How Marriott Rewards Could Be the Best Hotel Loyalty Program in the World

by Gary Leff

Sep 07 2016

With Marriott acquiring Starwood — a deal that hasn’t yet closed thanks to delays by Chinese regulators — a lot of members are going to be seeing changes.

Today Marriott Rewards’ strongest argument is ubiquity. What members tell me most often what they like about Marriott Rewards is ‘no matter where I go, I can earn my points’. In the US at least there are Marriott family properties pretty much anywhere.

Marriott is also already more rewarding for in-hotel spend than Starwood, and certainly clustered in the middle of the pack with competitors. And Marriott has started to improve since announcing its deal with Starwood.

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New York Airfare Deal: $62 to the Cayman Islands!

by Gary Leff

Sep 06 2016

Delta really does have $62 one-way fares from New York to Grand Cayman, including all taxes. Roundtrip fares are $190 which is phenomenal.

Travel is available September through mid-February with some peak dates like December 16-27 and New Years Eve and New Years Day excluded. This is a $24 base fare in each direction, so it’s mostly taxes.

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How to Fix American Airlines and the AAdvantage Program

by Gary Leff

Sep 06 2016

For several years American Airlines offered a clear value proposition. It made sense to fly American and earn status in the AAdvantage program because they were more rewarding than Delta or United. I’ve written for many years that benefits which are significantly more rewarding than average won’t lost, and it’s no surprise that American has cut back on its generosity.

However with the airline operation lagging, cuts to the AAdvantage program, and strong indications of more cuts to come, I’ve been flying American less.

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Whether Hilton’s New App Feature is Creepy or Awesome Depends on How Big a Reward You Get

by Gary Leff

Sep 06 2016

Hilton is doing some really cool things with their mobile app. Now they’re rolling out real-time recommendations for activities and offering discounts based on your geolocation on property.

Personalized offers based on past behavior, combined with last minute excess inventory, is certainly seen as a real frontier of marketing. Now you’ll get happy hour specials or spa discounts based on time, your preferences, and geolocation.

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The Simple Reason Changes Without Notice Destroy Frequent Flyer Programs

by Gary Leff

Sep 05 2016

Making changes without notice to a loyalty program is the worst thing any program can do.

It’s unethical, because it breaks a promise made to members. It’s bad business, because it undermines confidence in the program (and that confidence is necessary for the program to successfully drive consumer behavior). And in some cases it’s even illegal.

A loyalty program is a promise of future value for purchasing behavior today. Changes without notice renege on that deal.

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