What Hotels Are Doing to Win Your Loyalty: 5 Podcast Takeaways

On a recent episode of the Skift podcast, we discussed hotel loyalty: who’s doing it right, who’s still trying, and how it's continuing to evolve. Marriott is merging its program with Starwood’s SPG. Hyatt’s new program just launched. And Hilton recently announced a slate of new features.

And all of these changes are taking place as online travel agencies continue to lure many travelers driven by price rather than points, and up-and-coming accommodations providers like Airbnb win fans without even offering a loyalty program.

Our guest was Gary Leff, founder of the View from the Wing blog and an expert on points programs. He joined podcast host Hannah Sampson and Skift hospitality editor Deanna Ting.

We also heard from some interviews that Ting did at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in L.A. with Scott Berman, U.S. hospitality and leisure practice leader at PwC; Best Western Hotels & Resorts president and CEO David Kong; and Langham Hospitality Group CEO Robert Warman.

Here are five takeaways from the conversation:

Major acquisitions are changing hotel loyalty in a big way.

Recent consolidations of hospitality brands — the biggest example being Marriott-Starwood — leads to loyalty programs being pushed together, and that can get messy. Consumers loyal to each individual brand don’t