SAHARA Las Vegas has partnered with Laasie to reimagine an exciting new kind of guest loyalty program, the SAHARA Insider Program. Leveraging Laasie’s signature Retain platform, a powerful membership program created to cultivate dynamic, one-to-one relationships with guests, SAHARA has effectively enhanced its existing player's program to usher in a new era of guest loyalty.

SAHARA Las Vegas is completely remodeled and reimagined for a new era, offering guests an impressive variety of modern amenities and luxuries, an enticing selection of five-star dining options, and a world-class casino. Style and sophistication are synonymous with the SAHARA brand, and, with this in mind, the cultivation of a forward-facing technology stack remains of the utmost importance.

“We pride ourselves on offering guests a truly unique and intimate Vegas experience,” explains Kat Carrera, the Executive Director of Digital Marketing at SAHARA Las Vegas. “To offer this kind of experience at scale, we frequently examine our processes and platforms to identify opportunities for growth and evolution. To that effect, Laasie has been a great addition to our hotel loyalty technology stack. It has driven impressive booking growth in our direct channel while ensuring an instantly gratifying experience for our guests and no operational headache for our hotel staff.”

Harnessing the undeniable power of instant gratification and Laasie’s exclusive Rewards Network, SAHARA Las Vegas can now offer guests instant, high-value rewards at every interaction and touchpoint, both online and on-property. The new SAHARA Insider Program will grant guests access to Laasie’s open marketplace of local, national, and global rewards partners mindfully curated based on their interests and values. This platform is not only designed to delight guests and exceed expectations but will also seamlessly drive repeat transactions and grow customer lifetime value.

“With three distinct hotel towers that set a new standard for Vegas hospitality and personalized service, SAHARA has long been at the forefront of emerging trends and innovation,” shares Ellis Connolly, Chief Revenue Officer at Laasie. “When we think of leaders in the marketplace that are eager to explore bold new ideas and do things differently, SAHARA emerges as an obvious choice. Their commitment to personalization and exceptional service is unmatched. This partnership will introduce a new kind of loyalty program that will solidify and enhance their position as a sought-after destination and an industry leader.”

As an iconic Las Vegas experience, SAHARA will leverage this new partnership to better serve their guests and, more importantly, prove that guest loyalty isn’t a thing of the past – it just needs to be earned. “The SAHARA Insider program will drive revenue for our properties and give our guests access to exclusive experiences that are not to be missed,” shares Carrera. “We are incredibly excited to expand our partnership with Laasie with their next-gen loyalty product and continue to see their suite of instant-reward based products as differentiators for SAHARA Las Vegas.”

Laasie’s unique platform is unlike any other solution on the market, with a proven track record of increased conversions and net revenue. The lightweight, turnkey solution delivers incentives upon the desired action and rewards guests on the hotel’s website, while on-property, or traveling home. It also supports white labeling for all customer-facing interfaces to match a brand’s marketing guidelines.

To learn more about Laasie’s next-generation loyalty solution, please click here.

About Laasie

Laasie powers a new kind of loyalty for 1,200 hotels & resorts through AI and a network of 1,000+ instant gratification partners. Awarded the #1 Direct Booking Platform by HotelTechAwards, Laasie has driven $500 million in direct bookings. Today’s savvy customers are uninspired by yesterday’s rigid loyalty programs, often leaving with unused points and limited brand affinity. Laasie leverages AI to drive conversion and loyalty with personalized, instant rewards that motivate customer actions like booking directly, taking a survey, joining a marketing program, and more. The result? Customers enjoy enriched experiences with each brand interaction and partners benefit with increased net revenue, actionable data insights, strengthened customer relationships, and a scalable loyalty program that increases the lifetime value of every customer. To learn more, visit laasie.ai

About SAHARA Las Vegas

SAHARA Las Vegas epitomizes the timeless soul of Las Vegas. With a bold, sophisticated flair and a boutique approach to personal service, SAHARA provides guests an intimate and unexpected experience that sets a new standard for Vegas. Completely remodeled and reimagined for a new era, SAHARA offers three distinctive hotel towers, a variety of five-star dining options, and a world-class casino. With unexpected delights around every corner, SAHARA embodies the style, sophistication and playful sense of possibility that’s truly the spirit of Vegas - and brings the iconic Vegas experience to a whole new generation.

Ellis Connolly
Chief Revenue Officer

Hey Siri… play Loyalty by Kendrick Lamar!

Let’s talk about loyalty. We write songs about it; we study it; we try to identify it in friends, potential suitors, colleagues, and customers – loyalty is an omnipresent force in our lives, whether it exists in abundance or, in some cases, is perceivably lacking. Specifically, loyalty has gleaned no shortage of attention over the last few years in the business world. Across industries, marketers and business owners find themselves ruminating over the same question – is loyalty dead? Are modern customers incapable of exhibiting loyalty to the brands they purchase from? If not, why does customer loyalty feel increasingly elusive, if not entirely absent from the marketplace?

