were happy to have them and to host them in our site to kind of work through this innovation agenda together to get very aligned on our goals, our measures of success, and then implement a program that we were very proud about, very optimistic about at the time of launch. And now as we're coming up on the first year anniversary, we've been thrilled with the results that we're seeing.
Chana Schoenberger (06:58):
So when you talk about the app, is there one app for Breeze that includes the credit card or there's a credit card app and a Fly with US app?
Trent Porter (07:06):
Yeah, so we do have our app, right, the Breeze Airways app, and we talked a little bit about being a digital first airline, and that's how we wanted to launch. We wanted to put the power of self-service in the hands of our guest. About 95% of what a guest wants to do they can actually do on the app. So they can take control of the flight changes that they want to do. They can take care of any of the disruptions that may end up happening, they can handle through the app. We wanted a program that we could integrate with the Cobra partner there and have it be a one-stop shop and one place to go where not only can you see your flights, you can see your spend activity, you can see your points, you can get a sense of everything related to the Breeze and Breeze experience.
(08:02):
We've still got a long way to go in development, but that's something that for us as a startup airline, we are always going to have a long way to go. We are constantly, consistently pushing the boundaries on what we can do on that app. And I guess that was one of the pieces where we are challenging the old way of thinking a little bit with Barclays, when you get on board our aircraft, our flight attendants will not hand you a paper application. We do everything through the app. You can apply for the app when you get on board and not only will our flight attendants get credit for that, yeah, they'll come by and assist you with it. They'll get the credit and the potential referral fee, but you'll also get free Wi-Fi for you and everybody on your itinerary. So we were looking at rewarding the guest right away on that first flight that they're on with something that they would value. So we do have that digital first aspect and we do pride ourselves on our app and again, look forward to all the enhancements that we can build in there.
Chana Schoenberger (09:10):
So what are you competing with? If I sign up for this credit card, what am I not using? Is it a different airline credit card or just a different general credit card? Something with rewards?
Pete Mellor (09:23):
I would say it could be both. So we would compete with any other card that's in a customer's wallet. Some of those customers may carry another airline credit card and we're happy to displace that card and take that volume. And we know that they're going to have a wonderful experience when they fly Breeze, and that's a reason to keep using that credit card over and over again. And with the way that our card is integrated into the Breeze loyalty program, it just makes it the best way to take advantage of the Breeze experience and amplifies the breeze experience. But we'll also compete with other cashback credit cards or other proprietary credit cards. And as a customer's making the decision which card to choose, they're looking at what is that next transaction going to give me in terms of an incremental value or benefit? Do they want to earn a penny back a penny cash back on a dollar spent? That doesn't feel very motivating. But when they can think about where these miles will take them on Breeze Airways, I think that makes a pretty compelling reason to choose that card.
Trent Porter (10:32):
What I'll add to that is when we were designing the card and our conversations around the card, oftentimes the conversation would go back to what other airlines are doing. And every time I'd come to the table and we'd go back to the other airlines, my question would be, but what is Home Depot doing? What is HEB doing? Looking out and seeing a broader audience because what we are designing needs to be different. We don't have the schedule that a legacy carrier has where you're flying the same route every single day. We fly when the leisure guest wants to fly. So in appealing to the leisure guest, we wanted the card and the program associated with it to be more of an everyday spend card where you're getting rewards for the everyday activities, liking it to maybe when I was growing up, we had that coin jar with Disneyland on the front of it, and every time you come home after spending something, you drop some coins in. We provide our guests with something aspirational that yeah, we do want to get to that Disney trip. We do want to get to that experience because that's what we believe we're in the business of doing, of creating those moments for those leisure guests. So yeah, I'd say competes with yes airlines to a certain extent, but also just with a discretionary spend type of cards.
Chana Schoenberger (11:49):
Which is interesting because this is actually something we hear from banks a lot that these days you're competing not only in everything, not only against other banks, but also against the whole amplified consumer ecosystem. People can do anything with their Starbucks app. They don't understand why their bank can't do things that quickly for them. I really like Starbucks stars.
