Press release -
Norwegian and Strawberry to establish shared “currency” for loyalty programmes
Norwegian and Strawberry are to establish a joint company that will provide a wider selection of services to the members of the companies’ respective loyalty programmes. The company will create a common loyalty currency and a platform where members can earn and use loyalty points across different programmes. The entity will be jointly owned by Norwegian and Strawberry, each retaining an equal ownership stake.
The digital loyalty currency will replace the loyalty point systems which are used by various loyalty programmes today. In this way, members who earn points at hotel stays can choose to use them to pay for airfares, or vice versa.
“We are developing our already popular loyalty programme, Norwegian Reward, by thinking outside the box and cooperating with new partners. I am very pleased to have found Strawberry as a partner and that by joining forces, we are developing a new platform which will give even more customers the opportunity to choose from a broader selection of services. We would also like to invite more partners to join this collaboration as we move forward,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.
For now, the cooperation involves the loyalty programmes Norwegian Reward and Strawberry’s loyalty programme. The ambition is to grow and include new partners from the Nordics to give members even more opportunities to earn and spend loyalty points. The new company will reach out to a significant share of Nordic households from the beginning.
“We currently offer a universe of exciting experiences and an attractive loyalty programme with fantastic partners. Strawberry’s ambition it to be relevant to more people more often. Uniting two companies with Nordic roots and histories to create a common loyalty currency is part of reaching this ambition. This will be a game changer for members and guests, providing people in the Nordic countries better and more frequent opportunities to earn and use their loyalty points. We look forward to embarking on this journey together with Norwegian,” said Petter A. Stordalen, owner and founder of Strawberry (former Nordic Choice Hotels).
Norwegian’s and Strawberry’s loyalty programmes have a total of around 7.5 million members in the Nordic countries. Details about the company and the loyalty currency will be made public at the launch later this year. The two existing loyalty programmes of Norwegian and Strawberry will maintain their customer offering as today and continue to be owned by Norwegian and Strawberry respectively.
For further information, please contact:
Esben Tuman
SVP Communications at Norwegian
esben.tuman@norwegian.com / +47 905 08 400
Bettina Flatland
Communications Director at Strawberry
bettina.flatland@strawberry.no / +47 975 98 000
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About Norwegian
Norwegian is the largest Norwegian airline and one of Europe’s leading low-cost carriers. The company has around 4,500 employees and offers a comprehensive route network between Nordic countries and destinations in Europe. Since 2002, more than 300 million passengers have flown with Norwegian. The most important task has been to offer affordable plane tickets to all and to offer more freedom of choice along the journey.
Norwegian is a driving force for sustainable solutions and the transformation of the aviation industry. The company’s goal is to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45 percent within 2030. To this means, the company is renewing its fleet, promoting sustainable aviation fuel, reducing its waste, and using wind and weather data to calculate the most efficient fuel-saving flights routes. Norwegian wants to become the sustainable choice for its passengers.
