Hotel loyalty programs reward frequent travellers with perks like free nights, upgrades, and exclusive benefits. From boutique stays to luxury chains, these programs are essential for maximising the value of your hotel bookings.
Check below for tips and guides on how to make the most of hotel loyalty programs.
Accor’s Le Club loyalty program is due for a brand refresh. From late 2019, Le Club will become Accor ALL, which we’re told stands for “Accor Live Limitless”. This will become the single, combined loyalty program of Accor’s existing and newly-acquired brands – some of which still have their own loyalty programs. Hotel brands to … Continued
An AFF member was mortified recently to discover an Australian hotel had processed $500 in erroneous charges after check-out. Mark3000 called the hotel to ask why their credit card had been charged $500 without their knowledge. The “aggressive” hotel manager claimed that this member had caused damage to the room. Mark3000 refutes this claim and the hotel … Continued
Hotel loyalty programs can be useful if you stay at hotels often. Points can be put towards free hotel nights, and there are two hotel loyalty programs that even offer every fifth night free when booking with points. The Marriott Bonvoy program offers the “fifth night free” benefit to all program members when redeeming points … Continued
Macquarie Bank will discontinue its Hilton Honors Macquarie Platinum credit card, the only co-branded credit card of any hotel loyalty program in Australia, from 1 May 2019. Macquarie Bank already stopped offering its popular Hilton credit card to new cardholders last year. Now, it has advised existing Hilton Honors Macquarie Platinum cardholders that from 1 … Continued
The Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards programs will combine under a new brand from next month. On 13 February 2019, the three programs will merge to become the “Marriott Bonvoy” loyalty program. This will be the final step in the ongoing merger of Starwood and Marriott. The Starwood Preferred Guest, Ritz-Carlton … Continued
Most hotels take customer service very seriously. And it’s not hard to see why. Most cities have literally hundreds of hotels, and all offer the same basic service. So, personalised customer service is seen as a key differentiator to drive loyalty and attract repeat business – especially for high-end hotels. At some hotel chains, it … Continued
Diners Club has removed the ability to transfer reward points to Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), which recently merged with Marriott Rewards. As of last Thursday, Diners Club Rewards points can also no longer be transferred to American Airlines AAdvantage or EVA Air Infinity MileageLands. Until recently it had been unclear how Diners Club transfers to … Continued
The ACCC is suing hotel booking website Trivago in the Federal Court for misleading advertising. It alleges that Trivago misleads customers into believing they are getting the best hotel price when this is not always the case. Trivago, which is owned by Expedia, is an aggregator website that compares the cost of hotel rooms on … Continued
Last weekend, the long and arduous process of merging Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) and Marriott Rewards accounts began. The SPG/Marriott Rewards merge began on 18 August. The process has been taking longer than originally expected, but the new combined loyalty program is slowly starting to take shape. Merging your SPG and Marriott Rewards accounts If … Continued
The latest IHG PointBreaks list has just been released, and there are two Australian hotels included. IHG Rewards Club points can be redeemed for hotel stays or transferred to a range of airline frequent flyer programs. When redeeming for Reward Nights, hotel rooms normally cost between 10,000 and 70,000 points per night. But there are … Continued
Update (3 July 2018): SPG will merge with Marriott Rewards on 1 August 2018. From this date, transfers from Amex to the new SPG/Marriott program will take place at a new rate of 3 Amex points = 2 Marriott Rewards points. Unfortunately, this represents a significant devaluation. Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points are an extremely … Continued
When booking accommodation, you have the option to book hotels direct or to use a third-party website like Expedia or Booking.com. If you book directly with the hotel, you can earn points and status with the hotel’s loyalty program. But you won’t receive any hotel benefits if you book with a third party. So, is … Continued