In the hospitality industry, specifically, this conversion continues to rear its ugly head at every turn. Why? Because our industry is perched atop a somewhat shaky foundation of antiquated processes and technology and, nestled right in the center is the traditional hotel loyalty program. At one time, these programs might have been considered the beating heart of hospitality, wrapping around guests like a warm hug that kept them coming back time and time again. But today? The hug isn’t just lukewarm – it’s often rejected altogether. Travelers have noticeably cooled towards providing generic loyalty programs, especially those of the point-based variety, which offer impersonal or otherwise intangible incentives. The list of grievances is not only lengthy but well understood; guests are tired of complicated loyalty programs and grand promises that fail to deliver, especially when hospitality brands seem to dangle an increasingly small carrot of a reward just beyond reach at every turn.

The inconvenient truth our industry needs to come to grips with is this: loyalty isn’t dead… it’s just really boring, and the way we’ve been doing it is no longer working.

Loyalty Shouldn’t Be Lackluster

Think back to your childhood – do you remember a holiday during which gifts were exchanged, where you were given a gift that was completely out of the scope of what you wanted? Now, think about that sinking feeling as you opened that gift and forced a smile across your face before surveying the room to make sure no one had picked up on your internalized disappointment. This is a meaningful scenario to depict because almost all of us have received a gift or a gesture that we didn’t like at one point or another. Unfortunately, the hospitality industry has made a habit of this exact exchange – giving lackluster gifts to unsatisfied parties. Where is the fun in that?

To put it simply, traditional loyalty programs often aren’t designed in a way that can elicit delight and surprise in the modern world. It’s not to say they aren’t well-intentioned; they simply aren’t built to offer an ‘on the nose’ experience in a world that demands personalization and relevance. Structurally, point-based systems may offer up some enticing rewards at a high tier, but those rewards cannot make an impact if guests can never reach them (or if their points expire before they get there). With this in mind, I urge hotel brands to consider the following questions:

1. Are your reward options diversified, personalized, and high-value?

2. If utilizing a tiered loyalty system, is the rewards hierarchy accessible enough for most of your guests to benefit?

3. Are the redemption rules attached to your program complicated, and do they change frequently?

4. Do you offer your guests instant gratification?

5. Do you clearly communicate your loyalty incentives to guests to maximize touch-points and prolong the delight of a purchase moment?

6. Are you mistaking habit for loyalty?

7. Do guests ever offer feedback that highlights or praises your loyalty offers?

Answering these questions should not only help you discern the quality of your current loyalty program but will also help guide you towards a new kind of loyalty.

Loyalty – Reimagined, and Reinvigorated

Every industry, and every industry segment, needs a make-over. Guest loyalty, in this instance, was long overdue and now ripe for transformation. We can bring a new kind of loyalty into view by loosening our grip on the point-based loyalty programs of the past. If hotels are promising guests an exceptional, meaningful, personalized experience, they need to deliver.

After all, failure to deliver on that brand promise erodes guest trust. According to Edelman’s Trust Barometer, people’s trust in those around them has imploded, reaching an all-time low. Their 2022 report indicated that trust in business sits at 54% – for hospitality brands looking to build loyalty with their guests, this is important to understand. Loyalty and trust go hand in hand – if you want a traveler to express loyalty towards your brand, you have to earn their trust. Establishing a rewards-based loyalty system that builds dynamic customer relationships and drives guest engagement is, in my opinion, the best place to start.

Today, more than ever, travelers seek cohesive and seamless experiences that indicate mutual investment. If a hospitality brand wants a traveler to invest in them, they must also invest in that traveler. Fortunately, personalization is a meaningful currency and offers hotels a great deal of ‘bang for their buck’ in the realm of guest loyalty. Relevance drives revenue, and loyalty is a dish best served personalized to the wants and needs of the guest sitting down to eat. With this in mind, Laasie’s rewards-based loyalty platform uses artificial intelligence and big data to present an attractive (and more importantly, relevant) selection of instantly-selectable rewards to guests at critical touchpoints during their journey. Whether rewarding a traveler for clicking ‘book now’ or simply participating in a survey, hotel brands can offer current and prospective guests moments of instant delight and surprise via our network of high-value reward partners (like Whole Foods, Sephora, Doordash, Nordstrom, Nike, GQ, and more).

Using this turnkey solution, whether on its own or paired with an existing loyalty system, hotels can send guests a clear (and increasingly necessary) message: We know you. More importantly, we care about your satisfaction long before you even step foot on our property. And if you still needed convincing, well, the numbers don’t lie. Using a loyalty model based on instant gratification can garner a 43% higher direct booking conversion rate and a 35X greater return on investment. More importantly, it provides guests with instant gratification and relevant rewards and recognition that they’ve always wanted, that traditional loyalty programs always failed to deliver.

So, is loyalty dead? It certainly doesn’t have to be. The way I see it, hospitality brands have two options: continue to rely on a broken system or breathe new life into a core aspect of business that benefits hotels and their guests equally. I don’t know about you, but I’m opting for the latter.

Ellis Connolly
Chief Revenue Officer
Laasie

Planning a trip is no small task, and, in many cases, prospective travelers immerse themselves in destination and hotel research before making a booking decision. Studies show that travelers conduct an average of 33 searches and check 12 travel sites prior to booking, with online searches spanning two minutes to six hours. Research also indicates that this process can take 19 days or, for those content to take their time, up to 100 days.

