Hotel Guests Want More Out of Loyalty Programs

Hotel loyalty programs might be due for an upgrade.

During the "Does Loyalty Have a Shelf Life?" panel at the 2021 Hotel Data Conference, hotel executives with specialties in revenue management and sales and marketing discussed some of the loyalty trends that emerged as travel reopened from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vickie Callahan, senior vice president of revenue generation at Atlanta-based Peachtree Hotel Management, said a spike in leisure travel throughout the summer made the loyalty data a bit muddled.

"It's changed just because our guest type has changed so much," Callahan said. "There's a little bit less of an education in our guests today of what the loyalty programs give them, and actually what they're looking for. ... We all know corporate travelers want a ton of points and that's why they're in the loyalty program, but I don't know that the leisure traveler understands the value of that."

Pent-up leisure demand and trips funded with federal stimulus checks have led to more first-time loyalty members who don't fully understand the loyalty program perks and what they're eligible for, said Jason Fawaz, vice president of revenue at Iowa-based hotel management company Hawkeye Hotels.

"They think because they have that [Hilton] Honors number or that [Marriott International] Bonvoy number attached to the reservation they're entitled to the world," Fawaz said. "The joke used to be pre-pandemic [a guest might say] 'Oh, but I'm a diamond member.' But now it seems to be 'Oh, but I'm a blue member.' The blue members, the entry-level tiers, think that they're entitled to the same perks as the diamond members."