J.D. Power Japan conducted a survey on hotel loyalty program satisfaction for global brands and domestic brands in Japan, calculating scores from four factors of ‘member benefits,’ ‘loyalty points,’ ‘app or website’ and ‘information from a hotel.’
The average scores were 662 points (1000 points maximum) in the global brand section and 656 points in the domestic brand section. The satisfaction rates were 29% for member benefits, 25% for loyalty points, 24% for app or website and 21% for information from a hotel.
Asked reasons for joining a loyalty program, the top was ‘price benefits, such as complimentary or member-limited prices (28%),’ followed by ‘frequently staying (25%)’ and ‘enriched member benefits (24%)’ in the global brand section. The top in the domestic brand section was ‘frequently staying (39%),’ followed by ‘easier for check-in/out (33%)’ and ‘‘price benefits, such as complimentary or member-limited prices (26%.’
The most-used member benefit in the past year was ‘room upgrading (28%),’ followed by ‘early check-in/late check-out (26%),’ ‘complimentary or discounted breakfast (25%),’ ‘price benefit in a restaurant (25%)’ and ‘complimentary or discounted room price (25%)’ in the global brand section. In the domestic brand section, the top was ‘complimentary or discounted room price (24%),’ followed by ‘quick check-in/out (22%)’ and ‘complimentary or discounted breakfast (18%).’
Satisfaction depends on usage of loyalty points
The percentage of people who had not used their points in the past year was 32% for global brands and 48% for domestic brands.The most common reason given for this in both the sections was ‘not having enough points to exchange for the benefits and services I wanted to use.’
Also, the survey results show that there is a big difference of hotel satisfaction depending on usage of loyalty points, as the differences were 100 points or higher in both global and domestic brand sections.
Furthermore, it finds that members with higher overall satisfaction were more likely to give priority to staying at hotels that offer the program, for both global and domestic brands.
The followings are selected brands:
Global brands
1 Marriott Bonvoy (686 points), tops in ‘member benefits,’ ‘loyalty points,’ ‘app or website’ and ‘information from a hotel.’
2 Hilton Honors (655 points)
3 ALL-Accor Live Limitless（644 points）
4 IHG One Rewards（643 points）
Domestic brands
1 Toyoko INN Club Card (669 points), tops in ‘member benefits,’ ‘loyalty points’ and ‘app or website’
2 Route INN Hotels Internet members (662 points)
3 Rihga Members (659 points), top in ‘information from a hotel’
4 Apa Hotel Members (658 points)
5 Richmond Club (655 points)