Trent Porter (12:16):
So it is funny you mentioned Starbucks stars when we're currently looking at building out a more enhanced loyalty program, so we look at programs like Starbucks Stars, we're looking at programs like the Chick-fil-A points that you get there that goes towards food. We are looking at all these different programs and saying, what are those aspects that our guests value there? And then how do we convert that into something that is associated with an airline and how do we create this broader ecosystem with similar partners or partnerships that can build off of each other, and that guests can be familiar when they see our loyalty structure and they can say, oh yeah, no, this is similar to me getting a 30 count chicken nugget. I know how to use this. This is easy to use and it makes sense.
Chana Schoenberger (13:07):
Great. Okay. So can you talk about any problems you ran into when you were building this partnership and how you solved them?
Pete Mellor (13:17):
I may not be the best one for that trends. I joined the program just as it was launching and during my tenure on the program, I'm not aware of any problems that we had to face or overcome, but I don't know if you have a perspective on as we're leading up to the launch, if there was anything that you had to overcome on the launch.
Trent Porter (13:38):
Sure. Yeah, we worked pretty seamlessly. Yeah, we did have some debate around those things that were going to go into the program. But what I did love about every single one of those debates, the one I'll come back to because it's really kind of funny, is the card, the application for the card on board that it had to be a paper application. It had to be something that you could leave in the hands of the guests, otherwise nobody was going to sign up for the program. We kept pushing back and challenging that and saying, yeah, and you had to do, you also weren't able to just call for a car on your app 10 years ago. There are things that people are familiar with today than when the last credit card was launched. So we worked through those issues. We ultimately went to something that we no longer use. We had a business card that our flight attendants would carry, that people could scan the QR code and they could apply that way. What we found was those weren't effective, so we moved to a larger card. It's more of a postcard that you can put in your jacket pocket there serves the same purpose, but it also fits our brand because when we launch a new city, we actually build a postcard of that city. So we take a famous view of the city skyline and we put it on a postcard. So when you come and fly us that first time you actually get that postcard so fit with our brand. And it was innovative. It kept us from putting some of that paper on board, but it was something that, yeah, just been ingrained in people's minds that that's the only way you could do it. And we did it different.
Chana Schoenberger (15:24):
So now you do not need a paper application to apply for this card?
Trent Porter (15:27):
No, you can do it all through the Wi-Fi portal.
Chana Schoenberger (15:31):
Wow.
Pete Mellor (15:31):
Yeah, so that's actually the perfect example I think of how working with Breeze has helped to make us rethink about how we do things. So he references kind of the old norms in terms of how these in-flight programs would work. So we wanted to benefit from the two decades of experience that we had working with airline partners and be motivated by the new ways of thinking and the new ways of engaging customers that Trent just highlighted. So that's a great example of how we learned with and collaborated with Breeze to create the experience that we can now for our online experience or in-flight experience for Breeze customers.
Chana Schoenberger (16:11):
So now other programs will also be able to use this digital account opening?
Pete Mellor (16:14):
Yes. Yeah, I think Breeze will serve as a platform for us as a company to continue to push against some of these traditional methods of banking and of payments. And I think that we're going to innovate in this program and some of that learning. We'll be able to cascade onto other programs for sure.
Trent Porter (16:35):
Yeah, a hundred percent. And what's interesting is we're the only airline that actually does no paper associated with the application. So it will be a learning process going back the other direction of the bank trying to educate the airline of you don't need this and rewards programs for your flight attendants can still function. So be good to see you guys roll with that. Yeah,
Chana Schoenberger (16:59):
I did not realize that flight attendants were basically commissioned salespeople on a plane.
Trent Porter (17:04):
Oh yeah, yeah. They get a little referral spiff for applications that are approved there.
Chana Schoenberger (17:10):
That seems fair,
Trent Porter (17:11):
But don't worry, we have the shortest in flight announcement. They're definitely not pushing. It is something that's short and easy and it's actually not intrusive at all. Where some other programs, they'll put the application in your face three times before the flight ends, but we see similar results as far as take rates go.
Pete Mellor (17:33):
Interesting,
Chana Schoenberger (17:33):
Okay.
