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The latest from IdeaWorksCompany.

Listed below are the most recent posts to the website. Click on any item title or button to access our latest reports, press releases, and news items. Or use the menu to the right to browse news, reports, articles featuring IdeaWorksCompany research, and press releases.

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Kong vs. Godzilla: US Banks and Airlines Fight for Traveler Loyalty – Report

October 14, 2025

American Express, Capital One, Chase, and Citi are squaring off with the largest US airlines in a colossal struggle for traveler loyalty, according to a new report from IdeaWorksCompany titled Kong vs. Godzilla: US Banks and Airlines Fight for Traveler Loyalty. The report compares banks to King Kong and airlines to Godzilla, spotlighting a marketplace where financial institutions and carriers both wield powerful advantages. The stakes are enormous: U.S. residents spend more than $1.1 trillion annually on travel . . . and both sides want the bigger share.

Banks hold the cards. With hundreds of millions of credit card accounts and vast consumer data, the Big 4 card issuers can influence spending habits and can even determine the financial stability of airlines. Their travel platforms now operate like online travel agencies, offering flights, hotels, and more with lucrative reward bonuses. Airlines control the experience. Loyalty programs, free checked bags, seat upgrades, and extensive airport lounge networks give airlines a home-field advantage. Reward travel can be deeply discounted since airlines “own” their inventory.

Basic Economy Remakes the Airline Business: Consumers Pay More to Avoid Air Travel Misery – Press Release

September 9, 2025

The 2025 Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue reveals a cashflow shift: ancillary revenue increased while fares dropped. The 2025 edition of the Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue by IdeaWorksCompany, released today, describes ancillary revenue activities and results for 61 airlines in 2024, continuing the publication’s role as the industry’s singular voice for 18 years. The results in this Yearbook represent the 61 airlines for which IdeaWorks research identified complete or partial elements of ancillary revenue.

Eight Ideas We Admire to Boost Airline Revenue – Report

August 12, 2025

This report spotlights successful ancillary strategies from leading global carriers. Airlines chasing the next revenue breakthrough need look no further. IdeaWorksCompany, the world’s leading authority on airline ancillary revenue, has released an 18-page report: Eight Ideas We Admire to Boost Airline Revenue. The study reveals how these creative practices from airlines around the world are reshaping the way carriers increase profits while improving the passenger experience.

The report highlights exemplary techniques implemented by JetBlue, Turkish Airlines, Sun Country, Jetstar, Condor, Ryanair, Jet2.com, and Pegasus. These airlines have successfully introduced customer-friendly features that deliver measurable ancillary revenue, such as:

• JetBlue: Transforms the seat map into a premium-selling machine with smart visuals and real-time benefit comparisons.
• Jetstar: Unburdens change and cancellation policies with a simple, clear voucher system that increases take-up rates.
• Pegasus: Turns nearly every booking into a loyalty program conversion with a seamless one-click enrollment popup.
• Turkish Airlines: Monetizes empty seats with an in-path upsell that adds comfort and revenue with minimal friction.

Fly High, Land Right: Ten Life Lessons for Success in Business

July 15, 2025

In one sense, the travel industry is built to serve its investors by delivering profits. A more balanced approach would have airlines, hotels, car rental firms and more seeking to well serve investors, employees, and customers. The industry has been inconsistent – but it need not be.

“This report is offered to those working in the airline industry, but its ideas certainly have applicability far beyond it,” said Jay Sorensen, President of IdeaWorksCompany and the author of the report. “I am fortunate to be part of an industry which brings the world together through the magic of air travel. We enable global commerce, deliver leisure experiences, and connect families and friends. I’ve been lucky to learn from others, and this report honors their wisdom.”

Fly High, Land Right is based on Sorensen’s 4+ decades in the air travel business. The 20-page report issued today includes the following advice:

People are hungry for wisdom; the airline industry is best served when its people respect each other, make a good profit, and treat passengers as guests.
Honor your customers; an educated consumer is your best customer.
Your workers are wiser than you; please talk to your front line employees to seek their perspective.
Above all else be honest; employees know when a company relies on honesty to generate more revenue.
Not everyone is cheap; many are willing to spend more for better comfort and convenience.
Listening tells you more; interviewing 100 customers at an airport gate over the course of 3 days garners more wisdom than any survey or focus group can deliver.

