Swap your location data for airline miles

New app, Frequent Flyer, tracks location data and rewards users with points that they can exchange for tickets with participating airlines.

With the number of flights increasing year on year, it is perhaps unsurprising that Springwise has covered various innovations surrounding airline miles. Back in 2012, we saw a social innovation that allows users to donate their airline miles to the terminally ill so that they can visit their relatives. Then in 2014, there was this flight comparison platform that allowed those looking for flights to factor in high reward miles when searching for their best option. Now Placed, a location analytics specialist, has released a new app, Frequent Flyer, in which customers opt-in to location measurement in exchange for airline miles.

Users download the app (which measures data in the background) and accrue rewards as they travel, with the possibility of earning up to 100 airline miles per month. They are also given the option to increase their rewards by completing surveys based on the places they’ve visited.

Frequent Flyer is the third app to be released by Placed, along with Give2Charity and Panel App, that allows consumers to share their location data for the purpose of research and analytics. The company is clear about its aims to be transparent and protect customers’ privacy. David Shim, Founder and CEO of Placed explains, “Frequent Flyer gives consumers the ability to choose who has access to their data, and provides them with a clear value exchange in airline miles.”

Placed is one of the largest databases of proprietary location information. Will this upfront exchange of information for reward become more commonplace?