Pete Mellor (17:34):
I think the flight attendants with Breeze are so ingrained to make the best experience for their customers, try to help them to maximize the program, and to the extent that the card is a compliment to the loyalty program, it's very much ingrained into them if this is a way that you can help a customer and you can offer another solution to them or a way to amplify their experience. So I think it's a natural extension to what they already do in flight to talk about the card program and how people can benefit from that.
Chana Schoenberger (18:09):
Yeah, no, it makes perfect sense. Okay, so you had mentioned that the digital interface is making customers happier and with the NPS scores to prove that, why is that?
Trent Porter (18:23):
I think it goes back to what we were talking about before, the things that you can do with apps today versus 10 years ago. The best experience I can give you is one without a human on my side, you can design and build your own experience. And so what we see from people that are primarily using those apps is, yeah, we do see better NPS scores. Our NPS scores are high, but they're even higher with those individuals that also take that digital piece first. We see them spend more with the company and they also increase their frequency of how often they're using us.
(19:00):
So we see all those enhanced benefits from the app and getting people to utilize it and see how they can self-service, because historically airline industry has all been about, well, let me call or a travel agent or let me connect with somebody to be able to get something done. Rewind 15, 20 years for that. But today what we are trying to do is trying to say, yeah, no, the airline can work just as easily as any one of the other ads as easily as Amazon and ordering something, getting something there, understanding what I've got to do, and then being able to execute on the transaction.
Pete Mellor (19:42):
Yeah, we see the same thing. The customers that engage digitally very earlier on are the most satisfied of any of our customers, and I think it's because we're able to deliver on their expectations in a very seamless manner from the very first interaction forward. And that just aligns in the Breeze program perfectly to their interactions kind of on the loyalty side with their customers. So that's a great example of how they work cohesively together. Absolutely.
Chana Schoenberger (20:13):
Great. Great. Okay. So Breeze and Barclays are actually working together in several different ways, not just this credit card. Can you talk about some of the others?
Pete Mellor (20:23):
Yeah, do you want to go? Yeah. So we have our co-brand relationship that we're very happy about and very honored that Breeze chose us to be their partner in that regard. But the Barclays relationship extends beyond that to some investment banking relationships that we have with them to just help the airline in terms of financing and things like that. And you may have more details to share in terms of the nature of that relationship.
Trent Porter (20:53):
Yeah, absolutely. It's awesome to have a one-stop shop for both the commercial side as well as the financial side. So we do utilize all branches, all parts of the Barclays relationship that we have there. And then beyond that, I spoke to this a little bit earlier, we're in the process of redesigning our loyalty program to come out with something better and more enhanced there. And we're doing that with the Innovations Lab, which again, the Innovations Lab, we would be looking at that primarily for the co-brand side, but we're utilizing that relationship with Barclays to also enhance the loyalty for all of our guests. So in understanding all of our guests better and taking in that data and building out a program that would appeal to, yes, the cardholder, but also the individual that doesn't yet have a card and helping us understand how do we structure that loyalty program so that yet that next step that the guest will take will be to apply for that card. Because with the loyalty program, what we want to do is we want to either improve the speed of the next transaction that they're going to have with us, increase the value of that transaction, or increase the experience of the transaction, enhance that transaction or that moment of the trip that we're creating.
Chana Schoenberger (22:09):
So can you preview any of the parts of the rewards program that are going to be new and different?
Trent Porter (22:14):
Oh man. No, I can't. I can't. We are.
Pete Mellor (22:17):
That was a good try though.
Trent Porter (22:18):
It was a very good effort. So just last month we actually had people out in the Innovations Lab working with the Barclays team on structuring something that again, we feel is going to be unique and different. So I guess that would be the preview. Don't expect it to look like every other airline loyalty program that's out there today.
