The past year has been an interesting and very successful one for Simpliflying with a number of new client acquisitions and tons of exciting free resources such as infographics and Top 10 case-packs posted regularly to the blog amongst other things. At the brink of the new year, we relive ten of the most popular articles on SimpliFlying in 2011:

10. Social seating: Have you read about the Malaysian Airline initiative that led the airline to create a much talked about Facebook booking engine that allowed people to sit with their friends on the airline’s flights?

9. Airports in social media: In the ninth place we have a Top 10 case-pack, an initiative helmed by our Senior Innovation Officer Shubhodeep Pal, on how airports have driven engagement trough social media.

8. Blockbuster social initiative: Next, in 8^th place we find one, if not the, most successful social media campaigns of 2011, the AA Advantage “mystery miles” campaign that hit the headlines in February by achieving an 84 fold growth of its Facebook fans in 54 hours.

7. Airline Twitter initiatives: In the seventh place we find another Top 10, this time focusing on the use airlines made of Twitter, one of the fastest growing social networks of the year.

6. Social media ROI: The second half of our roundup us opened by keynote presentation made by our CEO Shashank Nigam at the Social Media Travel Summit earlier this year. The keynote focuses on a much talked about and little understood topic, the ROI of social media.

5. In fifth place is one of our most popular infographics, focusing on the resources that airlines dedicate to social media.

4. Airline Facebook initiatives: Our Top 10 case-packs have been one of the most viewed resources on our website and in the fourth place of this roundup we find another one illustrating the best examples of Facebook contests run by airlines.

3. 6X Model of Airline Branding: In third place we present a long standing favorite of our readers, the Airline Branding Whitepaper. This much praised paper was written by our CEO Shashank Nigam back in 2008. Yes, light years away in social media time, and was also selected and re-published by Brandchannel.com in the summer of the same year. Three years later it is still extremely relevant and, as this roundup shows, one of the most visited pages of our website.

2. Future of loyalty programs is social: In the second place comes one of our best infographic to date, highlighting the social future of loyalty programs and the new tendencies of the connected frequent flyers.

1. A380s and sales problems: In the first position, we have an article that was the most read in 2011, even though it was actually written in August 2009. We are talking, of course, of our famous piece on the Singapore Airlines’ A380 Suites and the sales problems that followed their introduction.

That said, if you have read this far you clearly have an interest in us. Similarly, we too are interested in our readers. We’d love you to use the comment box below to tell us what you would like to see (or not see) on SimpliFlying in 2012.

Thanks for reading SimpliFlying! Have a great New Year and here’s wishing you a fantastic 2012!

• A revamped SimpliFlying Heroes initiative – Vote for the Jan 2012 Hero now!
• [Infographic] How travel marketers calculate ROI on social media and why the future is mobile
• Vote for the SimpliFlying Hero of February 2011 – Finnair vs Delta Air Lines vs Malaysia Airlines
• Best Airports in Social Media: Top 5 Airports nominated for the SimpliFlying Awards for Social Media Excellence 2011
• A Brand New SimpliFlying – from airline branding pioneers to leading customer engagement at airports and airlines

Our friends at Eezeer have analysed the Twitter habits of airlines as well as their fans/customers for the month of November and have produced the Monthly Twitter Report in continuation with their monthly coverage and analysis of the dynamic social media landscape for airlines.

At the close of the year, it’s worth pausing to consider how quickly the social landscape has evolved over the past year or so. Airlines have not only embraced Twitter but have also realised that there’s great value in using it to drive specific goals such as revenue, engagement and loyalty. Many innovative initiatives on Twitter have been captured in our Top 10 case-packs as well. It’s worth noting that as of November 2011 there were 198 airlines on Twitter with 90 actively tweeting. This, more than anything else, is a sign of changing times and even greater change to come.

