Simpler Hotel Program

The Omni Select Guest program is now Discovery.  Simpler name and a simpler program.  The Discovery program covers several high end hotel chains around the world and is shift their focus from rebates to value adds.  Traditional loyalty programs give rebates in the form of rewards.  Discounting is easy and easy to mimic, so it doesn’t foster the strongest loyalty with customers.  Higher end chains eschew discounting and prefer to focus on creating powerful and memorable experiences as a path to loyalty.  This strategy is difficult and does not scale well, but can create very strong relationships that are hard for competitors to challenge. 

Better Customization On Long Trips

Airlines, NetJets excluded, have too large a scale and too few chances for customization, so they rely heavily on discounting, like free upgrades, fee waivers, and the miles currency to buy discounted services.  Airline discounting is being reduced as award programs change and try to increase margin.  It’s refreshing to see some programs are adding value even with reduced rebates.