I have been looking over some social communities sponsored by hotel chain’s for their loyal members. As a long time member of FlyerTalk, I haven’t bothered to spend too much time in the hotel chain’s own social networks. It seems like information on most of the deals and hotel properties are discussed on FlyerTalk. A community of 200,000 travelers covers pretty much every topic.
So what is going on in the hotel-chain-managed social forums?
Priority Club Connect
InterContinental Hotels Group social community forum Priority Club Connect has several employee moderators and several active members. I received a personalized reply from Jenni shortly after registering for the site.
While the information on Priority Club Connect may not be as pervasive as using FlyerTalk, I did find one major advantage to hanging out in the Priority Club Connect forum.
30 Free Nights over 30 Days Exclusive Promotion Offer through Priority Club Connect
(30 Free Nights promotion link)
Priority Club Connect is giving one free night away from July 15 thru August 13 and a grand prize of 7 free nights to be awarded around July 17.
Simply register for the Priority Club Biggest Free Nights Offer (or Double Points Offer) and then submit a reply to where you want to spend a free night.
Restrictions: Promotion only available to US residents, but residents of Florida are ineligible.
( You aren’t American enough in Florida?)
Free nights are not eligible for hotel stays in Japan.
The free nights promotion seems to be a good strategy for publicizing Priority Club Connect.
I am doing my part here on Loyalty Traveler to help them grow the community. Although, more contestants reduces my odds of winning a free night.
Brief notes on the other hotel chain social forums:
MarriottRewardsInsider seems to have several active discussions going on with nearly 3,000 posts on a variety of topics. There were forums with recent posts, questions and replies, and some Marriott Official posts with program information and promotions. A member can sign in and jump right into the conversation with information, advice, and questions for cities and particular hotels and transportation options.
Starwood has TheLobby, but the last SPG member post in SPG Member’s Corner was from October 2008. The social forum aspect seems entirely absent from the site. I didn’t spend much time in TheLobby because the website seems to be an advertising extension of Starwood rather than a community forum for loyal SPG members.
Hyatt Hotels’ travel community is called Yatt’it. Browsing through posted tips reveals the Hyatt Concierges do most of the meaningful posting and even those tidbits of information are scarce. There is relatively little activity happening here.
Hilton Hotels was praised by Adam Kirby of Hotels Magazine in his blog last week for its customer engagement strategy on Twitter. I made a Hilton comment yesterday and gained another 10 followers from Hilton employees. I did not find a Hilton Hotels social forum.
Hey Readers – Let me know if there is a social community around Hilton that I missed. And please share your thoughts on this trend of hotel chain managed social forums.
