Will hotel loyalty programs look different in a year?

I spend well over 200 nights a year at properties participating in major hotel loyalty programs. But while there’s a lot to love about these kinds of programs and the hotel elite status that can come with them, I also experience some frustrations along the way.

And I’m not alone in these frustrations. I get at least one email a week from readers who are upset with or disappointed in their loyalty program of choice. For example, despite having Titanium Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy, Diamond status with Hilton Honors and Platinum Elite status with IHG One Rewards, one reader recently wrote to me that “hotel loyalty programs seem to have little to no value today,” as he’s rarely upgraded to anything more than a higher-floor room and is denied late checkout on about half of his stays.

So, let’s explore some of the most annoying hotel loyalty program trends that I suspect may continue.

Related: Best hotel rewards programs in the world: Which one is right for you?

Increasing award rates

It’s still possible to find valuable ways to redeem hotel points. However, at the same time that paid rates are increasing in many of my favorite destinations, it’s also true that award rates are generally increasing and will likely continue to do so.

The increase is most obvious at some of the best hotels you can book with points. For example, less than five years ago, you could book the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa in French Polynesia for just 70,000 IHG One Rewards points per night (though availability was difficult to find at that rate). Now that the award night cost has ballooned to 196,000 to 250,000 points, however, availability is only slightly more prevalent at this luxury IHG property.

IHG One Rewards is far from alone in increasing award rates through dynamic award pricing; similar increases can be found in the Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy programs. Even hotels that used to be considered low-category properties now often require more points for award nights than previously. For example, back in 2021, the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Penang in Malaysia cost just 9,000 points per night on most dates. Now, you’ll find standard award rates ranging from 19,000 to 25,000 points per night.

Much of the bloat in award rates results from a switch to dynamic award pricing that many of these programs have adopted in the past few years. For example, Marriott Bonvoy introduced peak and off-peak pricing to its award chart in September 2019 before ditching its award charts completely in March 2022.

Marriott didn’t devalue its points system within the first year of removing award charts. But especially as the brand significantly increased some award costs in January 2025, we’ve seen the overall value of Marriott points decrease by more than 15% since March 2023.

Meanwhile, IHG introduced dynamic award pricing in April 2020. Rates weren’t bad at first, but we saw the upper end of rates jump to 120,000 IHG points per night in April 2021 (now, you can expect to pay up to 250,000 points per night at some properties). Despite dynamic award rates, I averaged 1.16 cents per IHG point in April 2021. Since IHG tweaked its dynamic award pricing algorithm several times in recent years, though, I currently aim for closer to 0.8 cents per point.

Hilton has used dynamic award pricing for many years, with an unpublished cap on award rates for each property. For years, standard Hilton award nights topped out at 95,000 points, even at the best Hilton properties. But in 2019, Hilton opened a property with award nights that cost 120,000 points, the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi; the program increased award rates at that resort to 150,000 points in 2021. Hilton raised the award rate at a broader range of properties to 120,000 points in March 2022, but now, award rates at top properties have jumped to as high as 250,000 points per night.

Even World of Hyatt introduced peak and off-peak pricing to its award chart categories in October 2021 and uses dynamic award pricing for Mr & Mrs Smith stays. Nonetheless, the Hyatt award chart provides excellent value, especially at Hyatt Category 1 properties.

All these devaluations and changes are why I recommend participating in multiple hotel loyalty programs. By doing so, you have more properties to choose from, plus you have options if a single program raises award rates at many of its hotels.

Related: Why points and miles are a bad long-term investment

Fewer perks you can count on

Many travelers (myself included) spend a lot of time and money to earn hotel elite status and actively plan trips to requalify for status and use their benefits. So, it can be frustrating to find that program perks one could expect regularly in the past have become perks only given when a property is so inclined.

That’s part of why I was surprised more travelers weren’t more upset in May when Marriott changed its terms and conditions around room upgrades for Platinum Elite and higher members. The new terms and conditions mean:

• Platinum Elite members and above can no longer expect an upgrade to the best available room based on availability at check-in (now, upgrades include suites, rooms with desirable views, rooms on high floors, corner rooms, rooms with special amenities and rooms on executive floors).
• Platinum Elite members are now eligible for Ritz-Carlton suite upgrades.
• Upgrades are no longer identified by each property (instead, there’s an automatic room upgrade system).

This slight change in terms means that the program doesn’t require hotels to give Platinum Elite and higher members a suite or corner room, even if these room types are available. So, although I can still ask for a specific room type at check-in if I see it’s still being sold for my stay dates, I can’t say the Marriott terms and conditions dictate that I should get it as an elite benefit.

I often determine where to stay based on the perks I need, especially since each hotel loyalty program provides different perks to its elite members. But I can’t count on the perk when a program offers a benefit on a space-available basis instead of a guaranteed basis. If I can find a better option in a different program that gives me the perks I need, I’ll usually book with that program instead.

