People Don't Return for Points
They return for alignment.
Welcome to Issue No. 020 of Sojourn. An independent publication delivering strategic interpretation for leaders shaping the future of travel and hospitality.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. When people talk about a place they keep going back to, they almost never mention the program. They talk about the place: how it felt, how it moved, what it was like to be there. The points don’t come up.
Interpretation: The loyalty program model was built on a real insight: reward return behavior and you’ll see more of it. That still holds. But it operates downstream of a more basic question, does someone actually want to come back? A guest who already feels at home somewhere doesn’t need an incentive to return. Or do they? They just go. Points can tip a decision. They don’t create the pull that makes someone want to go back in the first place.
There’s a difference between a guest who returns because their status is there and a guest who returns because going somewhere else would feel like starting over. One is maintained, the other is earned.
What’s actually driving return: The guests who come back most consistently tend to describe places in terms of how they feel there, not what they got. It’s less ‘the service was exceptional’ and more ‘it’s just the kind of place I want to be.’ That kind of attachment forms when a brand is clear about who it’s for. Clarity creates a sense of fit. And fit is harder to walk away from than a tier level.
Loyalty programs work best when they sit on top of genuine preference: when the guest already wants to return and the program makes it easier or more rewarding to do so. When the program is doing the heavy lifting, that’s expensive to maintain and easy to lose to whoever offers the better deal next.
What this means for how brands build loyalty: The most durable return behavior isn’t driven by incentive design. It’s driven by how well a brand knows what it is, and how consistently it shows up that way (I wrote a piece about that a few months ago on LinkedIn). When a guest can place a brand instantly, trust it quickly, and feel seen by it without having to explain themselves, they come back. Not out of obligation. Just because it’s easier than not coming back.
Bottom line: Guests return to places that feel right to them, not necessarily places that reward them. Programs can support that, but they can’t build it. The brands that hold loyalty without constantly buying it tend to be the ones that are clear enough to be recognized. Everything else is just maintenance.
Have you noticed this gap in your own experience, where return behavior is coming from, and whether the program is actually the reason? I’d genuinely like to know what you’re seeing.
As always, feel free to reply to this issue with your thoughts.