Travel Loyalty News

Airline frequent flyer programs count on the same thing that deal sites rely on: leakage. In other words, a certain percentage of travelers won't use their miles, which will expire. And, yes, miles are getting more costly to collect, and harder to use. Mileage tracking websites can help.

It's great to see a startup competition in travel where contestants don't have to shell out thousands of dollars to appear.

Some people argue that airline and hotel loyalty programs aren't particularly worthwhile, and the latest moves to devalue points gives the argument more credence.

Guests will undoubtedly pay for the "free" Internet in some way in the room rate, but this is still a great move and will boost the ranks of InterContinental's rewards program. Other big chains would be smart to follow InterContinental's lead.

We love the idea of earning airline miles and occasionally hotel points for hotel stays. Is it a sustainable business, and can PointsHound attract the eyeballs to see it all through? These questions loom.

We might black out at the possibility, but we're in favor of almost anything that makes actually booking an award flight a reality.

Points International, which has more than 60 loyalty program partners, sees a $2 billion to $2.5 billion market opportunity in the loyalty sector. Fairly big bucks.

Across hotel and airline loyalty programs, companies are making it more costly to cash in on free travel.

Landing a reward ticket is becoming increasingly arduous and costly, making some frequent flyer programs worthwhile only for the most elite travelers.

Over 100 million loyalty members is nothing to sneeze at and will put the airline in a powerful position to negotiate with banks and others who want access to points and members.