The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2020–2021
Thai Airways pays frequent flyers miles to stay home — Spikes Asia Grand Prix
A geolocation app flips Thai Airways' loyalty program during COVID: members earn miles for staying home, with 3 million miles up for grabs.
Thai Airways · Wunderman Thompson Thailand
What it had to solve
In April 2020, Thai Airways was one of the carriers hit hardest by COVID-19: planes grounded, travel demand gone, and a loyalty program whose currency only worked when people flew. The airline wanted to stay relevant and give back while Thailand urged everyone to stay home.
How it works
In April 2020, Thai Airways was among the airlines hit hardest by COVID-19: planes grounded, borders shut, and a frequent-flyer program whose currency only had value when people travelled. The carrier wanted to do something positive for the country that had supported it for 60 years.
Wunderman Thompson Thailand's idea was to invert the loyalty logic. Instead of rewarding travel, the Stay Home Miles Exchange app rewarded staying home: geolocation verified members were at home, and miles were credited to their Royal Orchid Plus accounts, with 3 million miles up for grabs for future travel once the crisis passed.
The campaign leaned on the insight that the excitement of a journey begins with planning, not boarding — so earning miles at home became a way to hold onto hope. An airline, of all brands, became the voice telling Thailand to stay home.
Stay Home Miles Exchange won Spikes Asia 2021 Grands Prix for Brand Experience & Activation and Mobile, and became a reference example of crisis-era loyalty marketing — a grounded airline turning its unusable miles into goodwill.
Why it lands
- It inverted the category's core mechanic — fly more, earn more — so the brand's own product logic argued for staying home.
- The app made the promise verifiable: geolocation ensured miles went to people who actually stayed put.
- It kept a grounded airline present and useful at the exact moment its product was unavailable.
- The 'hope for future travel' framing turned a crisis-time gesture into a positive story worth sharing.
What it did
Thai Airways put 3 million miles on offer to members who stayed put, making an airline the messenger of 'stay home'. The campaign won Spikes Asia 2021 Grands Prix for Brand Experience & Activation and Mobile, and became a reference example of a loyalty program repurposed in a crisis.
What you can take
When a crisis kills the behavior you sell, invert the reward: miles for staying home kept a grounded airline relevant. A loyalty currency can reward what society needs, not just what you sell.
Since then
The campaign ran during Thailand's first lockdown and was later showcased in the Spikes Asia Creativity Report as a pandemic response model. It became a reference point for loyalty programs repurposed in crises, though Thai Airways' own financial troubles continued through the pandemic — the creative idea outlived the immediate campaign.
Sources
- Thai Airways Encourages People to Stay Home with Miles as Rewards
- Thai Airways to give away 3,000,000 miles to encourage people to Stay Home
- Awards: Spikes Asia Grands Prix and Special Award winners announced
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