On September 10-11, loyalty leaders across airlines, hospitality, travel tech and finance converged in Chicago for Loyalty Summit Americas – a two-day forum focused on how data, digital platforms and new partnerships are redefining program value and customer engagement across the traveler journey. The 2025 theme – MILES AHEAD – set the tone: forward leaning strategies, pragmatic economics, and member centric design.
The energy in the room was electric – full of senior executives, big brands, and forward-thinkers, all focused on pushing loyalty further. With 40+ speakers from leading travel and hospitality brands represented, the summit drew a wide cross-section of the industry. Nearly all the VP+ audience were there to benchmark innovation, debate value propositions, and network with partners to shape the next generation of loyalty strategies.
Top themes we heard and why they matter
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Digital flight path: modernizing the stack for real time loyalty
Tracks and panels dug into re-platforming and app-centric UX, dynamic pricing engines, and AI-enabled personalization - less “AI for AI’s sake,” more “AI as an enabler of relevance and speed.” Sessions emphasized rearchitecting loyalty and mobile ecosystems so members can earn, redeem, and be recognized with minimal friction. -
Value unlocked: loyalty as a measurable growth engine
Beyond marketing, programs are now managed as P&Ls: monetization via partners and marketplaces, program-level ROI, and lifetime value surfaced repeatedly. Leaders shared how they quantify uplift without eroding perceived value - an explicit focus of Day 2’s Value Unlocked track. -
The evolution of loyalty: change at scale, without losing trust
From benefit redesigns to full migrations, speakers highlighted how to evolve programs while honoring legacy tiers and emotional equity. The track on Seamless Transitions captured practical playbooks for onboarding members into improved constructs without breaking recognition.
Linking back to Loyalty Summit London 2025:
In our recap of the London edition earlier this year, we highlighted the rise of daily engagement, coalition/partner ecosystems, and loyalty monetization as durable trends. The Chicago summit built on those themes, doubling down with a sharper focus on platform modernization and program economics.
Spotlight sessions
Transforming Miles & Points – Digital Reshaping of Loyalty Programs:
A frank discussion on how dynamic rewards and transparent value communication can raise satisfaction even as the mechanics change – provided the UX and economics line up.
The Personalization Gap – What Heads of Loyalty Think vs. What Customers Expect:
Dual-track research from the Global Loyalty Organisation contrasted consumer expectations with airline priorities, surfacing where “next-gen personalization” truly moves the needle.
Exec Interview: The Evolution of LATAM Pass:
A deep dive into governance, partnerships, and roadmap choices behind LATAM’s loyalty growth.
Mobile Integration: Next-Gen App Strategy:
Why the app is the primary loyalty touchpoint – and which features (status cues, geo-offers, instant redemption) actually change behavior.
Proud to say that among the winners were our clients’ Loyalty programs:
United MileagePlus for: Best Airline Elite Benefits
Alaska Air Mileage Plan for: Best Airline Earning and Redemption Ability
Miles & More for: Best Airline Elite Benefits and Airline Program of the Year
What this means for loyalty leaders
Design for “everyday relevance,” not just trip cycles: Make it effortless to earn/burn and be recognized in daily contexts (partners, payments, cobrand, mobile).
Run loyalty like a business: Track program-level ROI and CLV, and explore monetization that adds value (partners, media, marketplaces) without confusing members – a throughline from London to Chicago.
Migrate with empathy and telemetry: When redesigning tiers or mechanics, sequence change with clear benefit narratives and observe member behavior in real time to correct course.
LPS on stage & on site
We were proud to support the summit as a Platinum Sponsor and to contribute perspectives from Christian Gerlich on how modern platforms and pragmatic product operating models enable that “digital flight path” at global scale.
Title: Seamless Transitions – Strategies and opportunities in evolving loyalty programs.
Quote Christian: “Ensuring a smooth migration is not only about technology, it’s speaking both business and technology language to shape the best and most efficient processes”.
If you’d like to continue the conversation or explore any of the topics discussed at Loyalty Summit Americas, our team is happy to share deeper insights and practical approaches.
Reach out to Jan Ratzlaff or any member of the LPS team who attended the summit for follow-up discussions, tailored recommendations, or to learn more about how leading brands are modernizing loyalty.
Conclusion
The conversations in Chicago underscored a shared ambition: loyalty programs must evolve from transactional engines into holistic engagement ecosystems. For brands, this means balancing innovation with trust, and turning data into meaningful, measurable value for members.
At LPS, we continue to explore how modern platforms, flexible architectures, and datadriven strategies can help loyalty leaders deliver on that promise – at scale and with confidence.
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