In today's article, we would like to focus on hotel loyalty programs.

What is a loyal guest?

A loyal guest is one who prefers to book directly with the hotel. This is important for both parties as both the guest and the hotel are communicating directly. On the one hand, the guest makes the most of the price, which is the lowest possible, and on the other hand, the hotel will not pay extra commissions to agents, as happens when booking through OTA channels such as booking.com, Trivago, AirBNB and others.

What is the guest loyalty program?

To reward guests who choose to book direct, the hotel creates loyalty programs that provide an additional discount off the final rate. These discounts can range between 3% and 5% extra on top of the already discounted rate from the hotel's website. The discount percentage varies according to the nights you have already done in the past. The more nights you have had, the greater the discount will be. Information about nights is saved and accumulated over time. For example, if you booked through an online agent the previous year, the hotel retains the information for that booking and when you call to book direct the following year, the hotel applies an additional discount as an incentive. In this way, the relationship between the guest and the hotel is maintained. If you combine this program with the early booking discounts, it is very likely that your vacation will end up being 25% percent or more cheaper than it would have been if you booked through an online agent.

In short, always seek direct contact with the hotel you have booked. That way you can compare prices and make the most of the discounts they apply.