A number of facts are immediately clear from this report:

1. Even though most airlines have jumped on to the Twitter bandwagon, the majority of the tweets are produced by a minority of airlines. 30 airlines provide more than 83% of tweets sent out by airlines.
2. Delta Air Lines is still the runaway champion, having been consistently been a Listening and Talking champion (in terms of tweets received and sent). Air Asia and Southwest make a belated, but expected entry to the list. However, American Airlines makes a surprise appearance on the Talking Champions list.
3. Airlines are definitely using Twitter more intensively with each passing day. Over the past 6 months, the number of outgoing tweets increased by around 38%.
4. As the weather begins to turn unpredictable, it’s that time of the year again when people feel hassled while flying. This was quite evident as “baggage handling” was a trending topic as the number of tweets related to it  increased by about 28% in the last month.
5. Over 1.2 million tweets have been exchanged between airlines and their customers on Twitter in the past six months. That’s a heck of a lot!

It’ll certainly be interesting to come back to this report at the end of the next year and see how things have progressed!

For more insights, check out the infographic below and let us know what you thought about it. Is there something ?that resonates with you? Or maybe it doesn’t? Comment or tweet us @simpliflying and let us know. You can view more airline infographics here.

(Click here to download a larger image)

Note: The airlines on Twitter report is produced by eezeerdatalab.

• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for July 2011 reveals that more airlines have Twitter accounts than loyalty programs
• Airlines on Twitter in June 2011: Delta Airlines is the breakaway “listening and talking champion”
• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for August 2011: Cebu Pacific joins the big league and scores high!
• Eezeer and SimpliFlying launch airline monthly twitter report – Delta leads Twitter use, and customer service is in!
• [Infographic] Airlines on Twitter – April 2011 data reveals the need to focus on Customer Service

Yes, I said it: branding!

The benefits of crowdsourcing, and its effectiveness for problem solving, are well-known. The power of the social web is being harnessed by airlines more than ever (in fact, a cargo-carrier has recently got into the game as well). Crowdsourcing initiatives are now being used not  just to engage customers but also to find ways to improve their product and services, as well as at the same time building their brands. Hence, “crowdbranding”.

With today’s Top 10 case-pack we would like to highlight some of the best examples of airline crowdsourcing. At the same time, we also invite our readers to have a look beyond the surface and into the deeper strategic goals that drive each of these strategies. In some cases it will be clear that the end game was indeed solving a problem or finding an innovative way of addressing existing issues, but in others it will also be clear that the stated goal of the crowdsourcing campaign wasn’t the only goal.

Most of the airline examples included in this Top 10 used crowdsourcing to solve problems related to visible parts of their product such as in-flight meals or routes, and did so in very “socially active” ways, using their social media pages and often creating dedicated websites where participants could interact.

Looking deeper into the reasons that drove these airlines to choose crowdsourcing, we found that the most common goals were:

1. Solving a particular problem
2. Reducing costs
3. Associating their brands with a specific concept (for example: quality or low prices)
4. Obtaining first hand-data from their community of users
5. Promoting a new feature/product/route

With this teaser, we’ll leave you to discover how some of the best airlines in the world harnessed the power of the web in the most tantalizing and innovative ways possible.

• Loyalty 2.0 | The Top 10 Social Loyalty Initiatives by Airlines
• The Top 10 Twitter Initiatives by Airlines
• The Top 10 Viral Videos by Airlines (plus bonus videos)
• Top 10 Travel Distribution Initiatives by Airlines: Reinventing the booking cycle to drive revenue (from #eftamerica)
• Mobile 2.0 – The Top 10 Mobile Apps by Airlines

After all the clamour regarding social media and how it’s the next big thing, we’re finally beginning to see some sense emanating from all the noise. Until now, there was an overwhelming feeling that what brands (among them airlines) really wanted out of social media was vague: there was no real consensus on what social media could actually do. It was mostly an unexplored quagmire that might yield riches or the swamp monsters. However, after an initial couple of years of experimentation, it’s quite evident that there are indeed riches to be gained from this quagmire. The bad news? There’s a monster protecting that treasure!

The Turning Tide

Undoubtedly, social media offers many benefits versus traditional forms of engagement. Some of them do bear repetition: the near-instant form of communication; two-way interaction compared to broadcast messaging; the ability to spread messages very fast across networks; the potential to identify and target “brand advocates” to drive brand awareness in cults (see Cult Relationship Management). We’ve strived to point out that a presence on social is media is not sufficient to do wonders for the brand: given that almost every airline is now on social media (our Monthly Airlines on Twitter report offers some numbers) brands must not only differentiate themselves but also focus their efforts on driving specific business goals. If they don’t, they’ll be relegated to the backwaters of social media.

