Think joining a hotel membership scheme is only for frequent travellers staying often at a particular hotel brand?
Then you should think again.
Sure, being a member of a hotel membership or loyalty programme does give you the opportunity to gather points and in turn receive upgrades and free nights. So it would make sense to frequently visit the same brand.
The great news is, hotel memberships are worth joining even when you do not visit regularly or often.
Joining a hotel membership offers you much more advantages than accumulating points for free nights or upgrades.
This is exactly the reason why you should sign up to various membership programmes, whether you travel a lot or only once in a while, and whether you have a preferred brand or frequently book at different brands.
As most hotel loyalty programmes or memberships are free to join, there is no reason not sign up to a range of different memberships. The worst thing that could happen is that you end up not actively using all of the available rewards.
In fact, I am a member of several different hotel memberships and feel this gives me a lot of extra advantages even though I might not visit some of these brands regularly enough to get free nights or similar.
Read on to learn why joining various hotel memberships is a good idea and what advantages this means to you as a frequent or maybe just random visitor.
5 great reasons to sign up to various hotel memberships whether you are a frequent visitor or not
Most hotel loyalty programmes offer instant rewards even from your first booking
That’s right. You don’t need to accumulate points before being able to cash in a reward.
Many hotel brands (though not all) will offer you some extra perks simply because you have signed up to their membership programme.
Free WiFi is a great example. Albeit most hotels now have free WiFi in their public areas, many still require you to pay for WiFi access in your room. Depending on the brand, these fees can be rather high, so even just getting free WiFi assess through a membership already makes sense to join.
Other instant rewards might be receiving fee daily newspapers or you might be able to check in at an extra members desk, jumping the line at the regular check-in desks. Just like that, you might also get a late check-out.
You can book your stay at available membership rates
As a member you will be able to take advantage of special membership rates which are offered in most cases already when you make your first booking.
For example, depending on your membership status, you might be able to get a guaranteed membership rate that applies for a specific status. Or you will be guaranteed to get the best available rate that you will find on the market.
As a member, you might also get a special membership discount on your room – which could apply already for the first booking you make after you joined the programme. This is different to the guaranteed rate for a particular room as the discount will be offered on the best room rate available on the market for your chosen room.
You will be the first to know about special offers and new hotel openings
As a member, you will regularly receive the latest news about special offers, events and new hotel openings before everybody else knows about this.
This way, you are in a much better position to secure a special price. For example, there might be only a limited number of rooms given away for the special offer or you need to book until a certain date. Getting advanced information before everybody else knows about the offer means better chances to secure the offer.
You are also likely to be notified about new hotel openings before everybody else and possibly benefit from an early booking discount to members.
In addition, receiving newsletters with special offers is a great way to receive great travel inspiration and could just find an awesome last minute deal for the next weekend.
You can collect points to be used for upgrades and free nights
OK, this one will likely require you to accumulate a certain number of nights at one brand. However, the good news is, you do not need a ton of bookings or nights to get an upgrade or even a free night.
In addition, if your membership is for a larger brand this might include several different hotel brands grouped under the same holding from luxury to budget hotels.
For example, if you are a member of Le Club AccerHotels, this includes Raffels, BanyanTree, Fairmont, Sofitel, Novotel and Mercure amongst some others. The World of Hyatt includes Hyatt hotels, Thompson Hotels and Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties
And the points you earn staying at one of the these are valid to be used with all participating names in a specific programme.
Members can often cancel for free
One thing you don’t want to do is having to cancel a trip, especially not at short notice. However, we all know the unexpected can happen any time. So if you have to cancel a hotel reservation, you cannot do this always for free.
That’s where a hotel membership can come in handy. Many brands will allow members to cancel for fee or at least get better conditions.
As you see, even in case you do not travel that often, or when you do stay in different hotel brands all the time, being part of a hotel membership programme will offer you a number of interesting perks.
Are you taking part in a hotel membership programme? Which one? Let me know about your experience.
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