SHOREWOOD, WISCONSIN - Wyndham Rewards returns an average of 16.7% from room night spending as reward stay value in the third annual . That’s 3+ points higher than the brand’s 2016 result and a 211% higher return than the reward value provided by Starwood's SPG, which was ranked last among the six hotel loyalty programs at 5.4% for reward payback.
During August 2017, IdeaWorksCompany conducted 1,350 reward queries for key hotel brands in six global frequent guest programs: Best Western Rewards, Hilton Honors, IHG Rewards Club, Marriott Rewards, Starwood SPG, and Wyndham Rewards. For each query, the lowest reward price in points was recorded along with the corresponding room price in US dollars. The value provided by points was adjusted to consider the different rates of point accrual for the programs. The result provides an average “reward payback” for each program as shown in the graph below. For example, the 8.8% rate for Marriott Rewards represents average reward value payback of $8.80 for every $100 spent on hotel room rates. By comparison, IdeaWorksCompany calculated reward payback for American, Delta, and United frequent flyers ranges from 3.9% to 5.8% (see May 17, 2017 IdeaWorksCompany press release).
The CarTrawler Hotel Reward Payback Survey includes the following additional data and analysis for the six hotel loyalty programs:
- Simple Value of Reward Points, which allows consumers to know the value of bonus offers such as 80,000 bonus points for the IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card representing a reward value of $560.
- Best and Lowest Reward Payback, which ranged from 1.8% to 50.7%.
- Reward Value Returned by Co-Branded Credit Cards with a best result from the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express at 2.7%.
