Travel Loyalty News

Hampton kept it simple the last two years, responding to its own market research with a renewed focus on young travelers, a growing demographic that is quintessentially accessible due to its constant social media use. That simple approach seems to be paying off.

Anyone who boards a commercial airline sees that there are privileged and not-so privileged passengers in the eyes of the airline. United Mileage Plus reinforces and widens the great divide by providing more bang per mile for elite flyers on lucrative intercontinental routes.

Loyalty points are increasingly becoming a new and broader currency with businesses rewarding them to employees, and even some travel startups awarding consumers airline points for hotel stays.

You have about a one in three chance to redeem miles with US Airways, a survey found, and that doesn't bode well for frequent flyers in the American Airlines-US Airways merger.

TripIt has a loyal following, but TripIt Pro lost a some of its attractiveness when Southwest, Delta, United and American decided to play tough with loyalty program trackers. Will Concur continue to give TripIt the resources it fought for and deserves?

Frequent travelers have plenty of incentive to earn miles through Rocketmiles, but the startup will have to expand its hotel options and offer a cleaner experience than its competitor for sustainable growth.

The Brazil IPO market is active right now so it seems like an opportune time for GOL to go the IPO route with smiles, and to pay down some debt, something it desparately needs to do.

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.

As consumers use online and mobile tools to jump across all kind of industry-defined value chains, loyalty programs are becoming outdated and need a wholesale rethink.

Delta is wooing new business travel accounts because of the Virgin Atlantic deal, and the most-loyal passengers will getting perks reserved for the few.