Loyalty DOES Matter
Travel isn't cheap and we are not rich.
One big way we have learned to save money is through the loyalty programs that all airlines and hotels offer. In this series of posts, I'll go over the different loyalty programs that we use, why and how we've benefited from them.
Instead of jumping around and trying to use every program out there, we have focused on one budget option and one “business’ option. By focusing this way we can leverage our loyalty and find the best deals.
We are able to use one loyalty account for all travel and I tend to book travel for us so to pool the points into one account. Using the points like this is the preferred way for family trips but if someone needs to use points for a personal trip we don’t have to fight over them.
We use 4 loyalty programs, 2 airlines programs and 2 hotel from major hotel chains.
While are in no way experts on these programs but this is what we have learned from utilizing them over the years and hopefully what we do know will be helpful for those of you out there who are learning just like we did.
Marriott’s rewards program “Bonvoy” is arguably one of the best in the hotel industry. Marriott is a combination of 31 brands and is the largest hotel company in the world.
Marriott breaks their hotels down into 4 categories:
- Longer Stays
- Select
- Premium, and
- Luxury
The higher the brand is the more points you earn per night.
We like Marriott because the hotels are clean, up to date, and offer several different options depending on what amenities we need. For instance, when we are staying longer than 4 nights, we tend to want to stay in one of the longer stay brands like Residence Inn. We can have a full kitchen and a more spacious area to work in. If it is a shorter trip we like to stay at Courtyards, Fairfield’s, or full service Marriott’s.
Marriott has 5 levels to it’s loyalty program and with each level you gain the more perks you will receive. To keep all of the points in one place when my family travels I book their hotels. This way the loyalty number is gaining status and points.
The higher the brand is the more points you earn per night.
We like Marriott because the hotels are clean, up to date, and offer several different options depending on what amenities we need. For instance, when we are staying longer than 4 nights, we tend to want to stay in one of the longer stay brands like Residence Inn. We can have a full kitchen and a more spacious area to work in. If it is a shorter trip we like to stay at Courtyards, Fairfield’s, or full service Marriott’s.
Marriott has 5 levels to it’s loyalty program and with each level you gain the more perks you will receive. To keep all of the points in one place when my family travels I book their hotels. This way the loyalty number is gaining status and points.
On a recent trip to Orlando our loyalty status got us an upgrade to the Presidential Suite, late complimentary check out, and early check in.
The Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve are all Marriott hotels and with Disney being the main focus of our travels you cannot beat having a Marriott membership!
While these are just our favorites and are our opinions only. No matter which loyalty program you choose our recommendation is to join one that fits you! You want to be able to earn points and use that to help you travel.
Tiff
Hi, I'm Tiff and I wrote this! Learn more about myself, my family and our hopes for this blog on our Meet the Team page!
