Choice Hotels is reinventing its Choice Privileges program around emotional connection, more frequent recognition, and experiential rewards—shifting loyalty from transactional points-earning to a more human, memorable, and accessible member experience.

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Choice Hotels International

When Nandika Suri, Vice President of Loyalty at Choice Hotels, recently sat down for an in-depth interview with Forbes, she offered one of the clearest looks yet into the company’s evolving vision for loyalty. Rather than centering the conversation on points, tiers, or breakage—traditional mechanics that once defined hotel rewards—Suri described a programme being rebuilt around emotion, experience, and human connection.

The interview made one thing unmistakably clear: Choice Hotels believes the next generation of loyalty hinges not on transactional optimisation, but on how members feel. The company’s research with more than 2,500 travellers confirmed what many brands are only beginning to grasp—today’s travellers want to be recognised earlier, rewarded more frequently, and given opportunities to create memorable experiences, not just accumulate points in a distant ledger.

According to Suri, Choice is transforming Choice Privileges into a system where rewards are more attainable, moments of recognition happen sooner, and members feel momentum from the start. The changes debut early next year, and they point to a loyalty philosophy built on belonging rather than bureaucracy, meeting travellers where they are, and making each stay part of a bigger emotional journey.

A Loyalty Strategy Rooted in Human Insight

The foundation of the upcoming programme refresh is consumer insight, not corporate assumption. As Suri described, the team embarked on a comprehensive research phase to understand how different types of travellers—families, extended-stay business guests, road-trippers, Gen Z explorers, digital nomads—interpret value and recognition.

That research surfaced a universal truth: travelers want loyalty to feel achievable, not aspirational.
They want rewards they can actually use, not ones they need years to earn. And they want recognition baked into the journey—not something unlocked only at elite tiers.

Choice’s strategy answers that need in three ways:

1. Rewards are closer together—status levels require fewer nights.

2. Recognition is more frequent—milestones every 5 nights.

3. Value is more tangible—early-use bonuses, experiential perks, flexible redemption.

The goal is not to push members up a ladder, but to pull them into a relationship.

New Tiers, New Rewards, and the Rise of Micro-Moments

The most visible updates arrive in the tier structure:

• Gold at just 5 nights

• Platinum at 15

• Diamond at 35

• A new Titanium tier at 55 nights

For the first time, Choice is building a premium top tier specifically designed to reward high-frequency travellers with access-like benefits, such as half-point redemption nights at select upscale properties.

But perhaps the most innovative update is the introduction of micro-milestones every five nights. These on-the-way rewards—bonus points, gift cards, perks—serve a psychological purpose in modern loyalty design: they keep members emotionally engaged between major status achievements.

This shift acknowledges what behavioural researchers already know: motivation thrives on progress, not distance.

By distributing moments of recognition at shorter intervals, Choice is engineering a loyalty journey that feels rewarding all the time, not only at the finish line.

Return & Earn: Early Recognition for Early Loyalty

Another standout innovation is the Return & Earn feature, granting members 1,000 bonus points after their second and third stays each year. The strategy? Capture early engagement before loyalty becomes habitual.

This is a direct appeal to casual travellers—those who may stay a few times a year but struggle to see the value in large, unattainable programs.
With Return & Earn, even mid-frequency guests feel:

• seen earlier,

• rewarded sooner,

• encouraged to return.

It’s a loyalty mechanic designed for the world we live in: fast, flexible, impatient, and value-driven.

Emotional Loyalty Takes Center Stage

Suri repeatedly underscored a modern truth: “Loyalty is becoming less about the transaction and more about the emotion.”

Choice is deliberately moving away from the breakage-driven loyalty models of the past and stepping into a new era of:

• belonging,

• recognition,

• flexibility,

• emotional resonance.

Psychologists call this the “gratification loop.” Loyalty brands call it “engagement acceleration.”
In simpler terms—it’s about making customers feel something.

By lowering barriers, surfacing early wins, and aligning rewards with personal passions, Choice Privileges aims to create emotional satisfaction across the guest journey—before, during, and after the stay.

From Rooms to Experiences: The Expanding Ecosystem

One of the most significant shifts in loyalty is the movement away from room-only redemptions toward experience ecosystems.

Choice already offers access to VIP sporting events, concerts, college games, races such as NASCAR, and more. Beginning in 2026, the company plans to expand partnerships beyond the hotel category to include entertainment, lifestyle, and cultural experiences.

This reflects a seismic industry shift:
Experiences are the new luxury.
They are what younger generations—especially Millennials and Gen Z—value most, and what they are most willing to redeem points for.

A free room is a night.
A concert is a memory.
A race weekend is a story.

The modern traveller increasingly prefers the latter.

Recognition That Lasts: Soft Landings, Family Sharing, and Points That Don’t Expire

Beyond moments of recognition, Choice is introducing policies that emphasize empathy—an unusual but increasingly important concept in loyalty.

• Points never expire for elite members, ensuring past loyalty is respected.

• Soft-landing tier downgrades beginning in 2027 ensure members lose only one tier if they don’t requalify—recognition that life changes shouldn’t erase loyalty.

• Point sharing between family and friends beginning in 2026 meets a growing need for group travel flexibility.

These are not just structural updates; they are emotional signals that membership is a relationship, not a contract.

Measuring What Matters:

When asked how the team will assess success, Suri didn’t begin with revenue metrics or engagement KPIs. Instead, she responded:
“We want to make sure the customer is feeling rewarded and recognized. That’s our number one metric.”

This marks a rare, intentional shift—from measuring wallet share to measuring emotional share.

Choice is still tracking:

• member growth,

• stay frequency,

• redemption velocity,

• programme engagement.

But the core health indicator is sentiment.
If members feel appreciated, the commercial metrics follow naturally.

Global Loyalty Organisation Take:

From an industry-wide loyalty perspective, Choice Hotels is leaning into several global trends that are defining the future of membership engagement:

1. Emotional loyalty is overtaking transactional loyalty

Brands worldwide are moving from earn/burn mechanics to emotional design—recognition, experience, personal resonance. Choice embodies this shift fully.

2. Micro-rewards are becoming essential

Frequent, smaller milestones create momentum and prevent disengagement—mirroring behavioural economics best practices now spreading globally.

3. Status must be attainable, not aspirational

Modern loyalty programmes are lowering barriers to elite recognition to shorten time-to-value. This reduces churn and lifts early engagement.

4. Experiences are the new universal reward currency

Hospitality, airlines, retail, and entertainment are all converging on experiential redemption as a differentiator. Choice is aligning with this global movement.

5. Empathy-driven design is a rising loyalty discipline

Soft landings, family pooling, flexible points policies—once rare—are becoming expected features among customer-centric brands.

6. Cross-segment relevance is now a strategic imperative

Choice’s diverse portfolio mirrors a broader challenge: loyalty must cater to multiple traveller types simultaneously. Customisable benefits are becoming essential globally. Choice Hotels’ redesign is not just a programme update—it is a case study in modern loyalty design. Its blend of behavioural science, emotional strategy, experiential value, and empathy-forward mechanics positions it firmly within the new global standard for loyalty excellence.

Source: Choice Hotels  / Forbes / GLO