Air Miles has introduced its redesigned iPhone and Android loyalty application that lets consumers access information, including their account balances. 

The Air Miles app lets users access features such as account information where they can check their Air Miles balances and also includes a GPS locator to quickly find sponsor locations and offers. The app is available for free download in Apple?s App Store and Google?s Android Market.

?Air Miles is Canada's largest coalition loyalty program with over 220 sponsors and a multitude of rewards products,? said Melody Adhami, president and chief operating officer at Plastic Mobile.

?Naturally, mobile can help them to continue to better meet the needs of their 10 million collectors,? she said. ?Loyalty programs such as Air Miles with a large user base are seeing the value of making everything accessible on the mobile, which is becoming more and more prolific. Mobile just makes sense because it means one less card in your wallet.

?Moreover, for organizations like Air Miles and many of its sponsors, the mobile space offers a unique platform to engage users by allowing them to connect with the brand more frequently and on a more intimate and convenient level.?

Founded in 1992, the Air Miles Reward Program is Canada's coalition loyalty program.

Air Miles tapped Plastic Mobile to help redesign the app.

Check-in
Part of its redesign, the Air Miles app features a Check-in Challenge which will be there until April 30, 2012.

The Check-in Challenge is a mobile game that ranks the number of check-ins consumers do at Air Miles.

At the end of the month, the top 50 users with the highest number of check-ins will get a check-in bonus.

The Check-in Challenge was designed to add a gameification layer to the app.

Users can compete against each other to earn more reward miles faster.

?Plastic Mobile was thrilled to be set to the task of creating a revised mobile initiative for Air Miles,? Ms. Adhami said. ?We wanted to create a fresh mobile experience for existing customers, new users and a significant value-add opportunity for sponsors.

?According to user feedback, the first thing we wanted to look at was enhancing the usability,? she said. ?It was imperative that we add an Android version to expand the reach of the application, and to include a gaming element to the user interface that would enable loyalty collectors to earn rewards and provide an exciting and unique feature to the app.

?We took an existing check-in component and transformed it into the Check-in Challenge.?

Game on
The company is hoping that the game element would get users to start talking about it and let friends and family know about the game as well.

?As the mobile space grows and expands, it becomes a more essential part of our everyday lives,? Ms. Adhami said.

?Mobile is a uniquely intimate way of engaging customers and enabling them to easily and conveniently access brands' products and services,? she said. ?Mobile is simply an essential facet of any comprehensive marketing strategy.

?By devoting their attention to a quality mobile app, Air Miles gives users the message that they recognize the inherent value of mobile to better meet their collectors' wants and needs.? 

Final Take
Rimma Kats is staff reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York