RIGA — Latvian airline airBaltic Wednesday hosted a press conference in Riga announcing the launch of its new bonus points program BalticMiles, which it ambitiously called a “new currency.”

The airline launched the new system in conjunction with nine other partners at the start of October and already boasts 20,000 members. The program replaces the old Eurobonus program.

“This is a Baltic program, it is not Latvian, Estonian or Lithuanian, but for all Baltic states. It will be simple and cost effective loyalty program for customers,” Bertolt Flick, president of airBaltic told journalists.

The BalticMiles program has nine partners, most of which are based in Latvia. The group will expand, but only to selected companies, Flick said.

The program will involve an expanding number of businesses that will earn users points when they go shopping.

“The network is large…internet shops where you can buy iPhone or other commodities. You can go to the cinema and when they take a friend with them, they accrue points,” Flick said.

Perhaps the best reason to have the card is to avoid airBaltic’s soon-to-be included check in fee when flying, which it previously didn’t have.

A €5.00 will soon be levied for those checking in at the airport, but the fee can be avoided by checking in online or by joining the program — what Flick calls “soft persuasion.”

AirBaltic representatives were unable to quantify exactly how the points would be counted or how purchases would convert into points.

The company however said that after 12 flights with the airline, that a BalticMiles user could get a free flight, but purchases and points schemes for other partners is unknown.

The partners in the program currently include Nordea bank, Latvijas Mobilais Telefons, Reval Hotels, Islande Hotel Airbaltic hotels, Sixt rentacar, Eurolines Lux Express, SAS, ESPA Riga and Forum Cinemas.

“This process is becoming more important in the world and it will solve the main program of the loyalty programs,” Nordea Bank representative Valdis Siksnis said. “You will be able to accrue points from all the partners. 28 million points in the world – when you use this card to pay, you can accrue these BalticMiles,” he said.

Nordea Bank will begin issuing credit cards using the BalticMiles “currency” in November this year.

Reval Hotel’s Heikki Vanhanen thinks it will make the Baltics a more attractive market for tourism.

“This is a strong tool and we believe it will bring us more business. We see the only way is to put our forced together because we are competing against other destinations and other countries in eastern Europe,” Vanhanen said.