Originally Posted by
alanslegal
I agree. They aren't. These guys are happy to move business because of a few thousand points. Sadly, and the truth hurts, is that there are 10x, 20x, 30x and maybe more the amount of elites out there who don't participate on FT but stay in the same amount of nights each year as these complainers do and continue to stay at SPG properties. Those customers are the best ones - the ones that don't need incentives to stay, because the current benefits match or already exceed their expecation and needs.
If you think that SPG, or any hotel/air/ company, has clear data / knowledge of which ones of their elite customers "participate on FT and complain", you are sadly mistaken. I'm sure they would LOVE to have that information but it is extremely challenging to not only attain it , but also track it.
More importantly, the customers that complain or make remarks on FT, are likely the same customers that are very vocal with their friends/relatives/co-workers about the airlines they fly and hotels they stay in. A key measure in customer service surveys is how likely you are to be vocal / recommend a certain brand and I'm sure FTers are near the top of that list.
Now, I'm not saying that FT users are a large chunk of their business or are their "best" customers, BUT I do think it is a mistake to alienate some elite customers and not others. From a "valuing your customers" perspective, there's no reason why person A and person B both have X nights this year / last year and have the same status level but they don't receive similar promos. The most logical explanation is that they are excluding some loyal guests who will book stays REGARDLESS of promotions because most of these guests won't even know these targeted promos exists. This, unfortunately, includes some FTers who read up on this and get upset, but that's the cost of business for SPG.