Within an increasingly competitive marketplace, hotels of all types find themselves investing more and more of their marketing budget to drive traffic and direct bookings. But how can hotels protect that investment and maximize ROI? How can they better identify and cater to guest needs while capitalizing on the most meaningful touch-points along the booking journey to encourage a purchase decision? In simple terms, how can hotels stack the conversion odds in their favor in a world where high conversion rates are increasingly challenging to earn and maintain?

Just as you can “bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink,” you can bring a potential guest to your hotel’s website, but their booking decision is never guaranteed. Successful brands aren’t at mercy to the elusive nature of guest favor; rather, they understand and cater to this reality. These hotels understand the booking journey and effectively optimize for it.

Optimizing The Booking Journey

Hotels spend a great deal of money, time, and resources to make travelers aware of their brand and, more importantly, get them onto their website. In a survey of representatives of the hotels and motels industry in the United States, it was found that in 2020 the sector spent roughly 2.72 billion U.S. dollars on advertising. In the year prior to that, the industry's ad expenditures reached 1.36 billion dollars.

This is a necessary investment. However, it is one that should be simultaneously protected with bottom-of-the-funnel tools that encourage and reinforce conversion. Within the hospitality booking funnel, one wrong move can ensure a prospective guest takes their business elsewhere and, in some cases, they may never look back.

In general, the traveler's path to booking can be divided into three main components:

1. Brand awareness

2. Consideration and competitor analysis

3. Conversion

In the hospitality industry, a great deal of attention is paid to the top of the funnel; after all, how can any hotel brand expect to convert prospective travelers to loyal guests if those travelers aren’t first made aware of that hotel brand? Conversion often cannot be achieved without brand awareness. A study from McKinsey revealed that brands in the initial consideration set were more than twice as likely to win business compared to brands considered later in the decision journey.

Sealing the Deal With More Direct Bookings

We’ve all been there – the moment in which your booking decision still hangs in the balance while your mouse hovers enticingly over the ‘Book Now’ button. This is the inflection point of the sales funnel when the tug-of-war between the seller and buyer is finally set to give way to a successful outcome. However, this moment often represents a significant pain point for hotel brands that are struggling to achieve high conversion rates.

Hotels should invest in tools that encourage and reinforce both the decision to purchase and post-purchase evaluation. Perhaps the most valuable (and most underrated) tool hotel brands have in their arsenal to achieve this is instant gratification. Using a modern approach to guest loyalty, hotels can seamlessly motivate customer loyalty with personalized, instantly-selectable rewards that help their brand increase net revenue, drive member engagement, and build dynamic customer relationships.

Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and big data, next-generation rewards platform Laasie incentivizes desired behavior and builds brand affinity while helping to maximize the purchase moment and protect top-of-funnel investments. After all, what is the use of those top-of-funnel investments if hotels cannot seal the deal with a conversion at the end of the funnel? Just as the success of a football team is gauged by the number of touchdowns they achieve in a game, the success of a hotel is determined by a healthy conversion strategy that continuously ushers loyal customers onto their property.

Offering guests instant, hyper-personalized rewards during the booking journey isn’t an expense. Rather, it’s a revenue driver that helps to push that guest over the finish line towards a reservation, helps to enhance and extend feelings of post-purchase satisfaction, and keeps them coming back. By shifting away from the traditional loyalty model that favors delayed gratification, hotels can effectively drive direct bookings, differentiate their brand from competitors, and establish a relationship with guests that keeps them coming back, time and time again.

So maybe you can bring a horse to water AND make it drink after all!

Ellis Connolly
Chief Revenue Officer
Laasie

What is the best way to incentivize behavior? This line of questioning keeps marketers and business owners up at night. Why? Because brands can’t protect their bottom line without generating revenue, and they can’t generate revenue without nudging their customer toward a desired purchase.

Hospitality professionals, especially, are familiar with this challenge, as travelers are constantly inundated with options and competing product offerings at every stage of their journey down the sales funnel. Moreover, guest loyalty is increasingly difficult to earn and maintain, even after they have clicked ‘book now’. The modern guest is both particular and elusive – eager to travel and explore the world but often not enamored enough by any particular brand or OTA to exclusively hand over their business without carefully considering competitor offerings. Guests today don’t just want the best-perceived deal – they want the best service at the best value, and it’s up to hotels to edge their way to the front of the line with compelling, value-driven offers and effective, personalized marketing.

Fortunately, hospitality brands can effectively influence and predict how current and prospective travelers will engage with their product or offering with the right tools and strategies. In simple terms, if hoteliers understand the ‘why’ behind a purchase decision and identify ways to capitalize on the purchase moment, their property will be better equipped to stand out within an increasingly competitive marketplace. And while there is no perfect recipe for earning the favor of every potential guest, there is a key ingredient that has certainly earned its place in the kitchen – instant gratification.

Is FOMO Really Your Best Bet?