Pete Mellor (22:39):
I think earlier you asked a question about who are we competing with? So I think part of the session that we had together was really understanding the customer needs at a deep level. And depending upon where a customer is in their life cycle, in their Breeze credit card, we want to understand what do we need to offer or provide to them to give them the reason to pick that card for the next transaction. So how do we keep our card at the top of the wallet and always the first choice when it comes to a credit card payment that they want to make. So the nature of that session was very much geared towards understanding what we can from a loyalty program side, understanding the credit card data, understanding our customers in general, creating those personas and those journeys that we expect these customers to take. Understanding how we can address different pain points or serve different needs throughout that journey. Working together to come up with the concepts, we will take them to research, we'll collect that research feedback, build prototypes, get some feedback on those prototypes, whether it be through research or some other test and learn agendas. And our goal is to constantly be learning about the program, constantly being responsive to customers in their needs and working together to deliver those solutions.
Chana Schoenberger (24:10):
Interesting. Okay. So what's next for this program?
Trent Porter (24:13):
What's next for this program? Well, for us, it really will be to continue to grow it. We have exceeded expectations, Barclays expectations in year one, and we're on pace to exceed that in year two as well. We've also outpaced our more aggressive goals by over 20%. So we are looking at growing this program. As I mentioned, we've flown 8 million guests since we started. We're just at a fraction of those guests right now being in year one. So that is going to be our main focus as it relates directly to this program, is just growing that and increasing the value for our guests that hold those cards.
Chana Schoenberger (24:56):
Interesting. Okay. Alright. We can take some questions from the audience. We've got a mic. Hang on one second. We'll bring the mic over to you. Got Mary Ellen as runner today.
Event Member Mary Ellen (25:08):
Out today, I worked different shoes today, thankfully.
Chana Schoenberger (25:11):
Way to go.
Trent Porter (25:12):
Good call
Chana Schoenberger (25:13):
Alright, go ahead.
Audience Member 1 (25:15):
Trent, Pete Chana. Thank you. Great insight to your words. Trent, a digital first airline. We welcome that, Pete.
Trent Porter (25:24):
Thank you.
Audience Member 1 (25:25):
Top of wallet music to a banker's ears. Given those two premise or foundations, how important is the support of digital wallets, right? You're both an issuer and an acquirer of transactions, right? Pete, you're the issuer processor, we know that you support Apple Pay, you can load the card into Apple Pay, but on the acquiring side, when somebody pays with Apple Pay in the app or on the website, are you retaining those credentials on file and how are you using them? And if digital wallets are a part of that digital first experience, how does the addition of other digital wallets on the acceptance side or on the issuing side play into this? Right. I can't use PayPal today on Breeze Air Ways to buy. I can't edit aggregator another site, but I can. And if you were to accept another digital wallet as a part of this, how would that be prioritized? Meaning would you consider early warnings pays PAZE over PayPal, and if so, why? Or vice versa. How important is digital wallets to your brand promise?
Trent Porter (26:54):
I love that. That's a great question. So there were multiple questions within that where we are able to gather any of the information. Yeah, we do. We gather it, we dissect it, and we actually determine, does it make sense for us to invest in this area right now? Because there's a lot of IT work that has to be done on the backend for us to be able to accept some of those payments. One of the pieces that I've asked both to Barclays and to our team is to get a total understanding of what that digital wallet impact is on us right now with Apple Pay PayPal. You brought up PayPal. I love PayPal. They're great. We almost launched with them as kind of being the only payment plan that would launch with a startup airline. We were able to find a processor that we launched with there.
(27:46):
We are just working through the process of prioritizing them and saying, okay, they're going to account for this much of our spend, so if they count for this much of our spend, where does it go in our revenue priorities? So it's more a question of when than if we are moving in that direction as to, I wouldn't be able to tell you if we value pays over PayPal right now as we would be. We are working through some of those relationships and those conversations as to what makes the most sense for us when we look forward. Yeah, that's an important piece for us. Another important piece for us would be looking at accepting crypto payments to a certain extent, or what coins, what pieces would we actually bring in and where would we be willing to take that risk? That's on the roadmap as well.
