Originally Posted by
spankytoes
I've used Rocketmiles twice in the last few weeks to top off an AA and WN award.
The first was at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. I added my HHonors number to the reservation at check-in and was recognized as a Gold with the perks. (Upgrade, Exec Lounge, free breakfast, etc.) I checked my app and my stay was listed on HHonors. Got 12,000 AA miles deposited 8 days later. Called a few days after and got single points instead of the current promo. Got a stay credit without asking.
Currently staying at a Hyatt in Nashville. Added my Hyatt account and was recognized as Gold as well. Stay is showing in my app too. Won't know about points posting for a few days.
So at least with Hilton and Hyatt, my elite status was recognized. I even got points on top of miles with Hilton with a 5 minute phone call. Not my go-to way of booking, but worth it if there are good promos. Both trips were for business though. Wouldn't go that route with my $
Originally Posted by
BearX220
Some issues with the program Travel_Hero is trying to prototype:
1. You're introducing yet another alternative currency into a traveler's ecosystem when most of us already have too many to deal with.
2. You're asking travelers to abandon a loyalty currency of proven, or at least familiar, value (hotel points) for one that is neither.
3. The complexity barrier is pretty imposing. I definitely do not want to book business travel via a live concierge -- too tedious -- and the program concept in general takes several grafs of dense text to explain. Remember, if you can't write your breakthrough concept down so it fits on the back of a business card, it's not breakthrough enough.
4. If the primary "reward" is business/F upgrades on "short domestic flights" (such as JFK-LAX? Six hours?), other channels offer less complicated ways to earn them -- from straight buyup offers to miles or cert upgrades from the airlines. There doesn't seem like enough carrot here.
5. If the gap between a Y and an F tariff is $1,500, I get 25% of my hotel rate rebated to me in a fund to be used for upgrades, and my average hotel room-night costs $200, I will have to spend $6,000 and stay 30 nights to earn one upgrade, correct? Again, too little carrot. And crediting 30 nights to most hotel programs gets you well on the way to upper-tier status in an established program.
Thanks for your thorough answers, Travel_Hero. I think Bear makes some excellent points. Still, I think you might have some takers among frequent travelers IF you nevertheless explain the program clearly enough, make it easy enough to use, and offer sufficiently large rewards for doing so. But again, as per Bear, those are big IFS.
So a few more matters:
1. You might find, as per spanky's experience with Rocketmiles, that some hotel chains or individual hotels might still offer their status perks/nights credits/stay credits alongside what your service offers. I have no idea whether this will be the case. But if it turns out that way, you'd want to advise folks considering your service of whether they still stand to benefit and invite your customers to report on that. Of course, if you know for a fact that it will not be the case, make that absolutely clear.
2. Another matter you will need to make clear is what you mean by upgrading a flight. As I interpret how it is used here at FT, it can mean at least three different things: a) A complimentary upgrade the passenger gets by virtue of status, ranging from a few days beforehand to right at the gate. This of course is not how you have used the term, and you are correct in saying that these are harder to come by these days. b) A "dedicated" upgrade a passenger can sometimes get at the time of ticketing, or that might clear months or weeks before the flight (or again, a few days beforehand or at the gate), using either a systemwide upgrade instrument s/he gets by virtue of elite status (Executive Platinum at AA, for instance) or by using miles from his/her account (as I was referencing when mentioning the AA 15K miles plus $75 for domestic upgrades). This is a separate bucket from the complimentary upgrades. I ask a question about this below. c) The way in which you are using the term, which simply means buying up to business or first class.
3. In an earlier post, you mentioned a possible 7K UA miles for a one-night stay at the Omni in NYC. Does this mean that for a 10-night stay the customer would get 70K UA miles? If so, this begins to sound quite lucrative.
4. Would the customer have a choice of various airlines to get such miles credits for?
5. In your answer to my question #4, you'd said:
Answer: The upgrading is done when you purchase your ticket. In fact a travel concierge(or travel hero) handles all the booking for you, through SMS, FB messaging or Online chat. Your agent will use an in-house program that allows them to decide if it's more beneficial to use miles, cashbacks or a mix of both. But everything is done at the time of purchase. So you actually get to upgrade without extra cost before even elite status members, because most airlines now give preference to paying customers for upgrades rather than giving them away to elite members.
Does the agent decide or does the customer, acting on the options the agent outlines?
6. Getting back to the "dedicated" upgrade I mentioned above (interpretation "b" of what upgrade means): Are you saying that your program would be sophisticated enough for me to use my combination of AA miles and the cash-back I accrued through your service, to be able to upgrade a flight in that way?
7. Finally, do I understand your program correctly in assuming that your program in effect controls the cash-back option for use when the customer wants to later upgrade a flight, but that the alternative airline points you award go right into the customer's account for him/her to control?
I guess some of my questions are bearing out Bear's points about complexity. Still, I'd welcome any clarifications about your promising program.