It turns out that our ceaseless advice and suggestions have not gone unheeded. More airlines than ever before are now using social media as a platform to drive business goals such as crisis management (see our recent case-study on Delta Airlines), revenue (examples abound in our Top 10 series) and now, a much more challenging aim, to drive loyalty via social media.

You should create a loyalty initiative for your airline too!

The challenge in creating a social loyalty initiative is that you really need to be sure of what will click with customers. After all, the goal is to increase loyalty which requires reciprocation from the customers. The good thing is that there are potentially infinite ways (if you’re imaginative enough) of creating a successful initiative. What you need to keep in mind is that most customers will become more loyal based on two things: rewards or recognition (or both).  Our case-pack will illustrate the diverse ways in which this is being done by some of the major airline across the world.

The benefits of creating a successful social loyalty initiatives are manifold:

1. A brand advocate with a strong social network could act as a huge multiplier for your loyalty efforts by getting members from his network involved with the brand.
2. There is a huge opportunity to move away from traditional loyalty programmes and offer something disruptive and innovative.
3. Loyal customers are worth more than new customers (this is true for traditional loyalty programmes as well).
4. The biggest benefit: there is very little lag between implementation and measurement. The results can be seen very quickly indeed.

Without further ado, we present to you our list of the Top 10 Social Loyalty Initiatives by Airlines.

What did you think of this list? Felt we left out someone? Felt this was perfect and want to reward us for our efforts?

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Do join in the discussion and tweet us @simpliflying.

• Is social loyalty the next phase of development for frequent flyer programs?
• [Presentation] Why the future of loyalty programs will be social-media based
• Five Reasons for low cost airlines to take loyalty seriously
• “Crowdbranding”: The Top 10 Crowdsourcing initiatives by Airlines
• Three keys to making loyalty programs work for the airline brand of the future

Do you remember the first time you ever flew? What do you remember about it? How big the cabin was on the inside? How small those cars looked on the ground below? The pain in your ears from the air pressure, or perhaps the gum you had to chew to make it go away?

Alice Liu, American Airlines’ Managing Director of Onboard Products, remembers something completely different from her first flight as a 13-year-old, and remembers it so fondly that it helped fuel her desire to work in the airline industry. Despite the nerves and excitement of moving with her family to a new and unfamiliar world across the Pacific, and the experience of seeing the tops of those fluffy, white clouds for the first time, what did Alice remember most about her 18-hour-trek from Taipei to Dallas via LAX? The food, of course.

That’s right. Good old, economy class airplane food, which she enjoyed so much that she asked for a second helping. If I can read your thoughts right now, you must either think that someone so passionate about airline food (!!!) is either flat-out nuts, or a match made in heaven for the job she does for American. Based on my experience on-board the delivery flight of American’s first Next-Generation Boeing 737-800, featuring the innovative Boeing Sky Interior, I’ll vouch for the latter.

A dazzling new plane, inspired by the 787 Dreamliner

With an effortless lift off of Boeing Field’s runway 13R, American took possession of its new baby earlier this week, carrying 20-some staff, journalists and special guests on-board the three hour and 22 minute flight to Dallas-Fort Worth. The Seattle sun even made a rare morning appearance, perhaps a fitting foreshadowing to the future satisfaction of frequent AA flyers, thanks to the carrier’s fleet modernization plan that will see them take on 54 more Next-Gen 737-800s over the next two years.

The newest addition to American’s fleet offers increased fuel efficiency (up to 2%), more overhead bin space (up to 54 more bags than its original 737s), themed LED lighting (ceiling and side lights that range from blue to white to amber depending on the time of day and service being performed), newly designed seats and power ports throughout the cabin. The latter features are just like the 787 (watch a cabin tour). While these all seem like amenities that will please even the most demanding passenger, at a price tag in the USD $80 million range, its critical that an airline gets every detail exactly right. Fortunately, American has Alice and her team on its side.