The term “FOMO” (fear of missing out) was first introduced in 2004. It was later added to the Oxford dictionary in 2013 as social media created an environment where FOMO reigned supreme. During this time, marketers realized that they could use this new social phenomenon to drive purchase behavior and/or consumer participation. How? Leveraging the fear of missing out (on a great deal, great experience, or fleeting opportunity) encourages consumers to make an impulse purchase or decision. The principle was simple – “Buy now, think later,” and brands who utilized this approach hedged their bets on the assumption that consumers would rather potentially regret an action than regret failing to act and becoming a victim of FOMO.

FOMO marketing can be achieved in a number of ways, including, but not limited to:

• Flash Sales: “Book Now or Pay More Later!”

• Invite-Only Sales: “VIP Access!”

• Seasonal Sales: “Our Biggest Sale of the Year!”

• Scarcity Messaging: “Only X Packages/Rooms Left” or “In High Demand!”

While this style of “urgency marketing” can be powerful, it can also be overused and, in some cases, may inspire feelings of distrust or resentment from customers. Although the desired outcome (a purchase decision) is positive in nature, this marketing approach ultimately relies on negative reinforcement (the fear of missing out) rather than positive reinforcement. In the realm of hospitality, specifically, this marketing style has also become rather saturated, and, amidst an increasingly crowded marketplace, it may feel to travelers that there is always a deal to be found, and the influence of FOMO wears thin.

Fortunately, this is where instant gratification comes in – taking the tried and true “FOMO” model and flipping it on its head to delight travelers at the moment of booking and encourage desired behaviors through positive reinforcement.

Instant Rewards, Instant Gratification

In 2017, Google researchers examined all the digital interactions in 60 seconds (on average), and the results might shock you. Google had 3.8 million search requests. More than 400 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube, viewers watched 87,000 hours of video on Netflix, and 65,000 photos were uploaded to Instagram. The takeaway? Consumers crave immediacy.

This is an important observation; just as fortune favors the bold, prospective travelers favor brands that cater to their need for instant gratification. Now, perhaps more than ever before, travelers don’t want to wait to be rewarded – any allure attached to the promise of a far-away perk is hardly tangible enough to inspire a booking decision or, more importantly, long-term loyalty. Instead, travelers are demonstrating a preference for the brands that not only personalize offers to be relevant but also offer immediate, high-value gratification attached to any purchase decision. No friction, no FOMO, no delay, just an instant reward at check-out reinforces their decision to book and inspires continued purchase behavior.

Some benefits of instant gratification rewards:

• Increases conversions

• Creates connections and builds trust through personalization

• Fosters customer retention and brand loyalty

• Captures information, preferences, and data

• It helps hotels learn more about their customers over time

• Reduces friction through seamless brand experiences

The positive purchasing psychology at work is easy to understand; by offering instantly selectable, personalized rewards at the moment of purchase, hospitality brands can nurture that customer at the most important point of the sales funnel. In simple terms, instant gratification helps to quell any feelings of buyer's remorse while building trust and connection with that guest before they even step foot on the property.

Moreover, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, hospitality brands can use a comprehensive rewards platform to get to know their guests better, which places hotels in the best possible position to meet – and exceed – guest expectations with personalized offers. Beyond the purchase moment, hoteliers can continue to leverage instant gratification to drive repeat transactions and grow customer lifetime value as guests become more engaged and increasingly delighted by the service offered by their selected hotel.

In today’s fast-paced and competitive landscape, guests have high expectations of convenience and a low tolerance for delays, gimmicks, or friction. If hotels want to foster loyalty and connect with their guests in a meaningful way, they need to focus on developing instant gratification strategies that act as the ultimate conversion catalyst.

Ellis Connolly
Chief Revenue Officer
Laasie

Why do so many hotel loyalty programs fail? This is a good question, and it’s definitely one you should be asking if you are eager to set up a well-designed, effective loyalty program that mutually benefits your bottom line and your guests. These days, many guests feel loyalty programs no longer truly reward loyalty - but have become a marketing tool. In fact, less than half (46%) of high-value travelers are motivated by loyalty programs when booking travel. Why? Because many loyalty programs are barely hitting their mark.

There is also a discrepancy between hotel perceptions of loyalty programs. According to a study, hotel managers believe that 61% of guests sign up for loyalty programs while only 24% actually do in reality. Similarly, hotels perceive that 54% of guests will find offers relevant, while in reality, only 22% of guests believe that offers made by loyalty programs are relevant.

The hospitality industry sits atop the promise of guest-centric incentives, with a long list of loyalty programs. Many traditional loyalty programs have become a point of contention frequently presenting travelers with lackluster rewards or barriers to redemption that negate the desired effect of the program.

According to Accenture:

• Only 18% of consumers engage with every loyalty program they belong to.

• Just 22% of members say they are very satisfied with the personalization they receive in loyalty programs.

• 29% of customers wish that the rewards on offer were more interesting.

As explained in Deloitte’s Hotel Customer Loyalty survey, “to turn your customers into enthusiastic, even passionate brand devotees, you need to understand the patterns in how different travelers view and use rewards. And you have to use that insight to craft a program that stands above the ordinary and the expected.”

