United Airlines announced a new promotion today targeting Gen-Z travelers: those between the ages of eighteen and 22 are eligible to receive up to a ten-percent discount on flights booked between now and December 31, 2019.
"They represent a smaller portion of our customers today," Luc Bondar, United's vice president of loyalty and the president of its MileagePlus program, told the Washington Post. "But we know that they are going to be an increasingly important customer segment for us going forward."
The ten-percent-off offer applies to flights within the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Further select international flights that originate within the U.S. will also be eligible for discounts of varying amounts.
To qualify for the promotion, flight reservations must be made through the United Mobile App and meet a few other criteria.
- Passengers must be MileagePlus loyalty program members
- Birthdate must be listed in the passenger's MileagePlus profile
- Reservations can include only one passenger
- Reservations must be made economy-class seating only
Also eligible for the ten-percent discount are United's "point-to-point" flights between cities for college football games, likewise aimed at the younger generation.
"The reason why we're doing this is we're really interested in starting a relationship with newer, younger customers," Will Ellingson, principal of planning and integration for MileagePlus, told USA TODAY.
Noting that research has shown Generation Z to be the most environmentally conscious market at the moment, United has also pledged to offset carbon emissions with its Eco-Skies program for the first 25,000 flights purchased through the new promotion.
Jason Dorsey, president and lead researcher at the Center for Generational Kinetics, a consulting firm, remarked to the Washington Post: "It's pretty genius in the sense of, 'We're going to give you a discount because we want to encourage you to see the world…and we're going to offset the environmental side effects of the travel.' The combination really is a powerful message."
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