CO-BRAND & TRAVEL REWARDS 2026
Tuesday X
2.30pm – 3.00pm
Welcome Coffee & Registration
3.00pm – 3.30pm
Chairman:
– Ian Young, Head of Loyalty Account Management, Comarch
>Download Presentation Here
How to enter the US Co-brand market with a different proposition to miles
– Jonathan Rossman, Head of Co-brand Credit Card, Booking.com in conversation with
– Darren Gillmor, Head of Co-brand Business Development, Visa
3.30pm – 4.00pm
State of the Union Address: Where are co-brands and travel reward cards heading to?
– Bill Hanifin, CEO, Wise Marketer Group
Access the Barclays 2025 Travel Rewards & Loyalty Report by clicking here
>Download Presentation Here
4.00pm – 5.00pm
The Famous Ai Events Lions’ Den: Innovative product pitches
Back by popular demand the Lions’ Den new products and service pitching contest returns to the Co-brand and Travel Rewards conference. The sessions is for innovative start-ups (or brand new products from estasblished players) pitch for 5 minutes each, and then take 5 minutes of questions from our experienced judges. Judges will choose a Best Product, while the audience will choose Best Pitch.
We will also have John Ventura, Chief Development Officer of Skeps and a previous Lions’ Den winner sharing an update on business progress!
Ringmaster and Lions (Judges)
– Michael Smith, Board Director, Ai Events (Ringmaster)
– Steve Mathwig, Senior Manager Loyalty Program Engagement, Best Western Hotels
– Jonathan Clarkson, Chief Product Officer, Southwest Airlines
– Chris Daugherty, Director of Loyalty & Co-Brand, Spirit Airlines
Pitchers
– Darwinium Download Presentation Here
– kalder Download Presentation Here
– Celitech Download Presentation Here
5.00pm – 7.00pm
Networking Reception taking place at Avenida Restaurant (in same PENN 1 building). The session will feature games benefitting Kids First Fund.
CO-BRAND & TRAVEL REWARDS 2026
Wednesday X
8.30am – 8.50am
Registration, Check-In and Breakfast Sponsored by Access
8.50am – 9.00am
Welcome from the Chair – Opening Remarks
– Ian Young, Head of Loyalty Account Management, Comarch
>Download Presentation Here
9.00am – 9.25am
The Flying Blue Story – how KLM/Air France launched their co-brand outside their home market
– Peter Schinasi, Loyalty Director USA Canada Mexico, Air France KLM in conversation with
– Ian Young, Head of Loyalty Account Management, Comarch
>Download Presentation Here
9.25am – 9.50am
Kong v Godzilla: US Banks and Airlines in the fight for Traveller Loyalty
– Jay Sorensen, President, IdeaWorksCompany
9.50am – 10.15am
Using Credit Orchestration to maximise card uptake
– Mike Isom, Spirit Airlines in conversation with
– Tushar Srivastava, CEO, Skeps
>Download Presentation Here
10.15am – 10.45am
Networking and Coffee Break
10.45am – 11.15am
Getting more cards in to more wallets: How to break the Credit Barrier
– Pedro Silva, CEO & Co-founder, Alviere
>Download Presentation Here
11.15am – 11.40am
Managing Mileage Profitability
– Manolis Bardis, Head of Loyalty Team, WTW
>Download Presentation Here
11.40am – 12.30pm
Panel Session: As premium co-brands fight it out with ever bigger fees and bonuses is this mileage and point inflation and will that kill the whole loyalty play?
Moderator
– Michael Pool, Consultant & former International Co-brand at Marriott
Panellists
– Spenser Marrich-Simon, Head of Loyalty, Allegiant
– Aleks Kaczmarek, VP Loyalty, CarTrawler
– Gökçe Güven, Founder & CEO, kalder
– Paula Sierra, Business Development Manager, Comarch
12.30pm – 2.00pm
Lunch & Networking
2.00pm – 2.30pm
Fireside Chat: How to build fraud free promotions and why loyalty Account Take Over should be on your radar screen
– Ben Davey, Co-Founder & Head of Products, Darwinium
– Chris Staab, Co-Founder, Loyalty Security Alliance
>Download Presentation Here
2.30pm – 3.00pm
Personalised marketing – how using data and AI can actually deliver real results
– Katya Nieburg-Wheeler, Executive Director, deluxe
>Download Presentation Here
3.00pm – 3.30pm
How A Neobank/Fintech Is Helping Take Co-Brand Card Partnership To The Next Level
– Katlin Mathison, Strategic Partnerships Director, Neo Financial
>Download Presentation Here
3.30pm – 4.00pm
Coffee Break & Networking Sponsored by Comarch
4.00pm – 5.00pm
Panel Session: Digital and Account to Account Payments, Open Banking and Wallets: Threat or Opportunity for Co-brands?
Moderator
– Michael Smith, Board Director, Ai Events
Speakers & Panellists
– Janaki Talati, Senior Director New Products, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
– Yosef Peterseil, Chief Operating Officer, Blings
– Tom Trotta, VP Sales & Partnerships, Allianz
– Pedro Silva, CEO & Co-founder, Alviere
5.00pm – 6.00pm
