Radisson splits its loyalty program in two, with customers losing out

Radisson will separate its Radisson Rewards loyalty program into two distinct programs, one for the Americas, the other for the rest of the world. This decision is not based on any commercial logic, and will complicate customers’ lives.

Radisson: one brand, two geographies, two loyalty programs

Goodbye Radisson Rewards, hello Radisson Rewards and Radisson Rewards Americas. Depending on where they live, existing loyalty program members are now members of one or other of these two programs. Radisson Rewards America for people living in North, Central and South America, Radisson Rewards for the rest of the world.

That’s for current customers. But it also impacts the way customers will be able to earn and consume their points in the future, and dictates the choice of these and future customers to join one or both of these programs.

A different program depending on hotel location

Indeed, while geographical criteria dictated the distribution of existing customers when the programs were separated, they also conditioned the ability to earn points during stays and use them to purchase stays.

If you’re staying at a hotel on the American continent, you’ll only be able to credit your points to Radisson Rewards Americas. On the other hand, elsewhere in the world, you can only credit them to Radisson Rewards. The same applies to the use of points.

In fact, the choice of whether or not to belong to one or other of the programs should not be linked to where the customer lives – this was only used to manage existing accounts during the transition – but to where you travel the most.

If you’re French but spend most of your travels in the USA for business reasons, you’d better consider joining Radisson Rewards Americas. And if you like spending your vacations in Sweden? Well, you’ll need to join Radisson Rewards too.

All of this is explained clearly, but intellectually incomprehensibly, in this document produced by Radisson.

Commercial nonsense and complications for customers

We’ve read and reread Radisson’s communication on the subject, and in all honesty we haven’t found any commercial justification that a customer could hear.

Radisson says that Radisson and Radisson Americas were now going to be two separate businesses, requiring two separate loyalty programs. We don’t believe it, because it’s technically possible to run a single loyalty program for two businesses, even if this may require additional financial flows that aren’t needed if you stay within the same business. Or maybe there’s a hidden agenda? On en parlera plus tard.

In any case, rather than managing financial compensation issues between two separate businesses, for example when using points, Radisson prefers to let the customer manage it themselves, by allowing points to be transferred from one program to another.

But beware: while it will be possible to transfer points from one program to another in order to use them, nowhere is it written that these transferred points will be used to acquire a status, and it’s more than unlikely that this will be the case.

Radisson says it will be possible to make a status match between the two programs. In other words, as a Gold member of Radisson Rewards, I can request the same status at Radisson Americas (as long as I create an account). But it won’t be automatic – you’ll have to ask for it.

This reminds me of Choice Hotels. When I was preparing my last stay in Gothenburg, I remembered that I had an “old” account with them. But to no avail: their activities are now split between Nordic Choice Hotels for Northern Europe and Choice Hotels for the rest of the world, each with its own loyalty program.

But all this talk of transferring points and status should not obscure the essential fact: statuses will be harder to achieve than before.

Radisson status harder to achieve

If you travel mainly within the geographic area of a program, you won’t notice too many differences.

On the other hand, a person who earns points for work or leisure both in America and in the rest of the world will be heavily penalized.

For example, you need 30 nights a year to be Gold. Tomorrow, a person who spends 15 nights in one zone and 15 in another may be twice Silver…but Gold nowhere. Even more frustrating is his ratio of 25/5 or 29/1.

In fact, this intercontinental clientele is one of the most sought-after travellers for the major hotel groups, and one of the biggest contributors in terms of room nights and revenues, whereas they will be the most penalized. By the time many VIPs have lost their platinum (60 nights) because they’ve spent 40 nights in one zone and 25 in another, we’re likely to be hearing a lot about it.

Add to this the fact that the “price” of free point nights will rise significantly (by up to 50% for standard rooms).

Data protection or a hidden agenda for Radisson?

Perhaps making things more complicated from an administrative point of view and limiting the acquisition of statutes isn’t the only idea behind this change.

Some put forward a question relating to customer data protection. Indeed Radisson is owned by Jin Jiang, a Chinese state-owned business that also owns Louvre Hotels Group (Golden Tulip, Kyriad, Campanile) since its acquisition from Starwood Capital in 2015, is a major shareholder in Accor. For this reason, U.S. data protection laws would prohibit a Chinese business from accessing U.S. customer data…but it’s hard to see how the new arrangement changes the story, since one person can be a member of both programs, and the shareholder remains the same in the end.

Perhaps the split into two separate businesses represents Jin Jiang’s desire to eventually divest Radisson’s activities in a given area (America) and thus make this entity easier to sell?

Time will tell, but in the meantime, it’s not a win-win situation for the customer. In the meantime, to “secure” Gold status at Radisson, you should know that American Express Platinum holders can benefit from this status on request, regardless of the number of nights spent.

Image : Radisson by Ken Wolter via Shutterstock.