Originally Posted by colerc
Might it make more sense to encourage properties to give infrequent guests upgrades?
I feel as though some properties are offended by the idea of giving upgrades to award stayers, simply because they didn't "pay" for it
Much talk has been had about Starwood adding another level above those that exist. Might all the discussion about people who stay 50 nights with Starwood and then move on to other brands be a sufficient incentive for Starwood to start thinking about adding something above platinum? If--not that I'm suggesting this--Starwood made a top tier that required 300 nights a year, you know there are people who would do it. And that's a lot of money out of the pockets of Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and others.)
You bring up a number of interesting points
Thought I would share my two cents on a select few......
Incenting select targeted in house guests who may be good candidates for future repeat business is nothing new.
It frequently happens where the management is smart enough to do so. Though that said certainly not if it means replacing the established customer which can be 5x more costly to replace.That's hospitality marketing 101
That new guest recognition may also come at the expense of a top tier program members upgrade. On and off thread topic.....
SPG in general needs to look deep into the current procedures and benefits of it's excellent program for that and a host of other reasons nothing to do with the Freddies win or loss or the random guest getting or not getting an upgrade.
It is simply about the Starwood/SPG Relationship satisfaction levels at present
and they don't begin or end with the program IMO
To address a quick misconception that award stays are without generated profits or worth.
A guest earns and pays for that award either staying in the hotel on revenue (built into the cost of the room) or usage of hotel program partners which brings incremental revenue to the hotel company to profit from.
That is excellent loyalty no matter how you slice it.
Using those points for redemption one should never feel less worthy then when taking a stay as a revenue customer.
When you stay and redeem point currency or revenue you are in my book a valued customer and should be to the hotel company and property.
Especially if that currency was a result of you’re paying to stay in the hotels.
The lack of an upgrade is based on many factors at the hotel level which have little to do IMO with redeeming points.
Though depending on the management and their education the outcome can be quite varied depending on the individual property.
Some of the finest upgrades of my travels were received on redemption ^
With regard to creating a super elite level tier which has been discussed for years on and off these boards
The real issue from the handful of program heads and associates I have sat down with seems to come up with the same concerns.
A higher level of recognition to live up too and a greater sense of entitlement & expectation from the customer.
If you look at the current crop of SPG customers and I think I speak for many when I say they certainly wouldn’t like to experience less as Platinum's then whatever they currently receive at present because another level of Titanium members were now in the house.
Unless some of that thought process changes I don’t expect to see much change anytime in the near future.
It is already tough enough to deliver and keep the present expectations in check for the current tier levels.
There are a number of other ways to staisfy guests and drive their business behavior wiithout promises of the penthouse royal suite and a helicopter at every stay
That may be some of the story. Though there clearly may be a variety of other such reasons.
Cheers