Brand loyalty…does it matter
Are you team “Loyal” or are you team “Whatever is Cheapest”? I’ve been both. In our early years of traveling, when we’d only take one vacation a year, I was team whatever is cheapest 100% of the time. Getting to go on vacation was the only thing that mattered. I didn’t care what hotel we stayed at or what airline we took to get there, as long as we got there and had a place to sleep.
Over the last few years I have moved over to Team Loyal. Below I am going to explain the pros and cons of both and why I am now Team Loyal.
Sunset views on our way home from Aruba
The pros of “Whatever is Cheapest” is pretty self explanatory. You are going to save a lot of money if brand loyalty doesn’t matter to you. The price difference between comparable hotel rooms in the same location can be over a hundred dollars, and the price difference in flights to the same location can run into the hundreds of dollars. For example, Delta flights to Buffalo, NY for a weekend in May start at $947. Meanwhile American Airlines has a flights to Buffalo starting at $460. That’s a substantial difference.
However, brand loyalty pays off in the form of statuses, upgrades and redeeming points for freebies. The more you stay or fly with the same brand the more points you earn (PSA: get your kids frequent flyer numbers for whatever airline they use, if their butt is in a seat collect those points). The more points you earn the higher level of status you receive and the those points can also be redeemed for free upgrades, welcome gifts, etc. So although you might be spending more to use a certain brand, that money spent=freebies in some way, shape, or form, over time.
The following pictures are examples of upgrades and freebies we’ve earned with our brand loyalty.
Because of our status with Marriott, The Westin in Cozumel upgraded us to a room with a hot tub located outside on the oversized balcony. We have received numerous room upgrades when available across many different Marriott properties…it never disappoints.
Free breakfast at the M Club Lounge at the Marriott Marquis in NYC. This same breakfast buffet cost other patrons $32 per person.
Redemption of “free night certificates” through Marriott allowed us to stay on Times Square for free in December for a long weekend. Free Night Certificates can be combined with cash to cover the cost of stays.
Airline line loyalty offers just as many perks as hotels. We are Delta people because their hub is here at MSP.
Sky Priority: separate line for check in, bag drop and boarding (no need to worry about the coveted overhead bin space). Airline status can help streamline your airport experience and make is go faster.
Delta loyalty also leads to free drink vouchers, and you can share these with friends.
The biggest perk of all for airline loyalty is free seat upgrades. We flew home from Hawaii and 3 of us got free upgrades into Delta One. Fully reclining seats, better meal choices, free alcohol, toiletry bags, pillows and comforters. I’m not going to lie, it’s nice and being the wonderful mother that I am, I gave my upgrade to my son.
Free flights by cashing in miles. This doesn’t need much of an explanation. There is nothing better than flying for free. Combine that with staying for free and sometimes it can add up in a big way. For example I recently booked round trip flights to Italy for the low low cost of $3400. 4 tickets total, 2 seats in Delta One (pending upgrades, fingers crossed) and 2 seats in comfort plus. We cashed in miles so 2 people are flying completely free.
Overall you can see there are benefits to each side of the debate and if you are really into travel hacking and saving big time money by redeeming points I would suggest you head over to The Points Guy website or Facebook page and start reading up. There are people who have traveled around the world in first class for virtually nothing out of pocket. Can you say Extreme Couponing for Travel??