How TPG Readers Ranked the Best Hotel Loyalty Programs
The inaugural TPG Awards were held on Tuesday Dec. 4, and we couldn't have asked for a better night. From the setting (the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum) to the special awards (to Captain "Sully" Sullenberger and Leymah Gbowee) to the musical performance (by Bebe Rexha), the evening was a great way to celebrate the best of the best in the credit card, travel and loyalty spaces.
Of course, the term "best" can be a relative term when it comes to airlines and hotel programs, and there's been some heated conversation about the list of award winners we released the morning after the show. Bear in mind that most of the winners were selected entirely by readers via a secured Google poll (the airline cabin awards were selected by expert TPG editorial staff). However, the will of the voters may not match your own personal preferences, so we're providing some additional detail into where these programs fell.
Here's the list of nominees for best hotel loyalty program in the order that our readers voted them:
- Marriott/SPG/Ritz-Carlton
- Hilton Honors
- World of Hyatt
- IHG Rewards
- Wyndham Rewards
- Choice Privileges
- Radisson Rewards
When the voting was over, despite a rash of issues with the August integration and some significant backlash from readers with changes to travel package certificates (that were then softened a bit), the combined Marriott, SPG and Ritz-Carlton program took home the award for Best Hotel Loyalty Program of 2018. Now it's important to note that voting ended almost a month before news of Marriott's massive data breach was released, so we can only speculate whether that would've changed the outcome. However, with the 2019 introduction of Category 8 and peak pricing along with ongoing fallout from the breach, the new Marriott program (whatever it may be called) will have a hard time holding onto its title.
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