An eye for detail, in-flight

While the beautiful new aircraft will be introduced into mainline AA service on June 1^st, the process from conception to delivery was much longer than any trip the shiny airplane will ever take. Alice’s group has spent years poring over every last detail of the plane’s interior, from the look and texture of the dual mini-tables in each First Class seat to the flexibility of the leather head rests in Economy to the panels covering the ventilation system throughout the cabin. According to Alice, the new First Class seats alone have undergone a four-year development process.

That doesn’t come as a surprise when you consider the challenge involved in figuring out the preferences of some 105 million passengers a year, which often can be as fickle as the Dallas weather. To illustrate this, Liu mentioned a study American had done a few years ago that found that customers wanted healthier onboard snack options. So American added pricey fruits and vegetables to the menu, and subsequently performed its highly-scientific “trash test”—just keeping an eye of what snacks were coming back from the aircraft untouched. The verdict? When it came to making a decision onboard, the same passengers who responded that they wanted healthier snack options preferred the same old cookies.

Nonetheless, Liu’s group, which is responsible for the cabin interior, in-flight entertainment, food & beverage (of course!) and onboard retail, works tirelessly to engage and respond to American’s customer base. While her team does collaborate extensively with Boeing in working out some final design details on the product side, taking care of every other onboard detail for a fleet of about 650 aircraft is obviously a massive undertaking, and one that I never truly appreciated until being the first to walk onboard a brand new, fresh-off-the-production line, Next Generation aircraft.

“Design is all about the details,” Alice says. “It’s the thoughtful details that really complete the travel experience.”

Which seems like a fitting viewpoint from someone who, despite the slender stature she carries, is still known to sneak in an extra meal from time to time. While the instant noodles of her Taipei-to-Dallas adventure may have been replaced by king prawns and artisan cheeses, Alice’s eye for detail is as keen as it was at 13, and that passion permeates throughout every little detail onboard the newest addition to American’s fleet.

Here’s the full interview with Alice we managed to shoot while in the actual 737 itself! Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

• Will Delta and Northwest merger bring back the glory of Pan-Am?
• Why every visionary airline executive needs to fly Virgin America this year – to get a glimpse of the future
• Exclusive Video: Bombardier CSeries cabin tour – a glimpse into the future of flying
• What makes the Boeing 787 Dreamliner a brand differentiator? Video tour
• Singapore Airlines, still a great way to fly? A brand analysis

As I passed through the US Immigration recently, when the official asked what I’m going to the US for, I replied, “I’m delivering a speech at an airline loyalty conference”. To which he casually exclaimed – “loyalty for airlines? I just go for the cheapest fare man!”. That gave me even more impetus to try and find the answer to the loyalty puzzle at the conference.

In late February, I spoke at the Loyalty11 conference, where a majority of the leading airline loyalty executives gather annually. This year, it was held in Dallas, and I managed to round up some key experts in airline loyalty business – from the stalwart AAdvantage program, to the soon-to-be started AirAsia’s loyalty program. And asked them just one question – what will have an impact on the future of airline loyalty. Here’s what they had to say:

Click here to view the embedded video.

What does the future of airline loyalty programs hold?

Looking through my notes from the conference, here are five indications towards the future (including some quotable quotes from the conference):

1. “Loyalty is no longer defined by the repeat customer” – Tom Klein – President, Sabre
2. There are three customer segments: the satisfied customer, the dis-satisfied customer and the loyalty customer. It’s the first airlines should try to convert to the last
3. Airlines will only get a share of wallet if they have a share of heart
4. The feedback airline loyalty programs get from social media channels than traditional feedback forms – Ryan Green, Southwest Airlines
5. It will be interesting to sort loyalty members by their Klout scores (twitter influence) – Gabi Kool, Voila Rewards

• [Infographic] The future of loyalty programs will be powered by social media
• Five lessons from the most innovative loyalty programs in the world – Inspired from Loyalty 2010
• Three keys to making loyalty programs work for the airline brand of the future
• Is social loyalty the next phase of development for frequent flyer programs?
• The future of airline loyalty – here is what it looks like

It may seem like an absurd question – why would an airline know a cryptic user id? But what if he’s a real person, on Twitter? Moreover, if he’s a top tier frequent flier? And tweeting about you all the time too! Then I’m sure the airline would want to know about him.

