Loyalty programme addict and Hilton HHonors member, Up in the Air?s Ryan Bingham, better known as George Clooney: as a frequent traveller, one would t
Diskin highlights the need for “greater experiences”, which is key when it comes to rewards because loyalty members do not merely expect a discounted rate or an upgrade.
They need to be looked after, valued and part of a loyal community following that hotel chain. Rarely are they like George Clooney’s alter ego Ryan Bingham from the film Up in the Air, which brought Hilton HHonors to the big screen. Bingham spends at hotels merely to add to his frequent flyer miles tally in an effort to hit the prestigious 10 million miles — not to actually go anywhere.
“I don’t spend a nickel, if I can help it, unless it somehow profits my mileage account — I’d be the seventh person to do it. More people have walked on the moon,” Bingham says proudly.
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The film was great for bringing loyalty programmes to the forefront, but outside of Hollywood, loyalty members are looking to cash in their points for something real.
As Jeff Strachan, vice president sales and marketing, Middle East and Africa for Marriott International, explains: “Customers can choose to earn Marriott Rewards points. Alternatively they can swap the points into miles and earn with their preferred airline partner. We have an excellent programme online called dreamrewards tracker. This solution helps our customers set a goal for a dream vacation”.
Hilton prides itself on its ‘Double Dip’ approach, which enables members to earn points and miles, or points and points, for the same hotel stay and Hotel Reward Exchange, which offers hotel points for airline miles and airline miles for points with participating airlines.
In addition, several chains claim to have revolutionised the industry with no blackout policies, which means members can redeem their points wherever and whenever they want, not just outside of holidays.
Diskin claims that Hilton was the first “and still the only” hotel guest loyalty programme to offer members “both points and miles and no blackout dates”.
He adds: “Last year, we announced a new partnership with JetBlue — making Hilton Worldwide JetBlue’s very first hotel partner. Now Hilton HHonors and JetBlue’s TrueBlue members will have the opportunity to earn one TrueBlue point for every two US dollars spent on stays at any of the hotels in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio”.
Pick your partners
However, guests don’t simply collect points and redeem them for rooms. A successful hotel loyalty scheme has to be far more diversified. Many hotel chains partner with airlines. The offer varies but the premise is the same — if you want more people to travel to your hotel, you need to support the entire travel process.
Taylor explains SPG’s offering: “In 2008, SPG launched SPG Flights, which allows our members to use their points to book flights on hundreds of domestic and international airlines with no blackout dates.
Members can simply go to our site, search for and select their preferred flight and the class of service, and redeem their Starpoints for the entire cost of their flight. Members may even earn airline miles when booking airfare through SPG Flights”.
But what else can members ‘earn’? In order to make the new Ritz-Carlton Rewards distinct and of more value to the luxury traveller, Ritz-Carlton has placed heavy emphasis on securing the right partners for its programme.
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