Popularity Grows With Real Estate Incentive Program
In a growing twist on incentive programs, online real estate companies are resorting to alternative tactics, including free airline miles, to tempt consumers to buy or sell a home or choose an agent or finance a mortgage.
The incentive has become so popular, online company LendingTree.com is adding airline partners to another co-branded Web site—RealEstate.com/delta—to broaden its consumer reach. Consumers who belong to Delta Air Lines’ SkyMiles program can now earn miles for buying or selling a home on RealEstate.com.
Under the program, members can earn 3,000 miles for every $10,000 of a home’s sale or purchase amount completed at RealEstate.com/delta. In addition, SkyMiles members who choose to finance a mortgage or receive a home loan via RealEstate.com will receive 1,250 miles for every $10,000 borrowed. LendingTree.com owns and operates RealEstate.com.
To quality for the offer, consumers must use an assigned LendingTree/Delta Network agent to buy or sell a home and be a Delta Sky Miles member. Air miles are offered for home purchases or sales over $75,000.
RealEstate.com is marketing the ongoing promotion with Delta via direct mail, e-mail blasts, Internet materials and through in-flight magazines. Through its latest promotion, the company distributed 50,000 direct mail pieces and sent 1 million e-mail blasts to Delta SkyMiles members. Delta has about 37 million SkyMiles members.
“It’s a really great incentive,” said RealEstate.com spokesperson Mindy Neubauer. “It’s an incentive for something [consumers] are going to do anyway. If you’re going to find a realtor or buy a home, why not earn miles while you’re doing it?”
A member who buys or sells a house for $250,000 with a realtor at RealEstate.com/delta would earn 75,000 miles or enough for three Delta SkySaver Award tickets to any domestic destination or one international location.
“Consumers find value in award travel,” said Jim Morris, program manager of partnership marketing at Delta Air Lines. “The mileage-earning opportunities are huge. There is even more value when you add mileage-earning opportunities to a service that consumers already need. RealEstate.com is convenient and easy to use. It allows SkyMiles members the opportunity to review national listings and financing options in the comfort of their own home.”
What makes the program especially unique, Morris said, is SkyMiles members can redeem miles on Delta, Song, Northwest, Continental and the International SkyTeam partners.
For LendingTree.com, which offers miles via partnerships with five airlines on co-branded sites, the incentive is paying off. Since March 2001, when the program first launched, the number of transactions—including loans and home sales and purchases—jumped by more than 700%, Neubauer said.
In 2001, LendingTree awarded more than 19 million air miles through 723 transactions, she said. In 2004, the Charlotte, N.C.-based company awarded more than 170 million air miles to consumers with 5,296 transactions, Neubauer added.
“RealEstate.com provides consumers with great tools they can use to make smart decisions when buying or selling a home,” she said. “People are more likely to close those transactions because they know they are going to get an incentive.”
In addition to Delta, two other airlines, US Airways and Continental Airlines, have partnered with RealEstate.com. United Airlines and Northwest will join the site in the effort this year, Neubauer said.
As part of a separate promotion, LendingTree.com is offering SkyMiles members the chance to earn 1 million Delta SkyMiles worth about $18,500. Members can enter the LendingTree Million Miles Sweepstakes by logging on to LendingTree.com/delta and completing an entry form.
The sweepstakes is open to consumers 18 and older and runs through May 31. The winner will be selected at random on June 20. Limit one entry per person. Internet materials support.
