EXCLUSIVE: United “Flying High” with One of the Largest Loyalty Programs in the World

Name: Thomas F. O’Toole

Company: United Airlines

Title: Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Mileage Plus Holdings LLC for United

Related NEXTcast Interview: Chase Strengthens Partnership with United’s MileagePlus®

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What I’m working on now… This is a great time at MileagePlus. We’re working on our 2012 MileagePlus program, which is well along towards its introduction early next year. We’re continuing to work on the very successful introduction of our new Chase co-brand card with Chase and our partners at Visa. That is off to a very strong start. Frankly, it is exceeding our optimistic expectations for that card.

There are many airline loyalty initiatives. What makes United’s program unique? I would start with scale. United Airlines is the world’s leading airline. MileagePlus, as we consolidated with the OnePass program of Continental Airlines, is the largest travel loyalty program in the world and may well be the largest loyalty program in the world overall. We have a very large co-brand card portfolio and an unmatched network of partners.

Cash is… still useful.

eCommerce is… converging with mobile devices, loyalty programs, payment systems and social media.

The most important thing to consumers is… practical utility.

Bio: Thomas F. O’Toole is Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Mileage Plus Holdings LLC for United, the world’s leading airline. In this role, O’Toole is responsible for leading the company’s worldwide loyalty programs (Mileage Plus and OnePass), program growth, partner relationships, customer relationship management systems, customer analytics, media business and business development.

Prior to assuming his current position, O’Toole was Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for United Airlines, overseeing the development and implementation of the company’s worldwide brand, marketing, distribution, customer experience, ecommerce, merchandising and customer contact strategies.
Before joining United Airlines, O’Toole was Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Information Officer for Global Hyatt Corporation, there nearly 14 years. He was responsible for overseeing brand strategy, marketing, loyalty programs, distribution, ecommerce, reservations, information technology and related functions for Hyatt’s operating companies and brands worldwide.

O’Toole holds a bachelor’s degree in communications research methodology and a master’s degree in applied communication theory from Cleveland State University.

O’Toole served as a director of Pegasus Solutions, Inc. from 1998 until 2009.