The Right Time to Ask for Loyalty: Building Connections After the Stay

Timing is Everything: Building Loyalty the Right Way

Hotels often ask guests to join their loyalty programs at the worst possible moment—right at the end of the booking process. A last-minute pop-up interrupts the transaction, asking, “Do you want to enroll in our loyalty program?” But this is not the ideal time to build a genuine community.

Here’s why hotels should rethink when they ask this all-important question:

♦ The Focus During Booking is Functional: When customers are in the middle of booking, they are trying to minimize distractions and make the process as quick as possible. Adding a loyalty sign-up at this point overwhelms them, detracting from the ease of booking and potentially leaving them disengaged with your brand’s community.

♦ Guests Haven’t Experienced Your Brand Yet: Asking someone to join your loyalty program before they’ve even stayed at your hotel is premature. They don’t know if they’ll enjoy their stay or if they want to return, so their motivation to join is weak. Community-building works best after a positive experience, when guests are excited about their stay and more likely to engage emotionally.

♦ Transaction-Based Engagement is Shallow: When loyalty sign-ups are tied to instant discounts, customers often join just for the savings, not because they genuinely feel connected to the brand. This can lead to high churn rates, as their intent was purely transactional. True loyalty comes from ongoing engagement, not just one-time incentives.

The key? Ask at the right time.

After a positive experience, when guests feel valued and satisfied, is when hotels should invite them to join. Post-stay surveys or after staff have ensured their satisfaction provide natural opportunities for this. By shifting the timing, hotels can build more genuine connections with their guests, leading to long-term loyalty and deeper community engagement.