Hilton Hhonors Worldwide Rewards

Hilton HHonors ecumenical Loyalty Wars (Due Week 9, Oct. 29-Nov. 2) ? Comp be the Hilton HHonors take political platformme with opposite reward broadcastmes you know ab expose or spend a penny researched. Be accepted to discuss the differences, how they protect guests and their flings. ? Does the value of the Hilton course of study justify its cost. Explain in terms of the value of a customer. ? What is Starwood trying to do and how should Jeff Diskin respond? The Hilton HHonors Worldwide reward programme thunder mug be comp atomic number 18d with several innovative(prenominal) homage or recognition programs offered by leading hotel chains of the macrocosm.Similar programs are universeness offered by m whatsoever airlines, department stores, car rentals, video and book retailing, reference work tease, movie theaters and several other international entities in the service industry. The counterbalance one that pile be considered in this regard is the anteriority union Rewards offered by IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group). The IHG group comprises of Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotel and Resorts, Holiday student lodging, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. (Ref https//secure. priorityclub. com/hotels/). The program is offered across 4,500 properties operated worldwide by the group.The program is plainspoken to all(prenominal)one free of cost. It allows the members to make headway points not only by rubing in any of the member hotels besides in any case by haveing Priority Club points when buy goods and service with any of their partners or earn miles with their partner airlines. The partners are curiously customized in accordance with prevalent tastes and popularity in different parts of the world and include leading brand names in airline industry, modal value retailers, vacation and tour operators, mobile and telecom services, car rentals, home and furnishings, electroni cs, computers, and so forthThe weft of partners is vast as compared to Hiltons rewards program. In many territories local co-branded credit cards are also offered which entitle members to earn points on each and every spent. For the stay at the hotels, members coffin nail earn 2000 points for every stay impertinent the hotels outside North America, Mexico and Carribean in Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts while for all other geographical locations and all other hotel chains included in the group, the members earn 10 Priority Club points for each US $ 1 spent.The program has distinct features comprising of points that never expire and no blackout dates for Rewards Night, consequently allowing the members to stay anytime. Unlike the Hiltons reward program, members can also economic consumption a conspiracy of points and cash for their stay. Further more(prenominal), members can redeem their points for flights with no blackout dates on all over 400 airlines across the world ran ging from North America, Europe, Middle-East, Central to Southern and Far-east Asia. However, conflicting the Hiltons reward program, double-dipping is not allowed.But as an added incentive to members, free lounge entrance fee at several airports is also offered to the members thus enhancing members motivity convenience. Similar to the Hilton reward program, the points in IHG Priority program can also be deliver for several other items besides free nights at the participating hotels. insofar again, the choice offered by IHG is vast as compared to Hilton. The points can be save for hotel stay, airlines travel, tour packages, adventure sports and merchandise from leading retails and entertainment providers.In addition, gift cards from several brands are available. A very appealing feature is an survival of donating points for charitable ventures in keeping with IHG philosophy that rewarding others may be the best reward of all. (Ref http//www. priorityclub. com/rewards/us/en/re deem/ compile/charitable-donations). The IHG program lays special emphasis upon member satisfaction and recognition. Hence , the members have several value-added services offered for free. A separate toll-free reservations line is offered. They are offered priority check in and check out services.Their individual preferences are stored in the system (Personalized room-preferences profile) offered at every stay without asking e. g. consume or non-smoking rooms, bed-type, etc. Requests for late check-outs are given preference and in certain locations, extra benefits like airport pick-up services, free internet, free newspapers, etc. are offered. Extra level of service is also offered to members for room upgrades, boot resolution, customer service feed-back services, etc. Just like the Hiltons reward program, the IHG Priority program also has different plan levels based upon qualifying points and commensurate nights.Accordingly, 3 tiers termed as Club, Gold elect and Platinum Elit e are offered. (Ref http//www. priorityclub. com/hotels/us/en/global/support/about_priorityclublevelsef) Bonus dinero for Gold Elite are 10% and those for Platinum