Travel Loyalty News

Given the current geopolitical climate and the ever-tightening, more restrictive stance the U.S. is taking on immigration and travel these days, Hyatt's new ad could not be more timely.

Big data, AI, and geo-fencing are coming together to reshape the hotel guest experience, and their combined influence will no doubt change the way hotel brands manage their loyalty programs.

Hilton's new loyalty program, Honors, will soon allow travelers to pay with points. But will they gouge travelers on the value of each point? The jury is still out.

A strange bug in the upgrade process at American Airlines had been preventing passengers from getting early upgrades. The airline finally fixed the glitch last week.

We're surprised no other hotel loyalty programs have yet attempted to do what Hilton is doing here. These updates, for the most part, reflect an acknowledgement on Hilton's part that no two hotel guests are the same, and that loyalty programs designed solely for road warriors aren't enough to compete in today's increasingly competitive loyalty landscape. Side note: We're so happy they decided to drop that extra (and very unnecessary) "h" in Hilton Honors, too. Oh, and it's just Hilton now, not Hilton Worldwide.

New details on how frequent flyers will upgrade on flights with premium economy leaked this week. For once, the news is good for almost everyone.

Demand to Cuba may be weaker than originally forecasted, leaving airlines like JetBlue to incentivize travel. Through March 18th, TrueBlue members will be rewarded with 3X the points when traveling to the region.

While investors and observers are rightfully focused on how TripAdvisor's transition to a hotel booking site will work out, the company has some meaningful hedges in the form of vacation rentals, tours and activities, and restaurants. Collecting monthly and annual fees is a very material part of the overall business and will likely become even more so.

Though Virgin America and Alaska Air still run separate loyalty programs, the former seems to be shoring up partnerships in preparation to wind down.

Business travelers have a new loyalty program to call their own for 2017 with Alaska's Mileage Plan. Hopefully it sticks around through Alaska's merger with Virgin America.