Skift Take
Alaska Airlines continued to scoop up awards for its distance-based loyalty program while Marriott took advantage of its recent merger in this year's U.S. News and World Report's loyalty program rankings.
Unseating Wyndham Rewards, Marriott Rewards took top honors in the 2017 hotel loyalty program in U.S. News & World Report's rankings.
The study cited the broad volume of properties now available to Marriott Reward members for bookings as one of the main criterion for winning this year. Other considerations were the program's flexible ability to use points for non-hotel related awards such as concerts or sporting events -- though most other hotel rewards have that capability too.
The annual rankings for top loyalty programs in the travel industry came out this morning.
What likely pushed Marriott Rewards to the top this year was its merger with Starwood, which was wrapped up in September 201