Elite 50% over the base points earned. Moreover, the Elite members are offered extra benefits and advantages like free upgrades and guaranteed room availability. In this respect, it appears to be more attractive to customers than Hiltons reward ash gray and Gold VIP status.Over and above the stated benefits, multiple promotions are offered at different times promising extra points, free room upgrades, etc. to attract more and more customers. other popular loyalty program is Fairmont Presidents Club that allows access to a host of exclusive benefits and privileges. Besides the standards being offered by the loyalty programs of al closely all good-looking hotel groups, Fairmont goes a flavor ahead by offering members services like concierge reservation, complimentary use of health clubs, golf-clubs and even use of BMW s at select locations. Ref https//www. fairmont. com/fpc/benefits/). Another impressive and acclaimed loyalty program, not by a hotel group but an airline, is the one offered by Etihad Airways. Though relatively new in the competitive airline industry, the Etihad Guest program has introduced several new initiatives for the prevalent travelers generating big business for the airline and proving to be a significant factor in the phenomenal success of Etihad. Very aptly, it has been awarded 2012 Freddie Awards.Etihad Guest was recognized for the Best repurchase Ability, Best Elite Program and Best Loyalty Credit taunt among all airlines in the Middle East, Asia and Oceania. (Refhttp//www. etihadairways. com/sites/Etihad/global/en/aboutetihad/mediacenter/newslisting/newsdetails). The program was also runner up in the four remaining categories Best forwarding for Earning, Best Promotion for Redemption, Best Customer Service and Program of the Year.Hence, it can be concluded that the member retention and brand loyalty contention is fierce and offering innovative and extensive services to customers is imperative to sweetener more and more individual and corporate clients. It seems quite obvious that the value of Hilton reward program does justify its cost. As per the belief of Hilton Hotels that regard frequent guest programs as the lodging industrys most authoritative marketing tool, serving to direct promotional and customer service efforts at the heavy user. (Ref Case Study by John Deighton and Stowe Shoemaker).Loyalty programs have been at the core of how hotels attract and retain their best customers for over a decade. However, they can only be as cost-effective as multiple enemys in the market let them be. This study reveals that the previous year had been successful for Hilton. Revenues had been in the region of $158 per night per guest, and occupancy had exceeded push through-even. Also Hilton HHonors rewards program was not accomplished as a profit c enter but was required to break even each year and to measure its effectiveness through a complex set of program metrics.The program is run by a small team of 30 employees. A research by Hilton revealed that guests place by their HHonors or airline membership numbers occupied 22. 5 percent of all the rooms occupied in the Hilton Hotels and Hilton International vane in a year. More importantly for Hilton , activation, retention, and member spend per chew all have improved. Augmenting the financial gains is the valuable database the HHonors rewards program provides to Hilton. These are the most critical and demanding customers who provide vital feedback and valuable suggestions.The program staff can establish individual contact with these members through mail or in person and not only obtain valuable feedback but earn lifelong loyalty. Plenty of focus groups and quantative research can be carried out further enhancing means to develop brand loyalty through face-to-face profiling an d personal recognition techniques. The phrase attributed to Diskin interestingly sums it up i-e hoi polloi care about organizations that care about them. (Ref same case study).In addition, the program also offers opportunities to target other customer segments. Furthermore, the program is also being used as a tool that can dish out the travel manager with compliance to their overall travel policy by offering special incentives to stay at Hilton rather than at a competitor due to personal choice of the travelers. The Hilton program proves to be even more effective by developing additional services for returning customers at check-ins and by appointing guest relations managers to offer special personalized services to loyalty members.All these factors contribute to make this program valuable in expanding and retaining clients and thus justify the associated costs. Starwood is introducing a new aggressive frequent-guest program that it hopes will help attract more business travelers to its Westin Hotels Resorts, Sheraton Hotels Resorts, The Luxury Collection, Four Points, Caesars, and Starwoods new W brand hotels, representing more than 550 participating properties worldwide. The program is expected to make the stakes in the loyalty-program fierce competition amongst big hotel chains specially since Starwood plans to run it by a