The Rewards & Referral Program Facts you Should Know
The hotel and travel industry was the pioneer of reward and referral programs. “Refer a friend and get 75,000 points!” If you have traveled in the past 30 years you have encountered your fair share of marketing messages just like this one.
You have also experienced when you go to redeem these “thousands of points”, and you find out that 75,000 points equates to one free bag of chips.
It is a constant struggle to find the best hotel rewards program or airline perks that are actually worth the effort.
Looking for the right referral program for you? One that you would actually feel comfortable to refer a friend to? Here is our list of the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to rewards programs.
The Best Hotel Rewards Program
Hotel companies have finally come to the realization that their customers need real incentives and real rewards in order to gain their loyalty.
Every traveler has different needs and desires. So it is almost impossible for one hotel chain to offer a rewards program that can cater to lodging styles, travel habits, and expectations.
The Marriott Rewards program is pretty good in offering a free night, but it requires that you stay somewhere for 4 nights. With their membership they also offer room upgrades and a point system you can use for the spa, gift cards, or merchandise. Once again though, the points are completely arbitrary and you can only earn these benefits by staying at a Marriott or one of the five affiliate brands.
See why HopRocket has the best rewards program in the travel industry
Some programs offer great membership privileges like early check-in, late check-out, or free amenities. Others look to reward loyal customers with points for free night stays or room upgrades. In the end it really doesn’t matter, because if the hotel is overpriced you end up paying for the perks anyway.
Wouldn’t you rather just pay the lowest rate online and get cash back towards your next hotel? Enough with arbitrary point systems, wouldn’t you rather have 1 reward = 1 dollar? That is a ratio we all understand.
That is where HopRocket comes in.
No other travel company has a rewards or referral program like ours. In what world does 13,732 points ever equal a $10 gift card to Sizzler? We like to show our appreciation to those that tell their friends about our ridiculously low hotel rates. That’s why we give you rewards for every friend and family member you refer as a member.
Traveling with a friend or even a few friends? Tell them about HopRocket, and when you do they will save $20 on their membership. Plus, not only will they save, but you will get $25, $45, or even $100 in rewards to use on your next trip.
This is why HopRocket is the best hotel rewards program in the travel industry.
“I took a trip to Madang for the HopRocket presentation. I booked a room at the Madang Resort hotel in PNG and I used 160 Rocket Rewards and I paid nothing. I had free breakfast and dinner, it was awesome!”
- Susan S.
With that type of referral program, there really is no reason to keep HopRocket a secret. Share these amazing savings on Hotels, and you could have your entire trip paid for, multiple times!
If you are a HopRocket member, share your referral code by clicking here to log in, and then click My Account to refer a friend.
The Bad Referral Programs
If you are a frequent traveler, then you have definitely signed up for your fair share of frequent-flier rewards programs. These airlines are always looking to outperform the competition, while also creating some sort of profit out of the already thin margins in airline travel.
This competitive market is a perfect recipe for stingy rewards programs that can frequently change. Delta Air Lines, which recently had a debacle with their computer systems failing, doesn’t even post a point system chart anymore.
Their point system has just about the same amount of variance as their day to day flight schedule. Delta doesn’t post a point system chart because they don’t want to give customers a set point comparison.
Delta has made attempts to improve the perks of their rewards program by allowing members to buy drinks with their sky miles in the airport clubs. Fork up 800 miles and you could enjoy a cold beer while waiting to board you flight.
An important number to be aware of when looking into which rewards or referral program is right for you is the payback percentage.
Here is a breakdown of how payback percentages work. Let’s use United’s MileagePlus program as an example. With United, program members earn 5 miles for every dollar spent, so if you were to spend the average rate of $248 on a flight you would earn 1,247 miles.
That means it would take roughly take 20 trips to earn a 25,000 saver-level award, yielding a payback percentage of 5%.
So the reward payback refers to how much value you get for flying on an airline. The airline with the best payback is JetBlue, with a 7.9% payback. American fell to the bottom of this list with a measly 3.1%.
With many travel companies cutting their program benefits in the past year to increase their profit margins, it is important that you do your research before becoming a loyal customer to the company with the lowest payback.
People Want Transparancy
With all of the games and gimmicks that are disguised as rewards or referral bonuses, HopRocket wanted to create a system that was simple and strait forward. You don’t need to be an expert with ratios or some confusing point chart.
When we created our company we wanted to do what nobody else was doing.
What Program is Right for Me?
In the end you have to decide what travel company offers the best rewards for you. Meaning you have to do some internal and external research and find out how you would benefit the most.
To find out more info on how you can travel the world with friends and family while making a living, click below.
