Hotels are offering travelers with ‘point fatigue’ experiences and amenities instead
The Leading Hotels of the World has never offered a points-based loyalty system, but the organization that represents more than 430 luxury independent properties wanted to find unique ways to reward members of its Leaders Club.
“There’s a lot of point fatigue out there,” said Phil Logsdon, Director of Loyalty Marketing at Leading Hotels of the World. “These people all have high-end credit cards, they all travel. They have miles and points — some of them literally might have millions of them. They accrue them but don’t really value them because they don’t get anything out of them or there’s frustration trying to use them. They’re never available when they want to use them.”
Its answer is one familiar to economy brands: complimentary continental breakfast for two and complimentary Internet access. That’s in addition to existing benefits such as the ability to earn free nights, early check-in and late check-out, room upgrades, welcome gifts and exclusive rates. Extra benefits for members of the Unlimited level include the Leaders Club global concierge service, guaranteed room upgrade at the time of booking and Priority Pass access to 600 VIP airport lounges worldwide.
The new benefits came after an even more substantial change last year: the ability to earn a free night. Still, Leading Hotels resisted points: the free night was awarded after guests stayed at member hotels for five stays, which included at least two different hotels.
The philosophy behind the program is to keep it as simple as possible. Logsdon described it as “having humility and not expecting our customers to learn a complex program.”
Non-point rewards may also make sense for hotels without huge distribution.
NYLO Hotels, with four locations, does not offer a points-based loyalty program. Instead, its Club NYLO offers various rewards that are up to the discretion of front-desk staff. Guests may get a room upgrade, a free appetizer or a T-shirt.
Patrick O’Neil, NYLO’s executive vice president of operations, conceded that points-hungry travelers like consultants probably won’t stay at NYLOs. But, he said at the AH&LA conference this fall, the company’s focus group research showed that NYLO’s program was on track.
“A lot of people want to use their points on a resort vacation,” he said. “Is that brand loyalty or is that points hogging?”
A recent study of loyalty program members revealed that travelers want expanded choice or redemption options. The 2010 Frequent Traveler Survey from Loylogic surveyed nearly 40,000 people that represented more than 10 loyalty programs around the world.
The survey concluded that one-size-fits-all loyalty program would no longer suffice. The next generation of reward programs should “offer unique, desirable and, importantly, attainable reward options. In order to increase the participation rate of businesses’ loyalty programs, they must offer lower level redemption offers, to encourage earlier engagement in the loyalty program, and increased revenues over time.”
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