Skift Take
Should other hotel loyalty programs follow World of Hyatt's lead in being much more revenue-based and geared toward high-end travelers? This survey's findings seem to suggest it, but we have some reservations.
When it comes to hotel loyalty program satisfaction, Marriott Rewards has come out on top once more in J.D. Power's new 2017 Hotel Loyalty Program Satisfaction Study.
But, it was almost a dead heat.
Marriott Rewards ranked highest with a score of 806 on a 1,000-point scale, and was followed very closely by World of Hyatt with a score of 805. Hilton Honors, which tied with Marriott last year for the top ranking, had a score of 793. Last year, Marriott and Hilton tied for first place with scores of 741 each.
Satisfaction took into account the following four factors: ease of earning and redeeming rewards (35 percent of score); program benefits (27 percent of score); account management (22 percent of score); and member communication (16 percent of score).
The study measured responses from 4,682 hotel rewards program members who took five or more trips in the past 12 months. The survey was conducted from September to October 2017. See below for the full rankings.
The criteria for this year's study was different from last year's, said Rick Garlick, global practice lead, travel and hospitality, for J.D. Power, so "it's not an apples-to-apples comparison between this year and last year."
What changed? The number of minimum hotel stays that respondents had to have within the past year. This year's survey required at least five hotel stays. Last year's study only required that respondents have joined a hotel loyalty program in the past year.
"We asked them to rate their more preferred program — not just any random program," Garlick said, "so, we had more engaged respondents and not just casual members."
He said that the average number of years that respondents had been in their preferred programs was nine to 10 years. "They had a significant level of engagement
