Brightline unveils a loyalty program: Here’s everything you need to know

Brightline Rewards

Brightline Rewards will offer frequent riders the opportunity to earn points on train rides.

The base rate will be 5 points per dollar spent on eligible Brightline purchases. A unique twist compared to the airline loyalty programs so many of us are accustomed to: You can earn points on multiple tickets. Whoever bought the tickets will get the points. So, if you book a train ride for yourself and some family members you’d earn all the points.

Redemptions with Brightline Rewards

What can you do with Brightline’s new points? There are a variety of options.

Brightline Rewards members can redeem points for train rides. The company plans to offer options for total award bookings (in other words, a “free” ride) and a cash-and-points option, similar to what several airline and hotel loyalty programs offer to customers who don’t have enough miles or points to cover an entire booking.

How many points does it take for a redemption?

Now, the big question: How many points will a train ride cost?

Brightline plans to use dynamic pricing, the company told TPG.

That means the number of points you’ll need for a redemption will vary from one booking to the next. As a result, how many points you’ll need for a redemption will depend on several factors, including the type of seat and the popularity of travel dates.

For the sake of demonstration, here are specific examples the company provided.

• A short-haul ride between Miami and West Palm Beach: For an example fare of $35, you’d need approximately 3,500 points to fully cover the booking.

• A longer ride between Miami and Orlando: For a $75 fare, you’d need approximately 7,500 points to cover the ride.

That’s around one cent in value per point, in both cases.

We found similar value on redemptions we searched through Brightlien’s booking channels.

Here’s a ride from Orlando to Miami. For the cheapest Smart ticket (Brightline’s base fare), you could opt for the $39 fare — or a redemption of 3,900 Brightline Rewards points.

There are no points minimums to redeem, no blackout dates and no hidden rules.

One thing to note, however, is that your Brightline Rewards points will expire after a year of inactivity.

Points look to have a base value of one penny per point.

“Brightline Rewards was designed with our guests in mind,” said Barbara Drahl, Brightline’s senior vice president of marketing and commercial strategy. “We have intentionally made it really simple to sign up, really simple to join, simple to earn and to redeem.”

Redeeming points for ‘extras’

Drahl also pointed out that Brightline has no minimums for reaching points to redeem. To that end, the new program will allow members to redeem smaller sums of points for ancillary items like bags, concessions or upgrades to the premium cars.

“As soon as points are awarded after the ride is taken, a guest can use those points right back into their next upgrade, or purchase, or baggage, or any kind of ancillary item,” Drahl.

How to redeem Brightline Rewards points

It should be fairly straightforward to redeem your Brightline Rewards points:

• Points can be applied during checkout when booking through the Brightline app or website. You can use points toward train tickets, upgrades, baggage fees, pet fees, daily parking, multiride packs and monthly parking. Guests will see the option to redeem points on the payment screen.
• Members can show their Brightline Rewards digital card (in the app or saved in a mobile wallet) for 10% off at Mary Mary and Mrkt in the station.
• To see your points total, log in to your Brightline account on the website or app and head to the Brightline Rewards section under “My Account.” You’ll see your current points balance, pending points and full transaction history.

Brightline partners

While Brightline doesn’t have partners where you can earn or burn Brightline Rewards points, at least so far, the company is teaming up with several corporate partners, including Loews Hotels, Marriott Bonvoy and Major League Baseball.

Just one example?

How to join Brightline Rewards

You can sign up for a Brightline account online or download the app.

It’s free to join. Current users can create or log in to their Brightline account and then opt into Brightline Rewards.

When I logged into my account on the app, I was immediately prompted to enroll, as you can see in the screenshots below.

Once enrolled, members earn points on qualifying purchases made through the Brightline app or gobrightline.com.

Brightline Rewards sweepstakes

To kick off the program, the company is launching a sweepstakes with a 1 million-point giveaway. Guests who enroll in Brightline Rewards by May 30 will be automatically entered to win one of hundreds of prizes of points in increments ranging from 500 to 100,000. The company also told The Points Guy:

“A second way for Brightline Rewards Members to win a piece of the one million points giveaway is the Brightline Rewards Traveling Wall. Making its way to each Brightline station, the wall of envelopes contains rewards ranging from 500 points to food and beverage discounts. The Brightline Rewards Traveling Wall will make its way to each Brightline Station between now and April 14.”

Bottom line

Brightline has unveiled a fun new loyalty program called Brightline Rewards. You can now earn points on train travel on Brightline, and the company said you can expect to see more partners and ways to earn unveiled later this year. Among the deals they are working on are interline agreements with airlines.

Goddard, the company’s CEO, said they want to have a “first-class” loyalty program that will be familiar to airline loyalists. This could eventually also include various elite tiers, in the future.

There are lots of exciting things ahead for this innovative train company.

“We have for years been trying to convert people from driving their cars to taking the train,” said Goddard. “This is just another way for us and an effective way for us to create loyalty and to create adherence to our service in a market that otherwise is car-dependent. It’s really about creating an incentive for people to try Brightline if they haven’t done so before, or if they’re already riders, to ride more frequently.”

Related reading: