Part 3. SME Loyalty Strategy?

Few small and midsize travel programs put up blockers to travel supplier loyalty programs, according to BTN’s 2025 Small & Midsize Travel Management survey. Ninety-four percent of surveyed companies allow travelers to use the supplier loyalty points they earn through business travel for leisure travel and other personal uses (i.e. transferring them to friends and family or using them to access other experiences or products loyalty programs now offer to members.)

Why would any company block travelers from earning or keeping loyalty points for their own use?

“Many companies have seen small—and sometimes larger—abuses of the travel program for the purpose of earning the last tranche of miles to support that next vacation or to achieve a higher status level,” one travel buyer told BTN. “It’s a hard element to wrap enforceable policy around, when most business trips ultimately are approved by managers. There would have to be pretty heavy scrutiny in place to avoid each small adjustment to bookings that were made in the pursuit of loyalty advantages.”

In efforts to control the murky ways that supplier loyalty programs can mix with corporate travel programs, most SMEs do put policies in place to address how business travelers should earn—and occasionally how they should burn—their loyalty points and status entitlements. But a considerable percentage do not.

Nearly one-third—29 percent—of SME travel programs do not address loyalty membership or usage within their travel policies. Four percent of companies, however, go the completely opposite direction, keeping business traveler-earned loyalty points as the purview of the organization and requiring that the points are used for future business travel.

For the remaining two-thirds of surveyed companies, travel policy works to guide employees on how to book travel responsibly, regardless of the loyalty points that may be on offer. BTN allowed buyers to pick more than one answer in response to this question.

Thirty-six percent of companies told BTN they advise travelers to book company-preferred suppliers regardless of the traveler’s personal loyalty affiliations. Fifty-two percent advise travelers to book the lowest logical fares and rates for their travel, regardless of their personal loyalty affiliations, and regardless of any status bumps or additional points they might achieve from booking more expensive or longer routes. Four percent of survey respondents said they governed loyalty program use with some other policies.

The buyer BTN spoke to, however, called attention to some gray area when it comes to such policies. They noted that achieving loyalty status can provide considerable value to the company, especially when that extra leg pushes a traveler to the next tier. “It can reduce traveler friction and may save the company money over the long run,” they said, citing amenities like free checked bags and lounge access (that would otherwise cost money), more chances for upgraded seats or rooms (which can improve productivity) and improved consideration in the event of travel disruptions (better for the traveler and the company’s peace of mind).

“I encourage travelers to sign up for loyalty programs because, especially for road warriors, it can unlock certain amenities and buffer them from some travel discomforts in ways that I can’t negotiate through corporate deals as an SME,” said the buyer.

Suppliers Double Down on Loyalty-Based Programs

Suppliers have doubled down on their SME program offerings in a race to attract the market segment directly to their websites and capture the attention of high-value business travelers.

Delta may have been first out of the gate in fall 2023 with their revamped SkyMiles for Business taking over the former SkyBonus program. It launched with three tiers—the first of which has no specific structural benefits but opens eligibility for “special offers.” The fact that a company has registered with the program allows them to start ramping up to the next level “Plus” that requires five employee members and $5,000 annual spend. The third level “Elite” requires five employees and a minimum of $300,000 in annual spend. Benefits increase accordingly.  

American Airlines revamped and renamed its program to AAdvantage Business in October 2023 to include an online booking function and data portal for SME clients. The carrier added policy controls to the booking tool in October 2024. It additionally reconfigured the program to issue trip credits for voluntary itinerary changes to revert back to the company and not to the traveler.

Hilton entered the SME program game in January 2024 with Hilton for Business, wherein companies create their own Hilton Honors account to gain access to discounted rates and a “self-service travel booking and management system” where account administrators can view accumulated company benefits that increase as travelers stay more nights.