I just encountered such a person. His name is Tim Feyer, and just by looking at his last 15 tweets, I’m able to tell a log about him.

1. He’s an Executive Platinum on American Airlines’ AAdvantage
2. He’s flown 100,000 miles in the last two months, almost all on AA and over 3 Mn lifetime miles!
3. He almost always only travels First or Business Class
4. He always uses the Admirals Club
5. He’s engaging with other fliers on Twitter, and actively sharing his own experiences and helping them out

Now, I’m sure American Airlines has a ton of information about Tim in their AAdvantage database – but do they know how active he’s been on Twitter? Probably not. In fact, after speaking at the Loyalty11 Conference and the Social Media in Travel Conference in February/March, I don’t think most airlines are yet able to differentiate their frequent fliers amongst the hundreds of thousands of social media fans and followers they’re acquiring. And that’s where the goldmine is.

Imagine, if American Airlines is able to identify Tim and more like him…here are some of the things they can do:

1. Create a Twitter list of all frequent fliers who do more than X amount of miles per year  -  Tim would probably top that list!
2. Treat this segment differently than other fans – all of their @mentions or comments should be replied to within an hour or two, their praises re-tweeted etc
3. Make special gestures – EG, Tim seems to feel ripped off by parking in Miami – send him some free parking coupons for next time! (learn from KLM Surprises
4. Clear any misunderstandings right away – in his latest tweet, Tim seems to suggest that Admirals Club agent misguided him – why not reach out to him and rectify it?
5. It seems that in case of some fliers like Tim, Twitter or Facebook may be the preferred means of interaction – so, why not complement that with emails? Conversion rate may be higher!

These are just some ideas into the future of airline CRM? What do you think? Take a look at Tim’s tweets, and decide for yourself

• American Airlines’ AAdvantage Facebook Fans grow 84 fold in 54 hours. The most successful campaign ever by an airline?
• Virgin Atlantic’s Vtravelled gets into social gaming – Interview with Lysette Gauna
• Is social loyalty the next phase of development for frequent flyer programs?
• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for July 2011 reveals that more airlines have Twitter accounts than loyalty programs
• Randy Petersen of Flyertalk on airline branding – Part 1 of 2

It’s a very simple proposition. “Like” a Facebook fanpage to get a random reward. In the case of American Airlines’ AAdvantage, the reward is to get between 100 to 100,000 miles just for liking their Facebook fanpage, in their Mystery Miles contest.

If the smart folks at AAdvantage had run this campaign a week earlier, they’d have surely made it to the Top 10 Facebook Contests by Airlines, which we put out last week. Because the results they’ve achieved in just three days seem phenomenal!

The most successful Facebook contest by an airline, till date?

The loyalty group at American Airlines, AAdvantage, set up the Facebook fanpage on Feb 1. And in the first couple of weeks, they managed to garner 2000+ fans, organically. Then they decided to launch the Mystery Miles campaign to drive membership, and the numbers hit through the roof.

In 24 hours, they went from 2,558 fans to 163,000 and had reached a staggering 210,000 fans at the time of this post, just 54 hours after the campaign was launched. Moreover, the interactions and engagements on the fanpage increased dramatically too, from just 41 likes for one of the initial posts, to over 1,200 likes for one just sent out!

They sure achieved their aim of “increasing their fans”!

“The opportunities to reward our customers through these new dedicated social media channels are endless and we’re delighted to find fresh and innovative ways to connect with our loyal members,” said Maya Leibman, President – AAdvantage Loyalty Program. “Just the click of a mouse lets our members earn miles towards their next getaway or dream vacation. Everyone’s a winner – and what’s not to ‘like’ about that?”

Having studied the industry in-depth in this area, we haven’t come across such a successful, planned campaign by an airline loyalty program yet.

Is airline loyalty the holy grail for airline engagement?

Given the success of this campaign, and having spent the last two days speaking at and interacting with airline loyalty professionals at Loyalty2011 in Dallas, it makes me wonder – is loyalty the area where social media will work best for airlines? The answer is probably yes.