To understand what works (and perhaps more importantly, what doesn’t), we first must consider the most popular types of programs currently offered to travelers.

Points-Based Rewards

How It Works: Points-based reward systems operate on a basic principle – reward guests for taking action by offering them points they can redeem for free items or services, perks, upgrades, etc. These points do not hold any value beyond the brand offering them. Still, they can be leveraged for various actions even beyond booking/purchase behavior, such as social media engagement, reviews, and so on.

Often, point-based systems adhere to a tiered hierarchy that encourages guests to accumulate more points to reach a higher tier of perks and rewards. This format gives travelers a clear goal: the higher their tier (and the more they purchase from and engage with that hotel or airline), the more exclusive and exciting the rewards they’ll receive.

What It's Missing: Since point-based programs are free to sign up for, there is little to no barrier to entry in regards to participation; however, the ‘transaction first, benefits later’ often lacks the retention and enthusiasm it initially sets out to garner. According to a survey by Maritz Loyalty Marketing, 70% of customers abandon loyalty programs because it takes too long to gain enough points. Often, the rewards offered by these programs lack the personalization or perceived value required for those incentives to feel truly desirable or exclusive.

Ultimately, if hotels cannot recognize what perks guests really want, their point-based loyalty program will fail to incentivize guest behavior or long-term loyalty and retention truly.

Personalization is, after all, a primary driver of modern guest behavior. Google research indicates that 36% of travelers would likely pay more for services if a travel brand tailored its information and trip experiences to personal preferences or past behavior. Moreover, in some cases, the higher reward tiers, the more exclusive and desirable rewards are unattainable for most guests. By the time they accumulate enough points to unlock those rewards, some of their points may have already expired.

Cash-Back Programs How It Works: Cash-back rewards programs are reminiscent of points-based programs in many ways. Hotel guests become eligible for “cash-back” incentives when they spend a certain amount at a hotel. Much like your cash-back credit card, these programs are easy to opt-in to, and guests can earn a certain percentage of their purchase back to spend on the property or, in some cases, at partnering hotels and hospitality brands. Many independent hotels have tried this model in lieu of big-budget loyalty programs marketed by large brands.

What It's Missing: If it sounds pretty simple, that’s because it is – but what’s the catch? Just as the cash-back system is similar to its points-based counterpart, the criticisms associated with this model are related to perceived value and ease of redemption. According to loyalty veteran Howard Schneider, cashback rewards are not very motivational. “Cash is fungible and generic; and over time, consumers don’t even notice it,” and it comes off as nothing more than a small discount. Once cash is ‘returned,’ the guest can spend it anywhere else, which cuts off the cycle of profit for the hotel in question.

Frequently, guests may also face specific qualification barriers (i.e., minimum spend requirements) or will be unable to effectively utilize and enjoy their cash-back reward before the end of an earning period. Understandably, this can negate or diminish the perceived value of that rewards program in the eyes of a guest.

Instant Gratification Rewards System: A New Era of Loyalty

When considering the pros and cons of both points-based and cash-back loyalty systems, we recognize a theme – both models rely on delayed gratification. Yes, travelers are rewarded for taking action, but that reward cannot be realized or enjoyed until much later. Understandably, if the rewards offered down the line are perceivably lackluster, this format may not elicit much excitement from prospective travelers. Playing off this realization, a new kind of rewards system is born: an AI-powered, instant gratification loyalty model.

How It Works: The Laasie rewards system motivates customer loyalty with personalized, instantly-selectable rewards offered throughout the traveler’s journey (booking decisions, survey participation, etc.) via an extensive marketplace of high-value vendors. As soon as the guest performs the desired action, they can claim the personalized reward of their choice, which helps hospitality brands increase net revenue, drive member engagement, and build dynamic customer relationships. Finally, hotels can leverage AI and big data to motivate customer actions in a meaningful way, giving guests the instant gratification and recognition with every interaction they’ve desired – in a way traditional loyalty programs never could.

The best part? There is no downside. An instant-gratification rewards model provides tangible, undeniable value to both the hotel and the guest, leading to higher engagement and guest satisfaction. Using an instant gratification loyalty model, hotels enjoy increased booking conversion of 43% on average via a low-cost channel.

Much like point-based and cash-back systems, the barrier to entry is low but, in the case of Laasie’s reward platform, barriers to redemption are also eliminated. In contrast, the perceived value of rewards is heightened. Finally, hoteliers can benefit from a reimagined and reinvigorated loyalty program that isn’t an expense. Instead, it’s a true revenue driver and turn-key relationship builder unlike anything else on the market.

At the end of the day, there are two ways to grow your hotel’s business: first, attracting new guests. And second, by retaining existing guests and increasing guest lifetime value. As guest expectations evolve, the winners will be hotels that use innovative rewards programs that actively support guest desires for personalized offers, instant gratification, and tailored experiences.

Ellis Connolly
Chief Revenue Officer
Laasie

Let’s imagine a scenario. The end of the calendar year is approaching, and your vacation days are starting to burn a hole in your pocket, so to speak. It’s been ages since you took some time off, and you’ve been eyeing sunny destinations at every opportunity, ready to whisk your family off for a long-overdue break from reality. After browsing resorts along an especially picturesque strip in the Bahamas, you narrow it down to two contenders – both of them offer similar style rooms and upscale amenities and boast glowing guest reviews. Even the price points are similar; however, as your mouse hovers over the booking page, you notice that the second option (despite being slightly higher in cost per night) offers an instant, high-value reward upon booking. On the contrary, the first hotel just offers ‘loyalty points’ which, if you’ve learned anything in the past, never amounts to much. Which hotel would you select?

This scenario illustrates the difference between a traditional, points-based loyalty system and a rewards-based, instant gratification model. You may not know it yet, but the latter is poised to become the new standard of loyalty across the hospitality industry. Why? Because, quite simply, it works.

Like any marketing approach, traditional hotel loyalty systems must grow and evolve – or face extinction. Despite this, many hospitality professionals still cling to these legacy programs, frequently wiping away the proverbial cobwebs to argue their place in the modern consumer landscape. Unfortunately, points-based loyalty fails to delight and effectively reward guests, but it often fails to offer any tangible value to a hotel’s bottom line. From notoriously hard-to-redeem point schemes to lackluster reward tiers and expiration dates, traditional loyalty programs have settled into the background long since abandoning any real attempts at moving the needle for hotels or guests alike, especially in the post-pandemic world. The writing is on the wall – legacy loyalty is out, and instant gratification is in.

The Powerful Psychology of Instant Gratification

If you want to understand the power of instant gratification across the consumer landscape, look no further than Amazon. Amazon maintains its position at the top of the consumer food chain not necessarily due to the superiority of products but because it offers customers immediate gratification and unparalleled convenience. Almost anything they could want or need can be delivered directly to their doorstep in 1-2 days or, in some cases, within the same day. In his 2020 comedy special, Ronny Chieng speaks to this ‘phenomenon’ when he jokes that “the airspace above America is just Amazon prime!”.

Of course, the power of immediacy, especially while making a purchase (whether an item or a vacation), is easy to understand from a psychological perspective – it’s tangible and an instant hit of dopamine in a world primarily fueled by the desire for convenience. Lisa Gevelber, VP of Marketing for the Americas at Google, explained this by saying, “Impatience, immediate action, instant gratification, even some impulsiveness — these are just a handful of descriptors for behavior today. We have all been empowered and emboldened by information. With our phones acting as supercomputers in our pockets, we can find, learn, do, and buy whenever the need arises — or the whim strikes.” And it’s not just a need for immediacy. It’s also a need for personalization. To this effect, Salesforce reports that at least 45% of consumers will switch brands if a company doesn’t actively anticipate their needs. Not only that but their Shopper First research surveying 6000+ consumers and 1.4 billion e-commerce visits revealed that consumers increasingly reward brands that give the shopping relationship meaning beyond the transaction. In the world of hospitality, reimagined loyalty programs present the perfect opportunity to tap into a culture of instant gratification and personalization in a way that is meaningful to guests and hotels alike.

All Signs Point to Reward-Based Loyalty

In 2020, Mastercard reported that most US adults (90%) belong to at least one loyalty program, and 53% are in three or more – and yet many brands struggle to find ways to engage customers. In 2019, Mintel reported that, although 90% of US adults belong to at least one loyalty program, more than half of loyalty memberships are inactive. Often, this lack of engagement and satisfaction can be attributed to the simple fact that loyalty programs don’t offer incentives guests actually care about, or, if they do, those incentives are locked behind a tier that will take thousands of points to reach. The worst part? The points might expire before a guest even has a chance to use them.

As such, not only are point-based loyalty systems barely having an impact on the decision-making process of prospective travelers, but in some cases, they are even a source of contention between a guest and a hotel when expectations are not met. As you might imagine, this is hardly a winning formula for earning long-term guest loyalty.

On the contrary, AI-driven, reward-based loyalty offers guests instantaneous gratification at the point of purchase – no points needed. With this in mind, Laasie has created a new loyalty segment; hotels can finally motivate guest loyalty with personalized, instantly selectable rewards that genuinely excite guests while helping hotels increase net revenue and drive engagement. Leveraging a network of over 1,000 rewards partners across shopping, dining, and activities, Laasie empowers hotels to convert guest bookings while building dynamic relationships that inspire on-property spend, loyalty and positive reviews.

Much like Amazon, Laasie delivers exactly what a traveler wants – instantly. In an increasingly uncertain world, instant rewards and recognition are increasingly powerful tools. The world has changed, and guests want instant gratification and recognition with every brand interaction. Why not incentivize and reward guests in a way that actually delights them while driving revenue and long-term loyalty for your hotel?

The good news is you can – and you should. The even better news? It’s easier than you could ever imagine.

Ellis Connolly
Chief Revenue Officer
Laasie

Drive Your Direct Ancillary Revenue

Did you know? You can offer on-property rewards to your guests through LaaSie’s reward engine. What better way is there to thank your guests for booking direct while increasing your own ancillary revenue?

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Some easy on-property rewards

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There's more…

Stay tuned for the launch of LaaSie’s on-property reward management portal. This exciting new system is expected to be available in early 2020 and will allow you to view and manage on-property rewards directly.

