Hotel Loyalty Programs in Hotels
Hotel Loyalty Programs are corporate sponsored membership clubs for hotel frequent guests and are similar to airline frequent flyer loyalty programs. Membership is free in most hotel chains. The purpose of Hotel loyalty programs are to ensure that a hotel company retains its clients as frequent guests by offering added value benefits for staying as a guest or booking conference rooms and facilities at their hotels. The basic idea is every eligible hotel night or every dollar you spend at hotel brands participating in the corporate hotel loyalty program earns points, which can be exchanged for rewards like hotel rooms, room upgrades and airline miles.
Some hotel chains, particularly in the luxury segment, operate programs that do not award points, but offer frequent guest recognition with added value benefits such as complimentary room upgrades, restaurant and spa discounts, and additional amenities in recognition of the loyal guest.
Hotel co-branded credit cards are a common strategy for earning hotel loyalty points and benefits when not staying at hotels.
An additional incentive for a hotel frequent guest is premium membership. Each corporate hotel loyalty program has its own criteria for elite membership. Hotel loyalty program elite membership is generally earned by a frequent guest when certain thresholds are met for the number of hotel stays, hotel nights, or money spent. A hotel stay is defined as consecutive nights at same hotel under same name, regardless of the number of different reservations.
Elite membership in a hotel loyalty program is generally based on activity within a calendar year. Sleep at the loyalty program member hotels for sufficient nights or stays, or spend enough money and you'll get a silver/gold/platinum/diamond hotel program membership card entitling you to various perks, such as hotel points bonuses, lounge access, free upgrades, guaranteed rooms, etc. High level elite membership in the major hotel chain loyalty programs, generally with the benefit of complimentary room upgrades, takes between 25 and 75 hotel nights in a 12-month period.
Some of the better-known hotel loyalty programs are:
1865, for Langham Hotels International.
Choice Privileges, for Choice Hotels properties including some international destinations.
Fiesta Rewards, the frequent guest program for Grupo Posadas at their following hotel brands: Live Aqua, Fiesta Americana Grand, Fiesta Americana, Fiesta Inn and One Hotels in Mexico as well as Caesar Park and Caesar Business in Brazil, Chile, and Argentina .
Club Swiss Gold, at Swissotel Hotels & Resorts. Club Swiss Gold members enjoy exclusive privileges, complimentary upgrades and stays as well as special rates for Weekend Breaks.
Hilton HHonors, at Hilton hotels. Allows guests to "double dip", earning both hotel points and airline miles for the same stay.
Hyatt Gold Passport is a rewards and privileges program associated with the entire Hyatt hotel chain. Beginning with the first stay, a Hyatt Gold Passport member can earn and redeem free nights with no blackout dates in over 470 locations worldwide. For information visit
Marriott Rewards, for Marriott owned hotels.
Pan Pacific Privileges, for Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts
Priority Club, for InterContinental chain hotels (including Holiday Inn).
Starwood Preferred Guest, for all Starwood hotels and resorts. Le Meridien's Moments program has been rolled into this.
Shangri-La Hotel Golden Circle, at Shangri-La and Traders. The program is unusual for having no points of its own; instead, you can choose to credit miles into various airline programs. Nights and stays are still tracked for premium levels.
MaS Rewards, for Sol Melia Hotels & Resorts. Allows guests to earn points for their hotel stays and to get open access to exclusive special offers in solmelia.com 2 days before non-members.
ByRequest, for Wyndham branded hotels. Allows guests to earn hotel points for their stays or frequent flyer miles. Additional benefits include free local and long distance calls within the same country, and a welcome snack with drink.
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