Your Tiers Tell Members When to Stop Trying

Shawn Tan

10 minutes ago

3 min read

By Shawn Tan, Interactive Rewards Asia

Published 2nd November 2026

THE PROBLEM

A bank cardholder reaches Gold status in August. From that day until 31 December, nothing she spends moves her forward. A petrol station member is far short of the next tier in November. He sees the gap and stops trying.

Neither member is disloyal. Both are responding sensibly to the rules. Your tier design may be switching off your most valuable members for months every year.

WHY THIS MATTERS NOW

Since October 2025, three of the largest airline programmes in the region have rewritten their tier rules. Many bank, telco and retail programmes copied their tier model from airlines. These changes deserve attention outside aviation.

From 1 January 2027, Cathay will stop resetting Status Points to zero when a member moves up a tier. Gold members and above will also carry surplus points into the next year, up to 50% of the requirement for their tier.

Qantas announced its own overhaul on 27 August 2026. From 8 December, members can roll over part of their surplus Status Credits. They can also earn up to 140 Status Credits a year from everyday spending outside flights. Qantas says two-thirds of all Qantas Points are now earned on the ground.

Malaysia Airlines took a different step. Its Enrich programme raised the Elite Points needed for Platinum from 100 to 140, starting with the 2027 membership year.

Research explains why progress design matters. A 2006 study in the Journal of Marketing Research found that café customers bought coffee more often as they got closer to a free reward. Effort rises as the goal gets closer. A rule that moves the goal far away, or removes it, has the opposite effect.

A tier is not only a reward. It is a set of instructions that tells members when to try and when to stop.

WHERE MOST TEAMS GET IT WRONG

The year-end cliff
Progress resets to zero on one date, so any effort above the threshold is wasted. Members who qualify early have no reason to keep going. Members who are far behind give up before the year ends.

Only one route to status
Many programmes count only one type of spend toward a tier. Some members engage in other ways. They pay bills in the app, use partners or refer friends. Those members never see a goal they can reach.

Thresholds set from the top down
Teams often set the qualifying level from the spend of their best members. Then they raise it when costs go up. Few teams first check how many members sit just below each threshold. That group decides whether a tier change gains or loses behaviour.

WHAT TO DO INSTEAD

Make surplus effort count

Let members carry part of their surplus into the next year. Qantas will let Gold, Platinum and Platinum One members roll over 50% of excess Status Credits, capped at 350 for Gold and 500 for the Platinum tiers. Cathay will keep points in place when members move up. The cap matters. It limits the cost to the programme. It also gives members a reason to keep going after they qualify.

Open more than one route to status

Qantas will allow up to 140 Status Credits a year from 10 categories of everyday spending, including credit cards and Woolworths Everyday Rewards. Apply the same idea to your own sector. A telco could count on-time bill payment and app top-ups. A petrol programme could count convenience store spend and partner purchases. Put a limit on each route, so that status still reflects real value.

Show progress, and give members a head start

In the same 2006 study, some customers received a 12-stamp card with two stamps already filled. They completed their purchases faster than customers with a plain 10-stamp card. The real distance was the same. Show tier progress on your app home screen and in every statement. For members just below a threshold, a small starting bonus may change more behaviour than a large campaign for everyone.

THE OUTCOME

When tier rules reward continued effort, the year has fewer quiet months. Status members keep transacting after they qualify. Members near a threshold see a goal they can reach, not a gap they cannot close. Spending spreads across the year instead of rushing into the final quarter.

Rollover and extra routes have a cost. Cap them and track them as a liability. Then watch one measure: the share of tier members who are still active in the last three months of the qualifying year. If that share rises after a redesign, your tiers are working.