Frequent flyers are already part of traditional airline “communities” – the FFP program databases. They already know the brand. And when airlines engage them using a medium they’re familiar with, the FFP members adopt quickly. This has been the case with jetBlue’s TrueBlue Community, KLM’s Bluenity and now AAdvantage’s facebook fanpage.

For airlines, they’re also able to drive better results through people they know who fly them, rather than trying to distinguish between “ranters” and “real-customers” on Twitter/Facebook. And that’s what makes this combination very promising – loyalty + social media.

What next for AAdvantage Facebook Fanpage?

I’m sure the team managing this campaign at American Airlines did not envision such a tremendous response to their efforts. But now that they’re on course to reach half a million fans in a week or so, what do they do? How do they manage this? Here are some questions that need to be answered:

1. How to distinguish between the one-time “likers” and the “real-fans”?
2. How to set the right expectations for future campaigns, given the first campaign was so generous?
3. How to start driving business from these fans – how many offers is too many?
4. How to scale up the team internally and use the right tools to manage this?

I think this is going to be interesting. I’ll be watching keenly! What do you think? Let’s hear it in the comments and on Twitter (@simpliFlying)

Great job, AA!

• Lufthansa shares love with their 100,000 Facebook fans by giving miles
• American Airlines – do you know TimF10? Re-thinking social media engagement for frequent fliers
• Is social loyalty the next phase of development for frequent flyer programs?
• The future of airline loyalty – lessons from Loyalty11 Conference
• How COPA Airlines drove 50X return on investment from a Facebook app

Thanks to David Parker Brown, I was alerted to a security situation on American Airlines flight 24 (AA24), bound to New York from San Francisco as someone had called in a threat to the jetliner. Thankfully, within a few hours all passengers had de-planed and gone through security checks and no one was hurt.

Crises Management 2.0 – Live on Twitter!

While the situation was unfolding, there were at least two passengers (@cmckella & @jaysears) on board the airplane who were tweeting away regular updates of the situation from their perspective, which included photos of the cabin and cops around the aircraft. Soon enough, major newspapers and news channels were quoting these two for the most current information about what’s happening on-board the aircraft.

Though, it wasn’t long till American Airlines’s Twitter account (@aairwaves) jumped into the middle of the arena and took on the queries head-on. It seemed like they had read our infographic on crises handling through social media (see below), because AA did a good job at it.

Infographic – Five steps to successful crisis management for airlines, in the age of social media

Here is a graphical journey of AA24 on Twitter

Passengers Jay Sears and Campbell McKeller sent out tweets every couple of minutes from inside the plane, which were very detailed. It started with them sharing the situation with their friends, before the media caught wind of the situation and started tapping on them too.

How American Airlines’ @AAirwaves took control of the situation

1. They engaged directly with Jay and Campbell, who were on-board the airplane
2. They started to answer queries from the local media
3. They calmed nerves by ensuring transparency in the situation by clearly stating the cause of the incident (a phone call, not a hijacking attempt).
4. They became the go-to source of information for anyone interested in the incidence, as can be seen from the final screen shot of the “AA24″ search on Twitter, where a majority of the retweets are originating from @AAirwaves

In essence, American Airlines did a commendable job of keeping things straight during the crisis, and engaging with the key stake holders directly. They looked well prepared for a situation like this, and have set the bar high for other airlines to follow.

Great job, @AAirwaves! For this feat, their effort is also being featured on SimpliFlying’s Clever Airlines.

• Crises Management for airlines and airports in the age of social media- Presentation from ACI Europe
• How airlines used social media innovatively to battle the ashcloud crisis [from Mashable]
• [Infographic] Five steps to successful crisis management for airlines, in the age of social media
• Eezeer and SimpliFlying launch airline monthly twitter report – Delta leads Twitter use, and customer service is in!
• How can an airline brand survive a disaster? Lessons from the Air France 447 crash

If you’re already up and running on Twitter, Facebook or other social media tools, a great way to augment your social media efforts is by tapping on one of the hottest trends around, location based services (“LBS”). Location based social networking is something VERY well suited for airlines. Just like “Tweets” was the buzzword of 2009, by the end of 2010, I expect “Mayor” to be the buzzword. And, these services are made to work well in the travel industry.

