7 Reasons Guests Switch Loyalty Programs

loy·al·ty  The quality of being loyal to someone or something.
A strong feeling of support or allegiance

I ran across this July article from The New York Times while doing some research on loyalty programs. The article states that travelers are expected to move more than $10 billion to competing loyalty programs. That’s a lot of billions, so what is going on?

The report listed 7 major reasons that guests are feeling not-so-loyal to their loyalty programs.

1. Incompetent staff and services.
2. Mistakes in crediting loyalty points.
3. Advertised promotions not being honored.
4. Problems redeeming points.
5. Points expiring too quickly, resulting in lowered status.
6. Undesirable property condition.
7. Extra fees. (It is no longer news that guest satisfaction takes a serious drop the moment they are hit with unexpected fees.)

Getting back to the definition of loyalty, what does your hotel do to foster “a strong feeling of allegiance”? Try a full experience of your own property, from initial booking all the way through redeeming points later on. Where does your hotel shine and where does it fall short?