Comments on: Top 10: the world’s best hotel loyalty programs

By: Ellen Philip

Ellen Philip — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 15:49:09 +0000

I often wonder why none of these hotels offer a loyalty program like Jameson Inns did several years ago (before they were acquired and taken private). The program offered $10 worth of Jameson Inns’ publicly traded stock for every $100 spent at a Jameson Inn. It was called “Invest While You Rest”. When that program ended because there was no more publicly traded stock to offer, the members of the program complained and said they didn’t want the check that they were to receive – they wanted their stock!

By: markbatham

markbatham — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 09:27:24 +0000

Love to read all of comments for hotel loyalty programs and happy to know the loyalty reward programs for top hotels. I would like to add one more loyalty reward program, which is not well known but yet is great and I’ve enjoyed it. And it is for the Mont Calm properties in London & the reward program run through the Mont Calm Club.
I’m not saying that it is the best, but you can avail a free night stay at any of the Mont Calm property in London, and also you can get the points on spend of every pound.
I think who is going to book hotels in the Mont Calm properties, should be aware about this.

By: Ventsislav Dimitrov

Ventsislav Dimitrov — Sat, 16 Sep 2017 13:27:56 +0000

I agree with the post about IHG. It is not what it was. Recently I tried 2 of their “guarantees”. I tried to use the “Best price guarantee”. They waited 2 days until the lower fare on Ctrip expired to tell me that there is no such price. Moreover stated that the room type I booked was not matching any of their room types… like the online travel agents are offering rooms that do not exist in their hotel. As it was the cheapest room I booked on their site obviously the room offered by Ctrip matches any type of room (i.e. lower than the cheapest room on IHG website). The second “guarantee” they failed to match just few days later is the “72h availability guarantee for Spire members”, i.e. if you request a room in any hotel 72h in advance they must meet your request… Nothing of that happened. I requested about 2 weeks in advance to book a room in Taipe that was not available for some of the nights I wanted to book and they came back that the hotel cannot confirm the availability. What the word “guarantee” means for them? Apparently not what it means for us. I suspended any further bookings with them and canceled few that were refundable. Maybe will just make one more stay with them as I am close to extend my Spire membership for 2018 and use the 800,000+ points I have in the next few months. I am looking for alternative loyalty program. Any recommendations are welcome. I stay average 70-80 nights per year in a hotel. Or maybe stick with the online booking sites like Agoda or Expedia that give you more cash-like rewards that you can use at any hotel?

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 05 Aug 2017 02:26:46 +0000

Thanks for this. What comments do you have about Accor? Even though I quite like their range of hotels and the 2 for 1 at restaurants, I have just dropped them, mainly because of their marketing and fee structure.

By: Chad M

Chad M — Sun, 02 Apr 2017 22:52:27 +0000

You cannot rank Hyatt’s new program that high. The old one I agree was great. The new program that went into effect March 1st is a disaster. They’ve cut the point payouts in half, put 120 day expiration dates on their free night vouchers, the free night vouchers are no longer good at their resorts, and they don’t give you the suite upgrade or best room available at many of their hotels. Been rejected 2 or 3 times already this month. Each time I was able to book online.I gave the new program a chance. I tried it for a month and frankly I’m stunned at how poor it is. Sadly I need to find a new program.

By: Michael Rocha

Michael Rocha — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 08:49:20 +0000

I have many fond memories of various stays in IHG – InterContinental Hotels Group hotels. When I joined their loyalty program, Priority Club, it was one of the best in the world. During my various stays I racked up over 400,000 points, was a platinum member and enjoyed several privileges. The best feature of the program was “Points never expire”. Fast forward to 2017 and all of that has changed. Priority Club is now IHG Rewards Club, points expire without notification (in other words you never know when they will zero your account), they have no decency to send you an email on points expiry and then you suddenly realize that 200,000+ points have vanished from your account. I’m surprised that you rank them at #4. You should visit their Facebook page and see the comments that actual loyalty program members have on their program.