Millennium Hotels Relaunches a Simplified Loyalty Program

London-based Millennium Hotels & Resorts has a new loyalty program. Called My Millennium, the new program takes a simplified approach to loyalty by offering only a single tier of membership and a limited spectrum of perks and partnerships.

Millennium’s previous loyalty program used a tiered-membership approach like a traditional hotel brand such as Hilton or Marriott might employ. By switching to a single-tiered system, the brand hopes to cut down on complexity and increase engagement across its entire spectrum of travelers.

Points under the program will be earned on a revenue-based model; for every dollar that a consumer spends on a hotel room (exclusive of taxes), 10 points in the program are earned. After 10 nights are spent across Millennium properties, the points earned from that entire block are doubled, giving a lucrative incentive to frequent travelers.

In turn, earned points can be used for a spectrum of redemption options including free rooms, upgrades and partner offers, all locked on a sliding, revenue-based scale. To book a free room with points, for example, Millennium locks point values at a half cent/point, so a $500 hotel room would cost 100,000 points.

Gift cards through assorted programs will also be available, such as a $50 Amazon gift card for 12,600 points. In that case, however, Millennium is only valuing points at $0.004 each.

According to Millennium, the average hotel award night will cost 27,000 points while the average upgrade will cost 4,000.

The real sweet spot in Millennium’s new loyalty program seems to be for those who are able to bite off 10-night blocks. A traveler who spends $500/night on a hotel room, for example, will earn 5000 points with each night booked. If staying 10 nights, however, that traveler would effectively earn 10,000 points with each night booked after the bonus. After only three nights, another average room could be redeemed.

For consumers, that value may help offset the potential downside of Millennium moving to a revenue-based program. In line with many of its peers before it, Millennium’s choice to move to a revenue-based program will help it control liabilities and maximize profit from each point that it expends. The downside for loyalty program members, however, is that great-value award night bookings will no longer live on the periphery of its tiered system. Instead, the price of each booking in points now slides with its the price in dollars.

Millennium Hotels & Resorts operates a portfolio of over 136 hotel properties around the world including about a dozen in the United States. Most of its properties are focused in the Oceanic region.