Loyalty programs remain deeply embedded in how travelers plan, book and experience travel, but a new 3-part research series from Phocuswright shows that heavy participation does not necessarily translate into consistent brand usage.
Instead, travelers are navigating an increasingly complex rewards economy strategically, prioritizing value, convenience and fit over long-term brand devotion.
According to Phocuswright’s latest consumer research, 84% of leisure travelers engaged in at least one loyalty “gaming” behavior in the past 12 months, underscoring how normalized optimization has become across points, miles and status programs.
These behaviors range from booking specific trips or properties to maintain elite status to leveraging credit cards, gift cards and third-party purchases to maximize rewards. The research finds that one in five airline loyalty users flew on a trip they would not otherwise have taken to maintain status, while one in four active hotel loyalty members stayed at a property they would not have chosen absent status considerations.
More aggressive optimization is also common: 39% of travelers charged gift cards to earn points for their own future use, 27% opened credit cards with the intention of reducing spend or closing the account after receiving a welcome bonus, and 16% manufactured spend by purchasing on behalf of others to earn rewards.
Despite this high level of activity, brand consistency remains elusive. Across airlines, hotels and online travel agencies, 57–68% of travelers who identified one or more “go-to” brands still booked outside those brands in the past year. Even travelers with elite status or self-described consistent brand usage frequently defected when pricing, schedules or availability were more favorable elsewhere.
“When we talk about loyalty in travel, the conversation often gets reduced to points and miles, but that misses the bigger picture,” said Madeline List, Manager, Research & Special Projects at Phocuswright. “Travelers are highly engaged with these programs and they are gaming them in very intentional ways, yet engagement alone does not equal loyalty. True loyalty is the result of consistently delivering value, reliable experiences and fair pricing over time.”
Phocuswright’s analysis shows that loyalty programs can reinforce preference, but they rarely lead it. In Playing Favorites: What Makes a Go-To Brand in Travel, and Why Do Customers Stray?, value for the money, perceived pricing fairness, reliability and ease consistently outrank loyalty programs as drivers of brand preference across sectors.
Points and perks amplify affinity when fundamentals are strong, but they do not compensate for gaps in execution.
Economic pressure is further reshaping traveler behavior. Amid tightening budgets, travelers are increasingly focused on redemption as a way to make trips more affordable, frequent and comfortable. Half of travelers who redeemed points or miles on a recent leisure trip were visiting a destination for the first time, highlighting the importance of flexible and expansive redemption options that work beyond familiar markets.
Generational differences are also pronounced. Younger travelers place a higher premium on variety and experimentation, with roughly half of Gen Z and millennials saying variety matters more than using the same brand consistently. For these travelers, novelty is not a sign of dissatisfaction, but an intentional part of the travel experience.
“If there’s one thing I would emphasize, it’s that loyalty is not the product of an interaction with a program,” List added. “It’s the totality of all brand interactions over the customer lifetime. Points and perks can reinforce that relationship, but without strong product quality, fair pricing and experiences that work well, there’s no reason to expect a loyalty program to move behavior in a meaningful way.”
These findings are drawn from multiple Phocuswright consumer studies, including:
• Getting With the Program: Membership, Usage and Perceptions of Value for Travel Loyalty Schemes
• Playing Favorites: What Makes a Go-To Brand in Travel, and Why Do Customers Stray?
• Beyond Points: Rethinking Loyalty and Brand Consistency in Travel
Together, the studies examine how travelers engage with loyalty programs, what actually drives brand preference and repeat usage, and why value, flexibility and novelty continue to outweigh points alone.