Popular Location Based Services

If you’re unfamiliar with LBS, here are a few that are popular, including a couple of travel specific ones:

Foursquare - Foursquare is a location based game/application, where users “check-in” at places around the city.  They get points for check-ins, adding new locations, and extra points for multiple check-ins in one day.  Check-ins can be automatically shared on Twitter and Facebook.  They can also become “Mayor” of a location if they have been there the most out of all Foursquare users.  Friends have access to see where you are, and where you’ve been, which can facilitate social gatherings that might have not otherwise happened.

Some companies are starting to use this application to target users by location.  For example, something like this may pop up on your screen: “Since you’re right around the corner from CVS, stop by and get 10% off”.  It’s  a great way for companies to get a relevant message out.  In general, it’s also a great way to increase awareness… the  more people check-in to the location, the more other people see it. Other similar sites include GoWalla and MyTown.

TripIt - TripIt gives users a way to track their travel itineraries  — including hotels, airlines, and more — and share them with their friends.  The application allows you to check-in online, and share detail on social networking sites, such as LinkedIn.  Users also see a history of their activity and statistics about their travel.  You can also add a trip that you are planning, but you haven’t booked yet.

Dopplr - Dopplr is similar to TripIt, in that it allows you to share your travel plans with other people. You can also find travel tips and advice from other travelers.

Leverage LBS as an Airline or Airport

Encourage Check-Ins

One way for airlines and airports to be “active” with services such as Foursquare, is to encourage travelers to check-in at their airline, airport, or even gate.  The benefit of this is that travelers can connect with each other, and you stay more top of mind, and get a free awareness boost, when they post their check-ins using social networking sites.  Or, if a flight is delayed, it will go much faster, if they find a friend to meet up with at the airport.

You could also tie this in with your frequent flyer program. If they check-in and publicize on Twitter or Facebook, they get 5,000 additional frequent flyer miles.

Reward Travelers

You could also run promotions to encourage check ins, with a giveaway for those who have checked in or for the first to check in.  Mayors are also a great source of loyal customers.  Why not make these people feel special by upgrading them to first class, giving them priority boarding, or announcing their name on the flight? For example, “We are proud to have with us today, the mayor of American Airlines.  That means he has checking-in using Foursquare more than any other traveler.  He was upgraded to first class for being such a special customer.”

Unmet Need

When travelers add trips to TripIt and Dopplr without flight information, what a great way to target them at their point of need, and offer them a flight that may fit what they are looking for.  In addition, if they have a flight booked, but no hotel or rental car, you can suggest your travel partners to them.  You can form a partnership with TripIt or Doppler, to be able to communicate with customers, so you can say something like “We see you are planning a trip from Paris to Istanbul.  We have many flights between those two cities.  Click here to search for a flight.”

Leverage  Frequent Flyer Program

A month ago, Tasti D-Lite began a program that tied their frequent buyer car in with social networking.  Whenever points are earned or redeemed, their system automatically sends out an update to social networking sites, including Twitter and Foursquare.  Why not add this to your frequent flyer program, including their frequent flyer balance?  Imagine, if every time someone uses his SAS Eurobonus card, a tweet or a Facebook status update goes out to his friends that “I just earned 5,000 miles flying from Oslo to Bangkok” or “I just got free petrol for 3,000 miles through EuroBonus”. This action will drive awareness, keep you top of mind, and get people talking.

Advertising

Some of these LBS applications, also allow advertising. It could be a very targeted ad, on TripIt or Dopplr.

What do you think?  Can  you see yourself implementing any of these ideas?  Do you have any other ideas? Let’s hear it in comments and over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Top 10 Location-Based-Service Initiatives by Airlines (Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt and more..)
• Randy Petersen of Flyertalk on social media and frequent flyers – Part 2 of 2
• Three keys to making loyalty programs work for the airline brand of the future
• 5 Ways to Incorporate Social Media Into the Flying Experience, and leverage on your “followers”
• [Infographic] The future of loyalty programs will be powered by social media