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By Sara O’Brien

Traditional points-based loyalty programs have been around since 1983, emerging as a unique way for major brands to build stronger relationships with their most valued customers. At the time consumers found them appealing and interesting, allowing hotel brands to generate buzz and additional revenue.

But much has changed in the last 40 years. Technology and A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) have evolved to be able to deliver things people want when they want them. Netflix recommends which movie you’d like to watch next and Amazon can tell you what you should buy for your child’s birthday this year. Yet, so many hospitality loyalty programs offer a generic, transactional “loyalty” experience that is no longer relevant for today’s consumer.

More and more, consumers are telling us that what has worked in the 80s just won’t work for them today. The average U.S. household belongs to 21 different loyalty programs, 78 percent of Americans abandon them,  and 44 percent complain about the lack of reward relevance, flexibility, and value. In short, loyalty programs are failing to effectively reward today’s consumers.

Imagine a loyalty program in which a guest receives immediate benefits rather than waiting weeks, months, years, and sometimes never accumulating enough points for a reward or reaching the next tier. Instead, imagine a program that gives the guest an instant, desired and personalized reward. That is loyalty done right! These types of rewards make the customer feel valued, appreciated, and recognized.

Below are 3 ways to award loyalty the right way for today’s consumers.

1. Get personal

It may be a simple concept, but we feel it bears repeating: What works for one customer will not work for all. Only 22 percent of guests believe today’s hotel offers are relevant, even though the majority (54 percent) of hotels believe they are. The disconnect is real, but there is a way to close the gap.

Hotel brands can continue pushing rewards that they believe will appeal to their customers, or they can actually learn what each individual wants through A.I. The way brands like Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify offer personalized experiences and recommendations has forever changed how consumers expect to be treated by brands, and it’s time for the hospitality industry to catch up.

A.I. allows brands to elevate relationships with their customers by personalizing the rewards based on their preferences and transactions, by learning and predicting what they want in real time. Let’s say a guest chooses a flight credit from Delta Airlines and a VIP shopping pass at Bloomingdales as their rewards, a next-generation loyalty program will remember that selection and offer similar rewards in the future, improving their experience and satisfaction with the brand.

2. Give choices and immediate benefits

New data confirms that consumers are dissatisfied with waiting to accumulate points and unattainable tiers. Seventy-eight percent of guests prefer immediate benefits and 61 percent want to choose their own rewards.

Loyalty programs in which you earn points to redeem something in the unforeseeable future will not move the needle for your brand. Consumers will either be frustrated that they need to wait or they will forget about and even abandon the program altogether.

Next-generation loyalty feels more like a relationship and less like a sales tactic by making guests feel valued immediately and frequently with personalized and instant rewards.

3. Offer experiences

With over 65 percent of U.S. travelers looking to experience something new while traveling, travel brands have an opportunity to enrich their guests’ travel journeys beyond the hotel property by offering unique and relevant rewards they can use before, during, and after their stay.

One way to elevate loyalty with experiences is to incorporate 3rd-party products and services. A concept that is coined as the “Amazonification” of travel, hotel brands can extend their offers beyond generic on-property perks, giving the guest control to select the incentives that will enhance their stay or provide additional opportunities to explore.

For example, with geo-targeting, we would know that a guest located in New York is looking to travel to Miami. In that case, her reward offering may include a complimentary 1-hour paddleboarding session in Miami as well as New York Yankees tickets to enjoy after her trip when she’s back in New York.

Wrapping it up

The brands that are truly disrupting loyalty understand the need to shift from a transactional experience to a personal and dynamic relationship with the customer. It’s up to hospitality leaders to see the writing on the wall, take note from other brands paving the way, and listen to their customers who are more vocal than ever about what they truly want.

About Us

LaaSie AI rewards direct bookings and loyalty the right way for hotels through instant gratification and A.I. We drive guests to book direct by offering relevant, immediate, and personalized rewards. Our Smart Engine delivers the right incentive to the right user at the right moment. A traveler can receive a flight credit from their preferred airline while enjoying VIP access and complimentary cocktails at their favorite restaurant in town. To date, we have incentivized over $300 million in direct bookings.

In addition, our technology enables us to power loyalty in a more relevant way for today’s consumers. Loyalty as a Service redefines how to engage and retain guests: No points. Just instantly gratifying rewards and a personal relationship with your guests.

Current hotel partners include Aqua-Aston Hospitality, Highgate Hotels, and Menin Hospitality. LaaSie was recently awarded the #1 Direct Booking Engine for 2019 by HotelTechAwards and won the Most Innovative - Judge's Choice Award at HITEC 2017.

hello@laasie.ai

Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/07/loyalty-members-hate-these-five-things.html
https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/challenger-brands-are-winning-at-instilling-loyalty-among-consumers/
https://www.revinate.com/loyalty-guide/
https://lodgingmagazine.com/oracle-study-reveals-travelers-perceptions-of-hotel-loyalty-programs/
https://research.skift.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ExperientialTravelerTrends2018_Report.pdf

LaaSie is featured in Travel Tripper’s article, “How can we get Millennials to book direct?”

