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AirAsia BIG – The Frequent Flyer Loyalty Program all Expats and Travellers with Connection to Bank Points

We’ve all heard of AirAsia – the king of budget travel – but what about AirAsia BIG? This new AirAsia loyalty program is still very young on the travel scene, and if you’re the kind of traveller, expat or global human who likes a great bargain, it could be your next best friend.

Like any frequent flyer loyalty plan, AirAsia BIG revolves around the idea that you spend with the company to be rewarded by the company. The scheme is linked to a number of partners, and you can both earn and spend your BIG points with these partners.

But the general idea is that you invest more in the airline – makes sense, right? And at the end of the day this no bad thing – the biggest cost of any journey overseas is often the flight, so a free seat on an AirAsia plane could be your metaphorical ticket to your next big adventure.

Image Credit: www.airasiabig.com

What is AirAsia BIG?

AirAsia BIG is a joint venture between the airline and Tune Money, a FinTech company providing a number of mobile and online financial solutions. It is a loyalty program for AirAsia customers based on a prepaid Visa card system, whereby people can earn and spend points with their BIG card or using the BIG ID linked to that card.

It is marketed really well, because the whole idea of the program is to provide big savings on big things, so that you can think big and travel big. There really is a lot of ‘big’ involved. You can earn BIG points from purchasing with a number of affiliate businesses as well as AirAsia, such as Tune Talk, Tune Hotels, Budget, Avis, Starhub, DTAC, Petronas, and major banks such as DBS, Citibank, CIMB, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank Mandiri, BRI, Siam Commercial Bank and Bangkok Bank.

The general aim of AirAsia BIG is to get you excited about travelling with the company. The whole Visa card and BIG points account system makes your BIG membership so easy, and you can spend and earn with your card all over Asia. The scheme targets frequent flyers, and if you’re an expat or you travel often it could end up saving you thousands. According to the Business Insider, though AirAsia BIG points can’t buy you a holiday, they can go a long way towards one!

The program partners with a range of other businesses and corporations, including a number of banks: BIBD, Citibank Malaysia, Standard Chartered, RHB Bank, CIMB Bank, Alliance Bank, MayBank and more. You can earn BIG points with you bank balance or by converting bank credits to BIG points, for example you earn 1,000 BIG points for every 10,000 Standard Chartered 360 degrees rewards, and with CIMB Bank you can earn 250 BIG points with RM 1,500 quarterly balance.

How Does it Work?

AirAsia BIG is FinTech based – register your BIG account online, and from there you can access your BIG points, benefits and other AirAsia details like the flights you have booked and your history with the company. You can use you account to pay too, in fact you don’t even really need the BIG card, just the ID.

Earn BIG Points

It’s really easy to earn BIG points, especially if you travel often. Just like any frequent flyer loyalty program AirAsia BIG is designed to maximise on the travel that you already do – you earn BIG points by buying with AirAsia.

Image Credit: www.businessinsider.my

There are two main ways to earn points.

Use your BIG ID or BIG Card on AirAsia flights – buy an AirAsia flight with your BIG ID and get 1 BIG point for every RM 2 that you spend. You can also redeem points from a flight that you booked before you got your AirAsia BIG account, as long as you fly after the date you registered.
Redeem points from AirAsia BIG’s partners – there are a number of partners and affiliates listed on the AirAsia BIG site from which you can earn BIG points. All the info is there – who to buy from, how much you will earn, etc.

Spend BIG Points

You can spend your BIG points on a range of things either using your BIG ID or your BIG card.

Why Do I Want it?

Life gets a little bit cheaper – As an expat, traveller or digital nomad, saving money on flights and accommodation can be a really big help in making your next adventure come true, or booking a trip back home.
It’s so easy – You can earn points for your AirAsia BIG account without even thinking about it. This is a perk that most frequent flyer plans employ, but that doesn’t make it any less significant! It’s always exciting to be earning money without trying, or even realising that you are.
It’s not just flights – AirAsia BIG points can be used on a number of things besides flights, from hotel rooms to your next home appliance. Anything you buy on an AirAsia flight, duty free from their catalogue or with Tune Hotels, can be bought with BIG points. This is so useful as a traveller or someone living overseas, because you can buy what you need as you need it – need a new facial moisturiser? Pick it up from duty free with BIG points before you land.
Image Credit: www.tunehotels.com
It’s all on online – FinTech solutions are everywhere – technological answers to managing your money – and the reason this industry is so popular is because it is convenient and cheap. AirAsia BIG’s online platform is all you need to manage your points and track your redemptions. You register yourself as an AirAsia BIG Shot online too, so there is no need for time consuming, face-to-face set-up processes. This is great if you’re always on the road, since you can access your BIG account anytime anywhere from the wondrous web of the internet.
You’re a VIP – That’s right, you’re very important. I think so, and AirAsia does too if you are a BIG shot! They’ll let you know first up about their latest promotions and deals. You also gain exclusive access to BIG deals on AirAsia flights – these deals are not available to the public, only to members.