Hilton HHonors - problem with "targeted" promotions

The whole issue of "targeted" promotions really gripes me. I can understand having special benefits and service for customers based on things like number of hotel stays, HHonors status, etc. but to have some set of secretive criteria to decide which customers can take advantage of special offers doesn't seem right. Can this really be good business?!

gpapadop said it right when being told he/she wasn't eligible for the 2500 promo due to not being "targeted":

> On target for two more stays in July which could mean a potential 3,000 point loss...

How about a level playing field, HHonors folks?!

I really don't think there is anything wrong with targetted promotions - unfortunately for marketers (fortunately for us) there are things like FlyerTalk that make some of these promotions known to the non-targetted.

If you want to increase your sales, one option might be offer an incentive to customers to buy (stay) more. But what is a useful incentive to some may not be as good of an incentive to others - or might not even be necessary, as those people might be buying as much as they can. I don't think it has anything to do with fairness - businesses do have the right to decide what incentives they wish to offer, and to whom - assuming that they don't discriminate based on any of the things they can't discriminate on.

Be thankful that sometimes we are able to register for promotions just because we read about them on FlyerTalk.