Club Carlson Tries to Understand What Members Want From a Loyalty Program

Go to article

Where: Various Locations

June 17, 2013 at 12:55 PM | by wakeandwander | Comments (0)

The Missoni Hotel Edinburgh, which is a part of the Carlson Rezidor hotel group.

Club Carlson, the global hotel rewards program from Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, recently conducted a survey of a thousand people to get a grip on the public’s views and thoughts of hotel loyalty programs.

Logically enough, the study revealed that the ease and frequency with which one can earn free nights is the main motivator when it comes to joining a loyalty program. Free Internet, regular promotions, and the quantity of hotels at which to earn and redeem points were also major factors in participation.

The study found that disappointing experiences would cause 91 percent of people to discontinue their affiliation with a particular brand, and one in four individuals would join a competitor’s loyalty program after a single bad experience. On the flip side, two-thirds of those surveyed said it would take three or more good experiences to consider themselves loyal to a specific brand. Sounds like our experience in the dating world!

Other insights: One in five Americans belong to a hotel brand’s loyalty program; Almost 60 percent are members of more than one; Men are 33 percent more likely to be a member of hotel loyalty programs than women; Three in five would rather consolidate points to redeem one longer vacation as opposed to several quick trips; Ninety-four percent of hotel loyalty program members would be willing to spend money to buy more points if they do not currently have enough for a free stay, especially for a room at a quality hotel or if it entails a specific date, location or property; Americans ages 18-64 are much more likely to join compared to those older than 64; And, lastly, the study said that it takes about 43 days to cash in on complimentary stays and 88 percent of members earned an average of four free nights in the past year.

Anything surprise you here? It's all pretty much right in line with our thoughts and observations of late, although we will admit we are somewhat surprised to hear that 94% of people would be willing to pay for points. That's an odd mentality when it comes to a reward program (stuff should be free!), and it's certainly not something we'd want the hotels to know.

What do you want from your reward program? Are you a fan of shorter trips, or do you like to stockpile for a big journey? How far does your "loyalty" go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

[Photo: Club Carlson Hotels]