Registered Traveler program provider FLO Alliance today detailed its business model, outlining its focus on joint marketing programs and additional traveler benefits beyond the core expedited airport security lane offering. The provider, which includes Saflink, Microsoft and Johnson Controls, plans to implement its program upon the launch of lanes at Huntsville, Ala., International Airport, which last week became the first airport to sign a deal with the provider.
The alliance today also officially announced the appointment of Fred Fischer, formerly with competitor Verified Identity Pass, as senior vice president, as well as Business Travel Coalition chairman Kevin Mitchell, who will serve as an ombudsman and liaison to corporate travelers and managers.
Fischer today during the National Business Travel Association Financial Forum in New York said FLO would offer three tiers of membership, the most basic of which would start at $99 and include access to Registered Traveler lanes as well as parking benefits at airports with which FLO Alliance signs deals. Platinum and Global tiers would offer travelers more benefits and higher pricing options. Fischer said FLO would determine specific pricing and benefits prior to its launch at Huntsville, the timing of which remains undisclosed. He said plans include such options as airport lounge access, priority airline seating, airline status upgrades and discounts with travel providers and airport concession vendors. Fischer said the alliance is seeking partnerships with travel suppliers.
Fischer said one key difference between the FLO model and those of its competitors is that the bulk of FLO revenue would come from co-marketing initiatives, not from the sale of Registered Traveler cards. Fischer said that with less reliance on selling cards, FLO would be able to give deeper discounts to travel buyers who purchase memberships in bulk.
Meanwhile, Verified Identity Pass is the only Registered Traveler provider operating lanes. The company now has Clear Registered Traveler checkpoints operating at airports in Orlando, New York, San Jose, Cincinnati and Indianapolis. The provider this month signed an agreement to operate lanes at Albany International Airport and added Virgin Atlantic to its roster of airlines that sponsor lanes at one of three terminals at New York's JFK International. Unisys, meanwhile, said it plans to open its first lane in Reno early next month
(BTN, Feb. 5).