IHG takes a new look at Priority Club rewards

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Priority Club Rewards, the world’s largest and fastest-growing hotel loyalty programme from IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) announces its new positioning and refreshed look as a result of findings from its global travel loyalty industry study. Twenty-eight years after breaking ground as the hotel industry’s first loyalty club, Priority Club Rewards undertook extensive global research to better understand the attitudes and habits of hotel guests. The programme preferred by most guests today reveals key trends among frequent travellers from around the world.

Priority Club Rewards conducted a three-year journey of quantitative and qualitative research of more than 10,000 frequent travellers, who were enrolled in loyalty programmes from IHG and other leading hotel companies in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The findings provided an inside look at the global travel loyalty marketplace and were used to develop the new look and positioning for Priority Club Rewards.

“In 2010, we enrolled on average 600,000 guests per month in Priority Club Rewards; we now have more than 56 million members which is almost equivalent to the population of the U.K. The re-launch of Priority Club Rewards is a significant investment by IHG to strengthen our global competitiveness in the industry and among savvy frequent travellers with numerous choices of where to stay,” said Don Berg, vice president, Loyalty Programmes and Partnerships, IHG. “This guest-driven re-launch is proof that successful brand innovation requires more than a facelift, but also an investment in research and development to deliver a relevant product that will attract and retain loyal customers.”

Global membership grew by 7.9 million members last year, with 42% of new enrolments made outside of the United States. Non-US enrolments grew 21% year-on-year, as the programme continues to extend and strengthen its reach around the world. There are currently nearly 6.2 million Priority Club members in Asia Pacific – Asia Australasia has more than 3.6 million members while in Greater China, members increased by over 600,000 to reach more than 2.4 million.

While Priority Club Rewards features notable programmes such as: No Point Expiration, No Blackout Dates, the Points & Cash system and access to airline ticket inventory and non-IHG hotel rooms, respectively, through Flights Anywhere™ and Hotels Anywhere™ redemption options, IHG will also add several new Priority Club Rewards redemption offerings in 2011.

“The research clearly confirmed that hotel loyalty programme members in every region of the world not only want to earn currency that is valuable and flexible, they also want to maintain absolute control in how they use it,” adds Berg. “And, with so many new choices to redeem Priority Club® points, there’s never been a better time to book directly on IHG’s website, where members can earn Priority Club points with every stay.”

Among the top trends identified by Priority Club Rewards:

Hotel loyalty programme points displace airline frequent flyer miles as preferred currency: Frequent travellers place a higher perceived value on hotel loyalty programme currency over frequent flier miles, as airlines’ imposition of fees, decreased reward seat inventory and greater restrictions have weakened consumer trust, and as hotel programmes add additional redemption options, including access to airline inventory.
Business travellers value loyalty more than price: Loyalty programme membership is a stronger predictor of hotel selection than price or location – for frequent guests who stay a minimum of 20 nights per year – regardless of preference for midscale or upscale brands.
Travellers across North America, Asia Pacific and Europe are equally point currency conscious: The value loyalty points hold as currency – for earning and redeeming – ranked as the highest priority for hotel selection by frequent travellers globally, higher than special perks, privileges or benefits in the hotel.
Global economy a solid indicator of consumer activity in loyalty programmes: Health of the global economy has an inverse correlation with driving hotel loyalty members to use point redemption options versus stockpiling, given points’ perceived utility as cash. For example, during a single month in 2008, Priority Club members redeemed points for US$1 million in gasoline card vouchers as rising oil prices inflated gas prices.

Leading with this valuable consumer insight, the re-launched Priority Club Rewards loyalty programme is now better equipped to meet the needs of the changing frequent traveller and continues to be a key business driver for IHG. Priority Club Rewards will further empower frequent guests through an easy and efficient point-focused programme that provides access to non-hotel travel related services, discount and high-end retail merchandise and gift vouchers, exclusive life experiences, and of course IHG’s more than 4,400 hotels worldwide.

The new programme features that will roll out within the next three months are:

Last Minute Reward Nights: Last Minute Reward Nights will allow Priority Club members to redeem Reward Nights at a 50% discount off the regular point price, for selected properties. Members will receive an e-mail on Monday providing a list of hotels where this offer will be available the following weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
Points & Cash for Merchandise Rewards: Priority Club members will be able to redeem a combination of Priority Club points and cash for brand name retail merchandise rewards. Priority Club Rewards currently offers points and cash capability on Reward Nights, but this will expand that functionality to merchandise rewards, a feature not offered anywhere in the industry.
Downloadable Media Rewards: Priority Club Rewards will be the first travel loyalty programme to give members the flexibility to redeem their points directly for downloadable media, including the latest music hits and millions of other songs, plus eBooks, mobile games and applications, and computer software. This will open up a terrific opportunity for members to turn relatively small quantities of points into tangible rewards.

As part of the new Priority Club Rewards look and feel, introduced are:

Redesigned Priority Club® Rewards membership cards: A refreshed blue colour palette with inspirational imagery from destinations around the world
Sleek, easy-to-use new website rolling out globally by late April; the only online booking site where members get rewarded with Priority Club points for their hotel stays: www.priorityclub.com
Custom photography included in member communications, advertising and marketing materials that will transport guests to some of the most beautiful destinations in the world
An informative, newly designed member e-statement
A new Priority Club Rewards logo.

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Vicky Karantzavelou

Co-Founder & Chief Editor - TravelDailyNews Media Network | + Articles

Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.