I signed up for whatever their program was a few years ago. I was staying at an Ibis hotel for two weeks, and the immediate reduction in room rate roughly paid for a year's membership. At some point in the process I earned a free night or free something.
Unfortunately I didn't take advantage of it, but there was a possibility. If the kickback on the Ibis room hadn't paid for the membership, I wouldn't have taken it, but in that case it seemed like a no-brainer.
=aw