Flirting With Travel

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Loyalty Programs: How They Work


Loyalty Programs: they are plentiful and everywhere. It’s a brand’s way of flirting with us, enticing us to only shop with them… Offering us the potential of free everything. Luring us into their arms. Everybody and they mama want to offer you the ability to be an “Elite” member and redeem points to use at a later date for free travel and hotel stays. 

This is amazing!! An absolute gem, but it’s important to realize that the keyword to success is Loyalty. You have to be super selective with brand loyalty. In order to attain their coveted Top Tier Statuses, you need to pick your rewards program and always book with their points program.

You need lots of points to book free travel, accruing 200 points will yield nothing and will not keep you motivated. So treat your brands like the only person you ever want to spend your time with. Always choose them when booking your flights, hotel stays and car rentals and you will be rewarded handsomely as a loyal customer. 

Quick Tips

  • Sign up for all the Frequent Flier Programs you normally fly. Especially choose the Legacy airlines that hub from your Home City. EX: Delta if you live in Atlanta / Minneapolis / Detroit or United if you live in Newark / Chicago / Denver.

  • Second, sign up for low cost carrier loyalty programs. Choose the carrier that hubs from where you live and goes to the destinations you frequent. EX: Allegiant if you fly out of Vegas or Spirit if you fly out of Chicago alot. 

  • Enroll in online booking platforms loyalty programs. IE; if you don't book your flight directly on an airlines website or rental car platform, You'll use Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Orbitz ect. They have customer loyalty programs, enroll in them and save your logins so that you automatically get your points whenever you book as an existing customer.  

  • Copy and Paste this strategy for Hotels and Rental cars brands. The only exception to the Airline strategy is that it's more useful to just join all the major brands if you aren’t a business traveler and don’t have a favorite. All these programs are free to join, so why not.

It’s important to realize that the key word in this is Loyalty. You have to become a loyal customer to a number of programs in order to maximize your points. You need lots of points to book free travel, accruing 200 points will yield nothing and will not keep you motivated. Check out our next blog to explain Credit Card reward programs!

Happy Booking!

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* This is a referral link and I will receive bonus points. I do appreciate you paying it forward :)