EDITION
insider A publication about the upcoming transition to IHG Rewards Club速
VOL. 03 NO. 01
June 2013 www.ihgrewardsclub.com
NIGHTS BEYOND NIGHTS On 1 July, Priority Club Rewards becomes IHG速 Rewards Club
INSIDE THIS ISSUE... xx Benefit Spotlight xx The Lifecycle of a Member xx Highlighting the FAQ and more...
Reward Nights and Rollovers are sure to delight!
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IHG REWARDS CLUB® insider
Nights beyond Nights
Benefit Spotlight Reward Nights now counting as qualifying nights and Rollover Nights are a few of the new exciting benefits coming with the transition to IHG® Rewards Club. • We’ve learned that encouraging our members to utilize their points for Reward Night stays is indeed a win-win situation for IHG and our members. Our members feel rewarded from having a stay on us and return, IHG benefits from having our members experience more hotels and more brands which IHG has to offer. • We’ve learned that our guests want to feel their additional nights earned above the Platinum Elite Level threshold are meaningful to them and count towards something. • It is for this reason that nights earned above the threshold of 50 nights will now rollover and count towards earning Elite status for the following year.
N
ights beyond nights...365 days which eventually become nights, nights we hope are spent at one of over 4,600 hotels in more than 100 countries where we do business. Nights mean everything to us because they are a precious commodity. If a hotel room sits empty on any given night, we can’t resell that night—it is simply lost and a profit compromised. Heads in beds is the common goal for the 3,481 colleagues throughout RCC, realized by each of us doing our part to make our brands the preferred choice of where our guests want to spend their nights. IHG Rewards Club® thoughtfully strategized to see how we could give our guests more for their nights while recognizing their loyalty towards our brands because we never take a guests choice in staying with us for granted. Now (well...anytime after 1 July 2013) guests will get more for their nights with two new exciting benefits, Rollover Nights and Reward Nights now counting as qualifying nights. Rollover nights is a powerful proposition to our die hard loyal guests who might have reached their 50th night to maintain their elite status only four months into the year. Rollover nights motivate our guests to continue staying in our brands because all of their additional
nights are now rolling over to the next year helping them to extend their Elite status even further. Reward Nights are now qualifying nights...say what? Yes! We are giving our members qualifying nights for using their points to spend a night with us—a qualifying night which will get them closer to reaching Elite status. An Elite status which will increase their point earnings by 10% or 50%; giving them more points to redeem for a reward night stay in one of our brands. Someone really thought this through well! Remember, the next time you book a reservation and enroll a new IHG® Rewards Club member, you are starting your guest on a path towards stays at great hotels and you can have peace of mind knowing their nights will carry them further than ever before!
IHG® REWARDS CLUB insider Editors-in-Chief Stephanie Ochoa Jesse Valdez This publication has been brought to you by:
IHG REWARDS CLUB® insider 3
The Lifecycle of a Member
T
he lifecycle of a member is a well defined have to contact us for a missing stay adjustment. path with a purpose. One that will keep our We can also offer our guests bonus points rates so members loyal to our brands through offering they can earn even more points when they stay with
them a compelling proposition, stay with us and we us. We use the Special Offers module within CEM to will reward you for your loyalty. How many people activate our guests in offers or promotions which would shy away from that? It seems rather simple will also help them to accrue points at a faster rate. enough, give your guests more for their stays and We can tell our guests about one of our co-branded they will shift their stays to your brands. We mastered credit cards so they can earn points on anything they this over 30 years ago with bringing the world’s first purchase using the card. When our guests see how hotel loyalty program to the industry, Holiday Inn many ways and how quickly they can earn points, Inner Circle Club and we will continue our legacy they will be excited to use our brands and participate on July 1st with IHG® Rewards Club. Today, with in our offers. 71 million members strong, we strive to have this lifecycle repeated numerous times over
Reward Nights
as new guests enroll each day. We
Soon enough our guests will be
must recognize the very important
able to redeem points for a free
role we play in all aspects of this
night while we provide a great
cycle, yes , all aspects.
guest experience by utilizing our tools in IRIS. Don’t forget
Enrollment
you can use IRIS to check when
We set our guests off on the right
reward nights are available if
foot when we tell about how our
they are not available on the
program will benefit them and how
guests original requested dates
their loyalty will be rewarded as we
of travel. Also, be sure to use the
enroll them. Remember enrolling the
point cost pull-down menu to
guest is quick and easy, it just takes a
see the cost of each hotel within
click of a button.