Related: 7 ways to get a hotel room upgrade

Less consistency in elite benefits

Most hotel loyalty program terms clearly define the benefits you can expect at each elite tier. However, sometimes a property doesn’t provide benefits consistently.

For example, I once had a Hyatt Place property deny me a 4 p.m. late checkout as a Globalist member. After multiple front desk agents denied my request, I called the My Hyatt Concierge phone line. The My Hyatt Concierge agent agreed I should get a 4 p.m. late checkout upon request based on the program terms, so she contacted the property. About 30 minutes later, I got a call from the front desk saying I could check out at 4 p.m.

The back-and-forth aside, that’s ideally how all issues should go, especially if you have elite status with a program. But sometimes, the property isn’t willing to budge on its policy or interpretation of benefits, or the program is slow to respond.

For example, a TPG staffer with Hilton Diamond status once had a hotel insist on providing a morning coffee and pastry instead of the standard daily food-and-beverage credit. Although the front desk wouldn’t budge, Hilton Honors gave him 10,000 bonus points as an apology after he sent them a direct message on X.

Travelers have also occasionally discovered Marriott Bonvoy properties that don’t offer standard elite breakfast benefits. Marriott breakfast benefits for Platinum Elite and higher members are complex, as they vary by brand and sometimes require that the guest select breakfast as an elite welcome gift.

Even so, some Marriott Bonvoy members have noted snags. View from the Wing reported earlier this year that The St. Regis Macao’s website said Platinum Elite members and above could no longer select complimentary breakfast as an elite welcome gift.

According to information View from the Wing obtained from Marriott, The St. Regis Macao was running a test. When asked what members can expect, a Marriott spokesperson told TPG, “There should not be a variation on benefits from hotel to hotel, and steps will be taken with properties that deviate from the Terms & Conditions to ensure they are upheld. However, if and when a test is run, it will be communicated clearly on the hotel website and pre-arrival communications.”

I expect we’ll see more Marriott properties test benefits, especially since the Bonvoy program seems accepting of these tests. However, we’ll also likely see properties in other programs occasionally fail to provide elite benefits properly. As such, part of the value I put in each program lies in how it responds in these situations.

Related: What to do when a hotel doesn’t want to honor your elite benefits

Increasingly frustrating online experience

Perhaps the trend I feel most confident will continue with hotel loyalty programs is the degradation of the online experience. I suspect many hotel loyalty programs have implemented anti-scraping measures to prevent tools like Awayz from gathering award availability and pricing without the loyalty program’s help. But the result is a significantly worse online experience for all the program’s members.

Marriott Bonvoy’s website is by far the worst, in my experience. After I do a few searches, the site usually stops showing the calendar of award rates. I suspect this is an anti-scraping measure, since calendar views are an easy way for award tools to collect data. It will also occasionally show the points part of a points-and-cash award in the award stay search results, leading members to believe a hotel is bookable for less than it is.

Of course, Marriott is far from alone. For example, Hyatt’s website will stop loading if I do too many searches while researching a story.

But the online annoyances with hotel loyalty programs can’t all be blamed on anti-scraping measures. For example, I’ve been frustrated several times recently because Marriott won’t let me choose from all my free night award certificates when booking a stay of fewer nights than the number of certificates currently available in my account. Instead, Marriott only shows the soonest-expiring certificates. This causes issues, as I usually have one or more 35,000-, 40,000- and 85,000-point certificates in my account and would like to match the certificates with nights that maximize their value instead of redeeming them in the order they expire.

Hilton Honors has an online chat agent, but I can easily get a human once I click through a few prompts from the chatbot. I expect we’ll see more and more programs attempt to replace or reduce their human staff by shifting customer service tasks to chatbots, though. Although this may be faster for some tasks, I hope programs still give members a way to get help from a knowledgeable and empowered human when needed. Otherwise, frustrating chatbot experiences will likely need to join this section.

Related: Traveling in 2025? These 12 apps and websites make award redemptions easier to find

Bottom line

Despite the trends outlined above, there’s still plenty of value to be found in hotel loyalty programs. Here’s a quick set of tips you can use to avoid or mitigate these frustrating tendencies:

• Increasing award rates: Don’t wait to stay at splurge-worthy properties, as their award rates will likely increase over time (or they may leave the program).
• Fewer perks you can count on: Know which of your elite benefits to expect and which are offered only at select brands or on a space-available basis. Take the benefits you can expect into account when choosing where to stay.
• Less consistency in elite benefits: If you don’t get the benefits the program’s terms say you should, file your complaint with a manager on-site and then the loyalty program if you can’t solve the issue with the property.
• Increasingly frustrating online experience: If a loyalty program’s website doesn’t function as you expect, try using the mobile app or an incognito window. Find work-arounds, such as calling the program, when you can’t do what you need to online.

It’s also worth skimming reviews for a property on the hotel loyalty program website before booking. This will let you learn about any consistent issues other members tend to experience.