IAG Cargo's loyalty programme FORWARD.REWARDS turns five

Today IAG Cargo, the cargo division of International Airlines Group is celebrating the fifth birthday of its loyalty programme FORWARD.REWARDS. IAG Cargo launched its loyalty programme in 2017 with the objective to reward small and medium-sized freight forwarders and was the first rewards programme in the air cargo sector.

A year later FORWARD.REWARDS won first place at The Marketing Society Excellence Awards for building customer relationships. In 2020, IAG Cargo expanded the programme by launching FORWARD.PLATINUM, an invitation-only tier, for customers with a larger revenue spend.

FORWARD.REWARDS is free to join, and members earn points every time they make a booking with IAG Cargo. These points can then be spent on flights, hotels, and cargo credit.

Over the five years, flights with British Airways and Iberia have proved to be the most popular redemption option with members. The most travelled to destinations through the programme have been London, Madrid, New York, Delhi and Dubai. For hotel stays customers have an option of over 500,000 hotels worldwide to choose from, through the Global Hotel Card powered by Expedia.

Matthew Gardiner, Head of Marketing and External Communications at IAG Cargo said: "We're delighted to be celebrating five years of FORWARD.REWARDS. Customers have really embraced the programme and in doing so have benefited from thousands of free flights and over £1 million worth of hotel stays. Others have made use of valuable savings on shipments via cargo credits. 2021 saw over 700 new members join the programme and customers earn their highest ever volume of reward points. FORWARD.REWARDS makes freight forwarding more rewarding."

Robert Bonk, Director C.H. Robinson said: " FORWARD.REWARDS is one of the more advanced and diverse loyalty programmes currently offered in the market. As a global company, international business travel occurs regularly especially as we grow our business, so being able to mitigate our travel costs through the programme has been hugely beneficial to our business."

IAG Cargo's loyalty programme is available to customers across the globe. The USA has the most members followed by the UK and then Italy. Though it is customers in India who have redeemed the most rewards. IAG Cargo's extensive growing network provides FORWARD.REWARDS members with significant opportunities to earn and spend points.