Very interesting comments.
I was thinking along the same lines in many cases.Thank you for helping me reinforce what I was already thinking
Out of Town states " I am part of the migration away from loyalty programs
2 years ago I would have never considered priceline Now I have over 2 dozen stays"
Ken in Phx states " the average hotel is inching up to 150 -200 per night........
Hotel companies can not afford to still give you the same redemption rate.
ender83 states "I don't think that Starwood and Hilton realize that once I go over to price line and hotwire, I'm not coming back.
Airlines are going in the same direction"
Anyone else out there seeing the bigger picture here??
I believe I have been seeing/ feeling this somewhat before & prior to 9-11
It is my belief that the program reward redemption increases (not limited to by any means to the hospitality business) are contributing to part of the run away inflation problem and higher ADR in the first place.
Companies are faced with having to make it back each and every booking with what they poorly communicate to their customers in the first place
Most consumers I speak with tell me they feel they are being asked over the market prices for hotel rooms.
When taking in brand quality and adr into consideration.
The ability to find fair rates even for brand loyalists becomes more and more difficult for the business or leisure traveler especially in these difficult times
Jumping through hoops and smoke screens on over designed,cluttered & poorly functioning websites that deliver anything but a strong profitable bottom line or a complete list of ALL available rates.
Its situations like this that are causing a part of the mass exodus to other third party sites as well
Or other avenues and means to secure a better perceived value.
Bravo Jet Blue for the most clear and logical site .
Now if you would build a equally great world class program you might have something
The airlines, car rental companies and hotel groups have pulled back from each other driven by declining revenues.
Even having the gall in some cases to charge for the earning of miles.......
Hello Hertz.
The highly popular award winning Mileage Plus and American Advantage reward discount program for hotels and rental cars ended a world class open door to each others partners and a great opportunity
What an opportunity they both enjoyed to drive consumers purchase behavior into their brands for a brand experience that was easily repeated over and over again.
They no longer have this effective and easy opportunity to aquire new clients and retain pre existing ones.
They failed to understand the power of these opportunities they all took for granted after time
It was a magnet that drove consumers often to buy their brand and remain loyal to the programs in satisfaction and gratitude
This poster included
Who would believe 1 year ago a coach ticket would now take 40,000 miles or in reality 50,000 to redeem for a free economy ticket within the Domestic US.
On the lowest saver award .
Or 80,000- 100,000 anytime award for a domestic US ticket.
Thanks to the Starwood and United Mileage Plus marketing agreement
effective 1-1-03 its a reality today.
Any woders consumers are looking elsewhere??
It certainly isn't going to help either program attract or retain customers easily
One would have to be a die hard loyalist to put up with some of those changes
Ok I have said enough your turn...............
Any good marketer today knows what the cost of bringing in one new client is
Let alone just the cost of one new call to their centers for an inquiry.
With that information at hand it should be obvious the value of these former pre existing partnerships.
Here we live in an incredible time with the power and far reaching effect of the
internet.
Many of these companies are worse off after their huge investments communicating their brands and rates then they were a decade ago.
More exactly customers will choose price over brand as a result
This again is exactly what my proffessor was
going for in his delivery or predictions.
I will be attending in Europe next month a conference with many of the hotel companies and airlines marketing people.
I plan to bring up many of these issues if time permits.
There focus is on Retention,Acquisition,ROI,Funding and so on
If any of you have more to add that you would like me to bring up to these folks please feel free to share your observations and concerns.
I plan to increase our communication on these issues if that it is all possible.
And perhaps there are some solutions out there.
Besides driving clients away in some cases
Thanks again for all the valuable input
Cheers
------------------
AA & Starwood,Marriott Platinum
Hyatt, Hilton Diamond
Swissotel Club Gold
U/A 1k
[This message has been edited by 777 global mile hound (edited 01-11-2003).]