(28:38):
Our IT team, if they were here, they'd be shaking their head of, I'm talking about future things on the roadmap when we've got some just blocking and tackling things that we still need to accomplish. But yes, it's important for us and it's something that we are moving in that direction. I was talking to Ana a little earlier before about how we opened or actually opened our headquarters February of 2020, and then we closed our headquarters in March of 2020. So we had this year between closing the headquarters in 2022, actually our first flight in May of 2021, where we were talking about what experience we wanted this airline to be. At a certain point we had gotten deep into us wanting to build a loyalty program on blockchain that would then be more of a marketplace for all similar partners that we could be a part of the everyday spend and everyday life of our guests and enhancing their experience and what they're able to earn there. Unfortunately, big projects like starting an airline actually started up before we were able to get to the details on that. But I guess that's a preview of for our Barclays friends of what we would want be wanting to move to. So yeah, I'll just say that it's an important piece for us as we continue to innovate at the airline. Thank you.
Chana Schoenberger (30:08):
Any other questions? Yes, one sec.
Audience Member 2 (30:12):
Sorry, I hear I should have just sat over here. Thank you, mayor. Welcome. Being a digital first airline, are you using social media and influencers and so on to promote and create viral growth of your airline reputation?
Trent Porter (30:33):
Yes, a hundred percent. And I love that question. So kindness is one of our values. So our values are safety, kindness, ingenuity, integrity, and excellence. The kindness value is something that I feel sets us apart and is different. Others, every year in November, there's something called Kindness Week, and we've kind of taken that and made it our own. We've actually had influencers reach out to us and ask to be part of it, rather than us to have to go shopping for it because of how different kindness feels today for whatever reason, and I use that as an example. Yeah, we do get plenty of influencers to say, I'll take a free day in Disney World, fly me from Provo to Disney World. And yeah, occasionally we will take people up on that. But what we have really loved are those people that have identified themselves with our core values and have come to us saying, yeah, kindness is who we are.
(31:39):
Kindness is what we want to represent, and we'd love to be part of your program. Our social media presence grew faster than any other airline from initial launch to, I think it was within a year, we were ahead of some airlines that had been around for 20, 30 years. So we do have a very solid presence there, and I'm most proud of those partnerships that align with that kindness value. And actually, I'd say I go to bat for Barclays having that as part of their backbone and their DNA in who they are. And that's the type of people that we want to work with going forward, too.
Pete Mellor (32:19):
That's very nice. We were very proud to partner with Breeze for Kindness Week and had all of our colleagues around our office participating, and we look forward to being a part of those continuing efforts and trying to live that every day. I was going to add to your answer to that last question, just about influencers.
Trent Porter (32:41):
Oh yeah.
Pete Mellor (32:42):
So you talked about the social media influencers, and I think,
Trent Porter (32:46):
You got a big following on TikTok, don't you? Pete is that's
Pete Mellor (32:49):
Right. Almost too many to count. But as we try to engage with our customers, we want our customers to be our advocates, and we want to create those experiences as they interact with the card, as they fly on Breeze. And I know that you were sharing earlier today, just in terms of some of these new markets that you enter into. It's kind of just that organic growth and kind of exchange of message and awareness around Breeze Airways. So in addition to those social media influencers, we're hoping that the communities that we serve, the customers that we acquire, they are our influencers as well and our advocates for the program.
Chana Schoenberger (33:39):
Makes a ton of sense. Other questions?
Trent Porter (33:47):
So love your question sounds
Audience Member 3 (33:48):
Like social commerce is important, right?
Trent Porter (33:51):
And
Audience Member 3 (33:51):
They are making an impact and driving volume for the audience that doesn't know an influencer, a creator on TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Facebook, they get paid with an attribution audit trail, meaning if they click on the payment button and somebody buys, that's how they make money. I'm curious, as a part of this, do you have an attribution audit trail? Are you paying influencers and creators that end up driving traffic for folks that book a flight?
Trent Porter (34:23):
No. So we haven't done it that way yet because most of these influencers that we have worked with, they'd actually prefer to get the points for flights. They'd prefer to receive it a different way. Yeah, yeah,
Chana Schoenberger (34:39):
They're just in it for free travel.
Trent Porter (34:41):
Yeah. Yeah. They're in it for the travel piece. And so it's a little bit different than what a lot of the others may be doing.
Audience Member 3 (34:48):
There's a message there for this audience. Thank you.
Trent Porter (34:51):
Well, and what's awesome there too with that is we created a product that they want to spend. That's what they want to spend the attribution piece with. That's what they're wanting to do.
