A week of points promotions

(FlyerTalk/Top Flyer)

Finance and travel giant American Express is giving away points to travelers willing to share their travel tips online.

The brand has teamed up with the FlyerTalk forums, a popular site for frequent travelers, to launch a new community which will reward participants with American Express's Membership Rewards points, which can be spent on travel or accessories.

Consumers who register on the Top Flyer forums will automatically be entered into the contest, earning points every time community members "like" their posts or comments.

The top ten "liked" members each month will receive 10,000 Membership Reward points or a $50 American Express gift card.

American Express spokesperson Pepper Evans Roukas said that the scheme "provides travelers, who are extremely social, with an opportunity to be recognized for being in the know."

American Express's scheme came amid two other big-name announcements on frequent traveler programs this week, suggesting that the lure of loyalty points still remains an important factor for consumers.

On March 16, Hilton revealed a new global brand and advertising campaign for its Hilton HHonors program, used by consumers to collect points across its ten brands including Hilton, Conrad, and Waldorf Astoria.

The firm said that the new identity would focus on the experiences people have while traveling, adding that it wanted "to shift the conversation from earning points to creating memories, from being just about functionality to the human, more emotional and experiential side of travel."

In the US, budget airline Southwest announced that it would give away ten million points to winning members of its revamped Rapid Rewards program, which launched earlier this month.

One hundred members will each win 100,000 Rapid Rewards points as part of a sweepstakes competition running from March 15 through March 31.

http://www.flyertalk.com/topflyer/
http://hhonors1.hilton.com
http://www.southwest.com/bigshot