Ally Wallo is Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Janaki Talati is Director of Financial Partnerships at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. Wyndham Rewards, Wyndham’s loyalty program, is a brand finalist for the 2022 Loyalty360 Awards in the Customer Loyalty Innovation and Transformation, and Program Partnerships categories.
Wallo oversees Wyndham’s strategic partner relationships, engaging Wyndham Rewards members by giving them unique ways to earn and redeem points beyond just hotel stays. Meanwhile, Talati partners with Barclays to drive growth on their co-branded credit card, the Wyndham Rewards Earner Card, and evaluates new financial partnership opportunities for the rewards program.
Wyndham Rewards was designed for the everyday traveler and is one of the most-awarded hotel loyalty programs in the travel industry. Known for being both simple and generous, program members earn the greater of 10 points for every dollar spent or a guaranteed 1,000 points on each qualified stay, and are able to unlock additional perks—think free Wi-Fi, a preferred room and late checkout—after just three nights. Today, program membership exceeds 95 million.
During the pandemic, Wyndham began to look at their loyalty efforts through a new lens, seeking out new partnerships that would allow members to further engage with the program—even when not traveling—through a variety of everyday activities. As a result, members today can earn and/or redeem points for gas, groceries, Home Chef meal kit deliveries, Caesars Entertainment, and more. Additionally, through a partnership with loyalty provider Bakkt, members can even redeem loyalty points for cash.
Complementing its broader partnership efforts, Wyndham recently launched a new co-branded credit card, expanding its suite of Wyndham Rewards Earner Cards: the Wyndham Rewards Earner Access Card. Created in partnership with Barclays, the new card enables Wyndham to engage members who otherwise don’t qualify for the program’s primary cards, all while still offering the member a rich value proposition that mirrors Wyndham’s other cards.
Overall, Wyndham loyalty is built around engagement, growth and development. The success of the program is reflected in the response from members continuing to earn and redeem rewards. The brand measures efficacy through the overall awareness and engagement of the program through its partnerships. While each partnership has its own KPIs and benchmarks by which to measure, Wyndham works with each one for a common goal to drive the relationship.
At their presentations, Wallo and Talati will focus on how partnerships can drive new membership and give existing members more reasons to engage.
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