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cards, dining-for-miles schemes, and esoteric                                                           The simplest solution to this hurricane of  writer Seth Miller soberly pointed out that many
                  partner programs that throwing a wrench into                                                            complexity, of course, is to wipe the slate clean  of the blockchain concepts currently in devel-
                  the mechanics could make the whole machine                                                              and rebuild. Slowly, some operators are starting  opment were solutions looking for a problem.
                  explode.                                                                                                to pull it off.                            One diamond in the rough at the conference,
                                                                                                                                                                     however, was in a new system designed to recog-
                  "The problem with loyalty programs today is                                                             In 2015, Wyndham relaunched its rewards program  nize and post loyalty points on a faster cycle. In
                  that they have become too complicated and it                                                            to offer a simple, fixed kickback on every night  the next 10 years, blockchain could easily help
                  often seems like a bait and switch," said Michael                                                       booked. Every hotel in its portfolio earned the  your miles post to your account the instant you
                  Trager, who runs TravelZork, a website dedicated                                                        same number of points per night while every  step off the aircraft.
                  to loyalty programs. "Promises of free flights to                                                       award night – whether at the Howard Johnson or
                  great destinations often require way too much                                                           Wyndham Grand – cost the same. For its efforts,  As the median-age traveler moves more toward
                  work or are impossible to book. Not to mention,                                                         Wyndham saw a boom in new loyalty program  the digital generation, mobile technologies will
                  most want to use their miles for family and leisure                                                     sign-ups and was picked as the "most rewarding"  also take a front seat to innovation in the loyal-
                  travel. This means they are trying to travel during                                                     hotel loyalty program in 2017.             ty program space. Until recently, it still wasn't
                  peak periods. It’s very difficult for a family to be                                                                                               possible to book an award ticket through an
                  flexible, when they have to book (for example)                                                          Hilton ran a similar overhaul to its Honors program  airline's mobile app or pay for an upgrade. But
                  during Easter break."                                                                                   in 2017, taking special care to offer flexible options  later in 2019, both American and Delta plan to
                                                                        COWED BY ACTIVE                                   for more particular travelers. After the relaunch,  open up that functionality, making it easier for
                  Indeed, since the inception of revenue-based                                                            travelers could redeem Honors points for partial  mobile-first travelers to streamline their journeys.
                  loyalty programs several years back, the calculus   INVESTORS AND AFRAID OF                             room payments and e-commerce purchases. They
                  for earning award points and elite status has                                                           could even pool points into family accounts, a  Hopeful as these technologies may seem,
                  become dramatically more complex. Fly from        STRAYING TOO FAR FROM                                 perk nearly unheard of in the domestic loyalty  there's still a long way to go toward making
                  JFK to San Francisco, for example, and you'll                                                           program game.                              loyalty programs ready for the next generation
                  earn 2,500 elite qualifying miles – the distance   THE PACK, OPERATORS OF                                                                          of travelers. To get started, airline, hotel, and
                  between those two points on the earth. But                                                              For those without the ability to start from scratch,  car rental loyalty program operators need to
                  in terms of award miles, the points redeemed   TODAY’S AIRLINE, HOTEL, AND                              the solutions may come in the form of better  f ind the courage to step away f rom the pack
                  for your next vacation in Hawaii, you only earn                                                         technology adoption. One group ahead of the  and truly innovate. Some, like Wyndham and
                  1,400  – because your flight cost $200 and as a   CAR LOYALTY PROGRAMS RUN                              curve is Carnival Corp. Last year, the operator  Hilton, are already doing that. Others need to
                  Gold member of your loyalty program, you earn                                                           started piloting the Ocean Medallion, a wearable  start thinking more disruptively – else they get
                  seven award miles per dollar spent.              THE CONSERVATIVE GAME                                  bit of technology that allows travelers to wirelessly  left behind in the dust.
                                                                                                                          access VIP levels of the cruise experience and
                  Loyalty program backends, too, have become       OF OFFERING NEARLY THE                                 feed valuable location and preference informa-
                  staggeringly complex, especially when giants                                                            tion to the mothership.
                  like Marriott and Starwood merge IT systems.   EXACT SAME THING THAT THE                                Big data may also help travel providers better

                  "Marriott's done a fairly good job of incorporating   COMPETITION DELIVERS.                             target and address customer needs. It's far easier
                  some of the best benefits of Starwood, like free                                                        to fly 125,000 miles and earn Delta Diamond
                  breakfast and suite upgrades at many hotels,"                                                           status out of Detroit, a Delta Air Lines hub,
                  said Zach Honig, an editor-at-large at The Points                                                       than it is out of San Francisco, where United is
                  Guy. "These perks are implemented inconsistently,                                                       king. So why is a San Francisco-based Diamond
                  though – hotels often don't provide an upgrade                                                          treated the same as one from Detroit? Could a
                  unless you ask, and the breakfast benef it can                                                          loyalty operator potentially create a program
                  range from coffee and a pastry in the hotel lobby                                                       custom-tailored to that Delta passenger in San
                  to a full à la carte or buffet spread. Customers                                                        Francisco?
                  never know what they're actually going to get
                  until they arrive at the hotel."                                                                        Dig through the mountains of hype, and block-
                                                                                                                          chain could be one of the keys to getting us out
                  Airlines are no better. It still takes at least 24                                                      of the doldrums of today's loyalty programs.
                  hours for miles to post from a United flight, and                                                       But there isn't an easy solution on the horizon.
                  if the credit is coming from a partner carrier or                                                       Reporting from the Loyalty Live 2018 conference,
                  credit card, it could take weeks.




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