Audience Member 3 (35:04):
Your cost for sale is. Yeah.
Trent Porter (35:05):
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And what's great about keeping the cost down there as well as being digital first, like I mentioned earlier, 95% of what a guest wants to do, they can do on the app or through the app there without having to reach out to anybody. So between that and what we do with this social media piece, we are able to keep our costs down so that we can pass on lower fares to our guests, and that is how we've structured the business.
Audience Member 3 (35:34):
Basis points versus the going take rate of 10%.
Trent Porter (35:38):
Yeah,
Audience Member 3 (35:38):
That is phenomenal.
Trent Porter (35:40):
Yeah, it's been good so far. We've been very happy with it.
Chana Schoenberger (35:44):
I have a question. This is really a question for Pete. So when you look at credit card rewards right now, what are the rewards that customers care most about and what are the most innovative types of rewards? Anything new we're giving out points for these days?
Pete Mellor (36:04):
I think it probably varies program by program
(36:10):
In the ecosystem that I spend most of my time with, which is airline co-brand rewards, miles are very important to customers. Makes sense. Certainly the flights that they can gain for those miles, but then any additional benefits on top of just the pure, pure flight is of great value. So with the redemption of points on breeze, customers can redeem for bundles where they can pick their seat and bring their bags and their carry on. So being able to adapt to those changing customer needs, understanding exactly who it is that we're servicing with these rewards, and then creating that experience that really works for them and delivers that need. So to your question, broadly, I think it's the miles for flights and it's what happens around that experience. Miles is the currency that unlocks the experience these customers want.
Trent Porter (37:14):
The piece that I would add from our cardholders and the feedback they've given us is they love the immediacy of being able to use what they've earned right away. Whether that's through the purchase, if they're applying for the card through the booking flow, or if it's onboard the aircraft, being able to use it for the Wi-Fi and having that immediate reward. The other piece that we've received feedback on is partnerships that are local. So meaning they're going to fly us once or twice a year, three times a year. They'd love to be able to engage with our program with partnerships that are in Charleston, which happens to be one of our big destinations there. They want that relationship built with Breeze and seeing that more frequently than just the two or three times a year.
Chana Schoenberger (38:03):
So does that mean you partner with a cupcake shop in Charleston, that sort of thing?
Trent Porter (38:08):
Absolutely. It could be during February in Black History month, we identified these local black owned businesses where yeah, we had those partnerships with just these little mom and pop shops. And so yeah, it absolutely could be. And that's where that ecosystem, the marketplace that I was talking about earlier, that's where we would love to get to so that we can offer those incentives and those opportunities for our guests.
Chana Schoenberger (38:35):
Interesting. Okay. Alright. We have time for one more comment. I wanted to ask about, you talked about blockchain before.
Trent Porter (38:44):
Sure.
Chana Schoenberger (38:44):
Can you talk about how that fits into all of this?
Trent Porter (38:47):
Well, it is related to what I was just talking about, creating that marketplace and having that ledger for us and understanding this is what the guest is, this is what they value, this is where they want to spend, this is how they act and react to rewards that they're being given. That to us is value. So Pete and I were talking just earlier about the immense amount of data that we have at our fingertips because we have been that digital first airline where we're gathering every account, all the account information that somebody has, and we're able to make a more personalized experience. I see the blockchain piece being that opportunity for us, making it that much more personal and being more involved in the day-to-day life and the day-to-day spend. Again, it's more future thinking than just getting the a co-branded card up and running. And that's been great so far and we looked forward to all the growth that we have ahead.
Pete Mellor (39:50):
Yeah, no, I think that's great and we want to constantly evolve together. And so we're happy to be on this journey with you and look forward to figuring that out and continuing to innovate in this space. And that's a great example of where it might be headed.
Chana Schoenberger (40:04):
And now you're both going to Fly Breeze home, right?
Trent Porter (40:07):
Oh man, I wish. I wish. I'm going to have to run to the airport and get crammed in a little seat again, but yeah.
Chana Schoenberger (40:13):
Oh no. Okay. Well thank you very much. Really appreciate it. That was super interesting.