ITA Airways spills the beans on its frequent flyer programme – Volare

ITA Airways have been busy it seems – and have revealed a lot more information about its frequent flyer programme called Volare, including how you can earn, burn and the loyalty levels.

ITA Airways Airbus A320 – Image, ITA Airways

Now, I’ve put this under the fold because there’s fluff, PR fluff and then this PR Release. If you need comedy, head here for the full release. This is one press release where I suggest drinking a glass of something strong might actually help interpret it (because the mug of coffee I drank when editing this did not help).

Volare is widening its strength based on the four values on which it was developed: ‘Freedom’, ‘Personalization’, ‘Choice’, and ‘Connection’. Yes, these are things.

Work with me.

So, the “Freedom” pillar allows you flexibility in the accumulation and use of points. Volare is a revenue-based program in which the accumulation of points is linked to overall expenditure rather than to the distance travelled,

Each purchase the customer makes accumulates points: from 10 to 23 points per euro spent, with multipliers based on the level of membership, the route, flight class, and the ticket purchased.

In terms of redemptions, the programme promises no ‘blackout’ dates or purchase limits for award tickets: any class, fare and route will be
redeemable, on any date. The number of points required for award flights will vary according to the value of the ticket at that time; customers can therefore choose to use their points freely whenever they want to, based on how many points they want to spend. Finally, using the “cash & points” mode, the customer can pay for a ticket entirely using the points they have collected or, if these are not enough, making up the difference with cash.

Onto “Personalisation”, which focuses on the loyalty aspect of how many points you’ll need to earn to get through the loyalty hoops.

• Club Smart: lets the customer accumulate and redeem points with every purchase they make on ITA Airways flights and soon, also on the marketplaces of its partners.
• Club Plus: has an access threshold of 30,000 points, and an accrual multiplier of 10%. This gives
  extra baggage services, priority benefits on baggage tags, boarding, check-in, transfer desk, and
  Priority lost and found, as well as dedicated customer service.
• Club Premium: has an access threshold of 60,000 points and an accrual multiplier of 20%. Its services include access to the Lounges, Free Fast Track, free assigned seat, extra baggage, and Priority benefits on baggage tags, boarding, check-in, transfer desk, and Priority lost and found, as well as dedicated customer service.
• Club Executive: with an access threshold of 90,000 points and an accrual multiplier of 30%, it gives access to the Lounges, Free Fast track, free assigned seat, extra baggage, and Priority benefits on baggage tags, boarding, check-in, transfer desk, and Priority lost and found, as well as a dedicated customer service and a Kit that includes a physical card and a welcome gift.

Now “Choice” in this context refers to the redemption aspect, with the airline partnering with Skyteam, with you able to redeem and earn on SkyTeam airlines, as well as other options as the airline builds it out.

Finally, “Connection” boils down to their digital connectivity footprint. Or what the rest of us would call a website and an app.

Summer 2022

ITA Airways plans to operate  flights to 64 destinations of which 23 are national, 34 are international, and 7 are intercontinental. It is the intercontinental destinations that are the big new feature for this new season of ITA Airways, which, thanks to its latest-generation Airbus A330s and A350s, will reach the most important destinations in world tourism.

The Rome FCO – Miami route is up and running as well as the Boston route, with service increases planned.

Milan Malpensa to New York JFK will return to the network on the 2nd of April, operating five times a week. It will join the  Rome FCO – New York JFK.

June brings us new launches to  Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, and Tokyo.

The right programme for you? Only you can decide

With status matches and everything ITA Airways has done, it should be the beginning of a good start for the airline.

Although there are some gotchas, especially if you’re looking to migrate from Alitalia’s programme- the full FAQs are here.

I just wish they used a little less fluff in their PR… 

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