Millennials travel more than any other demographic. On average, they take 35 days of vacation each year, and they’re also bucking the trend by increasing their annual travel spend as other generations intend to be more conservative with their cash. 

As it turns out, OTAs are the ones benefiting the most from this lucrative market segment: studies show that over half of Millennials book through OTAs. That means hotels are losing out on a big chunk of potential direct booking revenue.

Adding to the challenge, Millennials are also generally averse to traditional loyalty programs, making it harder to retain their business once won.

But it’s important to bear in mind that 31% of them still book through a hotel website. It’s not that Millennials are particularly loyal to OTAs, rather they are most driven by convenience. So how can your hotel website work harder to ensure you capture a piece of this direct business?

In the post, Travel Tripper dives into this topic by outlining the specific ways Millennials research, browse and book their trips. They also offer a series of strategies you can use to implement this knowledge and get ahead of the competition.

One of their points is to make deals easy to see (and compare). They recommend that if a hotel’s rates are in parity with OTAs, to try to sweeten the deal by offering rewards for booking direct. Companies like LaaSie allow hotels to add instant rewards to their booking engine, which can dramatically improve conversion rates and booking revenue.

Read the full article here.

LaaSie, the company that rewards direct bookings and loyalty the right way for hotels through instant gratification and A.I., is honored to be named the #1 Direct Booking Platform under the Top Rated Marketing Technologies categories by the Hotel Tech Report. 

The HotelTechAwards (produced by Hotel Tech Report) announced the year’s top rated hotel technology companies and products based on more than 20,000 hotelier ratings and data-points. During the HotelTechAwards thousands of hoteliers leave honest reviews of vendor partners across the hotel tech stack. This data is used to identify the best companies based on the judges that matter most – the customers.

“We believe in the power of A.I. x Instant Gratification, and that customers are more likely to book direct when offered relevant, immediate, and personalized rewards,” said Jen Wong, Founder & CEO of LaaSie. “We are proud to be named among the top technology products around the world that are truly making an impact on their hotel partner’s bottom lines.”

The HotelTechAwards are often referred to as “the Oscars of Hotel Tech” and are the industry’s only data driven awards platform with winners determined not by a handful of judges but by a global community comprised of thousands of verified hotel technology users across more than 120 countries.

Read the full release here.

About LaaSie

LaaSie rewards direct bookings and loyalty the right way for hotels through instant gratification and A.I. We drive guests to book direct by offering relevant, immediate, and personalized rewards. Our Smart Engine delivers the right incentive to the right user at the right moment. A traveler can receive a flight credit from their preferred airline while enjoying VIP access and complimentary cocktails at their favorite restaurant in town. To date, we have incentivized over $300 million in direct bookings.

In addition, our technology enables us to power loyalty in a more relevant way for today’s consumers. Loyalty as a Service redefines how to engage and retain guests: No points. Just instantly gratifying rewards and a personal relationship with your guests.

Current hotel partners include Aqua-Aston Hospitality, Highgate Hotels, and Menin Hospitality. LaaSie was recently awarded the #1 Direct Booking Engine for 2019 by HotelTechAwards and won the Most Innovative - Judge's Choice Award at HITEC 2017.

www.nexgenloyalty.com

hello@nexgenloyalty.com

LaaSie, the company that rewards direct bookings and loyalty the right way for hotels through instant gratification and A.I., is proud to be selected as the Most Innovative Startup at HITEC Pitch Competition - Insights

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP¨) held its third Entrepreneur 20X pitch competition during its 2017 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC) in Toronto, Canada on June 26.

Thirteen companies pitched their products. After deliberating, the five-member panel of judges selected LaaSie as the most innovative startup. The three hour pitch competition took place on Monday, June 26, 2017. After the competition, LaaSie was awarded with a US$5,000 check and the Judge’s Choice trophy.

“Participating in a pitch among such talented companies was a thrilling experience in and of itself, and being awarded the Judge’s Choice is such an honor,” said Jen Wong, Founder & CEO of LaaSie. “It confirms that our mission is meaningful for our clients and their business goals. We look forward to continuing to invest in our tech and delivering even more value for our hotel partners.”

LaaSie’s mission is to rewards direct bookings and loyalty the right way for hotels through instant gratification and A.I. LaaSie drives guests to book direct by offering relevant, immediate, and personalized rewards. The Smart Engine delivers the right incentive to the right user at the right moment. A traveler can receive a flight credit from their preferred airline while enjoying VIP access and complimentary cocktails at their favorite restaurant in town. To date, LaaSie has incentivized over $300 million in direct bookings.

In addition, LaaSie’s technology powers loyalty in a more relevant way for today’s consumers. Loyalty as a Service redefines how to engage and retain guests: No points. Just instantly gratifying rewards and a personal relationship with your guests.

Current hotel partners include Aqua-Aston Hospitality, Highgate Hotels, and Menin Hospitality. LaaSie was recently awarded the #1 Direct Booking Engine for 2019 by HotelTechAwards and won the Most Innovative - Judge's Choice Award at HITEC 2017.