Beyond Points: Rethinking Loyalty and Brand Consistency in Travel

Summary

Loyalty in travel is evolving beyond points and perks: A widening gap between how travelers define loyalty and how brands reward it. For most U.S. leisure travelers, long-term trust, value, and consistency matter more than high spend or elite status. Yet novelty, especially among Gen Z, millennials, and luxury travelers, often eclipses repetition, challenging brands to build programs that reward flexibility and exploration as much as frequency.

Phocuswright’s Beyond Points: Rethinking Loyalty and Brand Consistency in Travel is part of a comprehensive consumer research study delving into the specifics of how U.S. travelers perceive brand loyalty and engage with the current ecosystem. Key questions addressed include:

• How do travelers define loyalty—and how does this differ from how brands structure loyalty programs?
• What kinds of generational differences exist in brand consistency, loyalty engagement and redemption habits?
• Why do travelers stray from their go-to brands, and how does novelty factor in?
• How can loyalty programs evolve to attract younger travelers seeking flexibility, variety and value?
• Which loyalty models are best positioned to succeed in today’s travel environment, given travelers’ shifting priorities toward flexibility, variety, and value?