Room at the Inn
La Quinta is in the business of putting people up for a good night’s rest at any of its 800 mid-scale hotels. It is also in the business of making sure travelers — particularly frequent travelers — are aware of and actively participate in its loyalty program, La Quinta Returns.
Mike Case, the vice president of marketing for the hotelier, spoke with Chief Marketer about building membership.
CM: How do you attract members over the larger hotel programs?
CASE: We purposely do a couple of things: We offer faster ways to accumulate points, and each month we set up groups of 100 to 150 properties where members can earn double or triple points for stays. It’s a great way to get members to try our new hotels.
CM: Have do you market the program?
CASE: In the last couple of years there has been a lot more emphasis on supporting the program. We now have 6.5 million total members and 1.6 million active members. All of our mass campaigns next year will include messaging to attract higher quality frequent travelers.
CM: What do members grumble about?
CASE: If you go back a couple of years, Elite Members grumbled that they didn’t get the service on property they deserved, but we are now going that extra mile to take care of them. We are much better on communication and customer service. We’ve also really focused in on service attributes such as upgrades and bottles of water and food snacks.
CM: What is the top redeemed award?
CASE: Free nights. We made that an attractive option for members. That is a superior value for our members versus our competitors.
Got an incentives tip to share? Contact Patricia Odell at [email protected]
