Introduction

In a market where customer loyalty and profitability are key, it’s not just about maximizing short-term spending. The crucial question is: How travel-oriented is a customer – and how can that be monetized? The Travel Affinity Score provides a data-driven answer. It measures the degree of travel-related activity based on geo-referenced transactions and enables credit card providers to optimize their offerings and communications accordingly. The result: higher conversion, better targeting, and improved customer loyalty.

What is the Travel Affinity Score?

The Travel Affinity Score analyzes geo-coded transaction data to assess how strongly a customer is engaged in travel-related activities. Key factors include transaction location, frequency of international payments, time of year, and category codes (e.g., airlines, hotels, mobility services).

A high score signals strong potential for travel-related products and services.

The foundation:

• Geo-referenced transaction data (domestic vs. abroad)
• Frequency and recency of international travel activity
• Category and merchant codes (e.g., airlines, car rentals)
• Seasonality and time-based travel patterns
• Device and channel usage during travel (e.g., mobile app logins)

Why the Travel Affinity Score is Crucial for Credit Card Providers

• Travel-related upselling: Customers with high travel affinity can be targeted with offers for lounge access, travel insurance, or premium cards.
• Partnership marketing: Travel-strong segments are ideal for co-branded campaigns with hotels, airlines, and travel platforms.
• Risk management: Understanding travel behavior helps with fraud detection and dynamic limit management.
• Product design: Insights into travel intensity inform the development of global benefits and mobile features.

Real-World Example

A credit card provider uses the Travel Affinity Score to identify customers who frequently travel abroad and show high transaction activity at airports and hotels. The result: these customers receive targeted offers for a premium card with travel insurance, concierge service, and free lounge access.

The outcome: increased product uptake, better customer retention, and reduced churn in premium segments.

How the Travel Affinity Score Impacts the Customer Lifecycle

• Acquisition Geo-transaction data helps identify which new customers are likely to be frequent travelers – and thus good candidates for travel-related products.
• Activation Early insights into travel affinity support targeted onboarding measures, such as welcome benefits for first-time travelers or digital travel guides.
• Retention Travel-active customers are engaged with relevant content, loyalty perks, and exclusive access services.
• Reactivation When travel activity declines, proactive reactivation campaigns (e.g., “Your next trip is on us”) can reignite engagement.

What’s Behind It?

Our Travel Affinity models combine location-based transaction data with behavioral patterns, customer profiles, and channel interactions. Machine learning models calculate a dynamic score that helps predict the potential for travel-relevant upselling and engagement.

Typical data sources:

• Location of transactions over time
• Merchant category and international usage
• Loyalty program activity (e.g., miles, travel rewards)
• Mobile usage and in-app travel behavior
• Comparison to historical patterns of similar customers

Conclusion

The Travel Affinity Score is more than just a travel indicator – it’s a monetization tool for travel-heavy customer segments. Providers that recognize and develop these customers early can tailor campaigns, reduce churn, and generate higher margins through smart travel products.

Credit card issuers who leverage travel patterns as a performance lever gain a clear competitive advantage – in acquisition, upselling, and customer loyalty.

Ready to Make Travel Affinity Part of Your Strategy?

Let’s talk about your score-based travel targeting.