Low Cost Meets Loyalty – Report

December 3, 2024

CarTrawler sponsored report reveals how ten top LCCs have embraced full-feature loyalty programs with partner networks, elite tiers, and co-branded credit cards. Low Cost Meets Loyalty was issued today as a 15-page report to analyze the FFPs of these ten airlines: Air Arabia, AirAsia, Azul, Frontier, GOL, IndiGo, JetBlue, Pegasus, Viva Aerobus, and Vueling. Decades ago airline executives predicted “low cost” and “loyalty” were an impossible combination.

2024 Big Book of Airline Data by IdeaWorksCompany – Report

October 22, 2024

IdeaWorksCompany releases 105-page report filled with passenger traffic, revenue, employment, and frequent flyer membership data for 239 carriers. The 2024 Big Book of Airline Data contains passenger traffic results for 168 primary airlines and 53 subsidiary airlines. The second portion contains revenue results for 136 primary airlines and 48 subsidiary airlines. The last airline sections provide membership data for 56 frequent flyer programs and employment totals for 120 carriers.

2024 CarTrawler Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue – Report

September 24, 2024

The 2024 edition of the CarTrawler Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue by IdeaWorksCompany describes ancillary revenue activities and results for 68 airlines in 2023, revealing divergences in trends and providing an assessment of the industry as a whole. Here’s a guide to key features of the 2024 edition:

• 68 pages of individual airline listings arranged by global region (109 total pages).

• Alphabetical listing of 68 airlines from Aegean to Wizz Air, as a table, with total ancillary revenue in US dollars; and ancillary revenue as a percent of total airline revenue, and per passenger.

• Ancillary revenue surges above pre-pandemic levels: For 2023 the top 10 airline companies generated $54.1 billion, which is far in excess of the $38.4 billion result for the top 10 companies for the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

• Frequent flyer program revenue jumped: Total loyalty revenue for the top 10 programs was $32.2 billion, which was 18.6 % higher than 2022.

Of the 68 airlines in this Yearbook, 57 were included in last year’s edition, allowing for direct comparisons.

This report is now available for purchase in our store: https://ideaworkscompany.com/store/

Airport Lounges Are the Hottest Ticket – Report

May 21, 2024

This CarTrawler sponsored report describes how lounges are a “must have” amenity for millions of travelers and for millions in airline revenues. The pandemic unleashed consumer craving for amenities to relieve the little miseries that can accompany travel today. Airport lounges have become a hugely popular answer. Today, lounge operators are the beneficiaries of hordes of travelers seeking premium experiences—so much so that overcrowding is a thorny issue, with social media documenting long lines in airport concourses. This is partly because higher fee co-branded credit cards now feature lounge access. Airlines are understandably excited by the revenue stream provided by these upscale sanctuaries, and new lounges are appearing in airports around the world. Airport Lounges Are the Hottest Ticket was issued today as an 18-page report to describe the economics of lounges and consumer fascination with these airport retreats.

Airline Loyalty Becomes a Multi-Billion Dollar Club – Report

April 16, 2024

CarTrawler sponsored research explores the jumbo economics of loyalty programs at Air Canada, Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, IAG, Qantas, Southwest, and United. Co-branded credit cards deliver wheelbarrows of money for some airlines. The latest IdeaWorksCompany report explores how this has transformed frequent flyer programs (FFPs) and contemplates the effect upon customer loyalty. Many airlines have shifted from sole reliance on behavioral loyalty, which relies upon a customer’s expectations for service and quality. Carriers now embrace transactional loyalty which emphasizes exchange relationships where something is given and something is received. This 16-page report advises caution about over-reliance on the co-branding bounty and suggests focusing more on the overall customer experience.

Frequent Flyer Programs Deliver Lower Reward Value in the Era of Basic Economy Fares and Co-Branded Cards – Press Release

April 2, 2024

The 2024 Reward Seat Availability Survey reviews Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and United flight rewards. The IdeaWorksCompany Reward Seat Availability Survey answers the question, “How costly is points redemption for the most popular basic reward type offered by top US airlines?” Key overall findings include:

• Prices of rewards (in miles or points) has increased significantly since 2019 and, moreover, by 7 points above the rate of inflation for the same period.
• Reward payback for 2024, which measures the reward value provided per dollar spent on base fares, dropped overall more than half from 2019.
• Basic economy fares are disrupting the value provided by frequent flyer programs through policies which reduce or eliminate mileage/points accrual

This year’s survey assesses six US airlines and repeats the same methods used 5 years ago in 2019. The IdeaWorksCompany Reward Seat Availability Survey is based upon 600 booking and fare queries made by the IdeaWorksCompany at the websites of six frequent flyer programs to assess low-priced everyday reward seat availability. Lowest-price rewards are an important benefit for most members and the primary topic of this survey.

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