Originally Posted by
turner32
I doubt even IHG would deem their handling of their top-tier status as "well thought-out and effective", let alone anyone else.
If their aim is to alienate loyal customers, however, they excel at this. Constantly changing the re-qualification criteria, to the point where we don't know what hoops we need to jump through, does not help foster loyalty. It suggests a complete lack of organisation and coherence, rather than the diligence and careful planning of some marketing genius.
A better approach would be a mid term review of the account and then perhaps an email saying something like "Keep going, spend another $' 000's or x amount of nights by the end of the year to retain your status"
At least you'd know where you stand, rather than trying to hit a moving target.
BTW, is there really any need for your snide and sarcastic comments?
By publishing a criteria would you prefer to have a tier that is unable to guarantee the benefits due to the number of members and a deteriorating club lounge product due to no re-investment from owners or an invitational tier that is evaluated on revenue spend and behaviours to ensure the guaranteed benefits can be delivered consistently?
Was the Royal challenge introduced to select members in November a trial to understand if, in fact, it changes behaviours, enabling those select members the opportunity be guaranteed their status?
Spire Ambassador is the highest published tier and Royal Ambassador the invitational tier of InterContinental, as is Diamond Medalian and 360 at Delta or BA Executive Club Premier.