a city! We will always thank our guests for their business,
Hotel Experience We absolutely impact the hotel
choosing our brands, and wish them an enjoyable stay.
experience because we match the right brand based on what we learn about which experience the In all steps of the lifecycle, we have created an guest is seeking. We also learned in BrandHearted experience for our guests which sets us apart from our training that each brand appeals to a different type competitors. We make IHG® Rewards Club easier to of customer and that each brand offers them a use through our proficiency of service and efficiency different experience. We want to give our guests a of process. We empower our guests to stay and earn great experience by understanding their needs and points in ways which work best for them. Finally, doing everything possible to ensure they are met. we make our program very rewarding in providing When we complete our reservations with accuracy more options to enjoy their points they have worked and remember to note our guests requests, we so hard to earn. The lifecycle of a member all starts further ensure their hotel experience is seamless and with a simple question, “Would you like to enroll?” comfortable. We get them closer to a rewards night and leads to a long term revenue stream for IHG. In stay or any redemption opportunity by using CEM to the end, our guests benefit from great experiences look up their membership number and adding it to the whenever they choose IHG’s great brands. These reservation. This step greatly decreases the amount great brands are delivered by great people and are of effort required on the part of our guests later to part of a great program, IHG® Rewards Club.
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IHG REWARDS CLUB® insider
HIGHLIGHTING THE
IHG REWARDS CLUB FAQ
Q: When will the Reward Night night’s start counting towards qualifying nights? A: Reward Nights night’s will begin counting as qualifying nights for stay nights on or after 1 July 2013. Q: What will be considered a Reward Night night? A: A night which is booked under the Reward Night rate category, IVANI. Q: Is there a minimum number of nights required to rollover once the minimum threshold of 50 nights for Platinum Elite status has been reached? A: No. There are no minimum number of nights required in order for the nights to be rolled over into the next calendar year. Q: When will the additional nights begin rolling over? A: Rollover nights will begin rolling over effective 1 January 2014. Q: How long are the rollover nights valid? A: The Elite rollover nights will be valid for one calendar year. Still have questions yet to be answered? Ask us! Submit them using the ‘Submit A Question’ function located on the top right hand corner of PASSPORT Central.
Piecing it all together!
THE BENEFITS OF • • • • • • • • • • • • •
POINTS NEVER EXPIRE EARN POINTS OR MILES AT OVER 4,600 HOTELS WORLDWIDE COMPLIMENTARY WEEKDAY NEWSPAPER EXTENDED CHECKOUT NO BLACKOUT DATES FOR REWARD NIGHTS FASTER REWARDS BY USING A COMBINATION OF POINTS & CASH EXCLUSIVE MEMBER-ONLY, IN-HOTEL PERKS 10% BONUS POINTS EARNING FOR GOLD & 50% FOR PLATINUM PRIORITY CHECK-INSM FOR GOLD AND PLATINUM ELITE COMPLIMENTARY ROOM UPGRADES FOR PLATINUM ELITE GUARANTEED ROOM AVAILABILITY FOR PLATINUM ELITE FREE INTERNET ACCESS FOR ALL MEMBERS1 FAST TRACK TO ELITE STATUS WHEN YOU STAY IN THREE OR MORE UNIQUE BRANDS • REWARD NIGHTS NOW COUNT AS QUALIFYING NIGHTS • ROLLOVER NIGHTS FOR PLATINUM ELITE Starting with Elite members in July 2013 and all members in 2014.
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IHG REWARDS CLUB® insider 5
A YEARS VALUE OF IHG® REWARDS CLUB
IN CONTEXT- THE SIZE AND SCALE OF LOYALTY
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IHG REWARDS CLUB® insider
New name. New benefits. More rewarding than ever before.
On 1 July 2013, Priority Club Rewards will become IHG® Rewards Club. Introducing exciting new benefits such as Fast Track to Elite status, Rewards Nights now count as qualifying nights, Rollover nights for Platinum Elite, and being the first hotel group offer free internet access to all its members1 worldwide. We’re making the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty program more rewarding than ever before. www.ihgrewardsclub.com
Starting with Elite members in July 2013 and all members in 2014.
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