Marriott came on strong in July 2024 with Business Access by Marriott Bonvoy—a program that not only offers Marriott content but also partner air and car rental content in a proprietary online booking tool that also includes policy configuration and simple management reports. It was a big swing from a hotel company with the largest footprint in the world, and one that could pay dividends in attracting potential entry-level clients away from their first TMC relationship. For companies to garner points and benefits, all their travelers must be Marriott Bonvoy members. In January, Marriott sweetened platform registration with loyalty bonuses that fast track individual travelers to Silver and Gold status.

Both Omni Hotels and Wyndham Hotels launched SME programs in April. Omni Select Business includes variable discounts of up to 9 percent on bookings made through the hotel company’s website. The program is available to companies that do not have a corporate negotiated rate and requires a minimum of 50 room nights annually. A differentiator for the new Wyndham Rewards Business program, in addition to discounted rates offered via the broader Wyndham Business platform, is that companies are given three Gold status memberships to gift to any three employees they choose.  

To What Purpose—All These Offers?

Driving membership of corporate travelers and small and midsize enterprises to such programs accomplishes a few critical objectives for suppliers, according to Partnership Travel Consulting CEO Andy Menkes: 

By attracting a company to discounts and benefits at the top layer, suppliers stand a better chance of gaining the loyalty of high-value business travelers that potentially spills over into leisure travel. “Now they own my full profile,” said Menkes, projecting himself into the role of that individual business traveler. “They now can market to me as both a business traveler and a leisure traveler. They begin to learn what moves my spending decisions, so they can extend offers and upgrades beyond what I might have access to in my corporate program. That’s called leverage, and there’s an argument in the corporate world that suppliers can gain too much of it through loyalty.” 

Many SME programs come with specialized direct booking sites. “It’s the Swabiz model,” said Menkes. “More recently Qantas and Marriott rolled out more substantive booking tools with associated light management tools—why not? They’ve got footprint in their category; how hard would it be to pull in other partners to offer the whole trip? I thought Enterprise/National would do that when they bought Deem. They didn’t, but with SMEs who often like to self-book and self-fulfill and they aren’t super demanding in terms of management reports and things. It’s a smart move.”

Whether they have a special booking site or additional partners or not, supplier programs often require direct booking as it reduces supplier distribution costs. For unmanaged travelers, such requirements pull business travel bookings away from online travel agencies like Expedia, Booking.com and other high-priced channels—that’s great in terms of reducing the costs of acquiring transient business traveler customers who are allowed to choose their booking channel.

For corporate travel programs with designated booking tools and approved agencies, use of SME programs that require direct bookings run the risk of fragmenting spend and opening holes in traveler safety protocols that might be in place. Opting for partners with SME loyalty programs that allow companies to earn points via agency bookings could be a critical differentiator for those who have a TMC relationship.

Some programs go another direction, but it can require more program reconfiguration than many SMEs are willing to accept. They can enable technologies like Concur TripLink or off-channel booking capture tools like Traxo to pull direct-booked data back together. Rarer still are programs centrally designed around direct booking using tools like Traverse to stitch the program together. In April, Traxo and Traverse announced a partnership that would make it easier for SMEs and others to consider such strategies.

The Question Remains: How to Use Loyalty Strategically?

“Loyalty in my career experience has been a beautiful lever … to drive some of the results I want faster and more effectively,” said Pretium Partners director of global travel and expense Maria Chevalier. “But you have to be smart with it.” 

Going back to the original buyer who enumerated the benefits of loyalty program amenities and status achievement for SME programs, it’s clear that loyalty can deliver value if it can be harnessed.

For larger SMEs that are successfully negotiating contracts, Chevalier encourages them to include loyalty accelerators and status matches in the negotiation.

“Once you get the rates you need… you also need people to actually move from hotel X to hotel Y. If you can leverage status matches and status upgrades and things of that nature, you can get [your travelers] the same experiential aspect until … you know they will start using the new supplier the company needs,” said Chevalier.

Just asking for it, however, likely won’t get the deal done. “You have to combine the ask with a ‘why’,” said Chevalier. “You have to explain the specific business justification and the results you are going to drive if they can release those benefits to your program.”

For SMEs who don’t have the volume to negotiate?

“If you can use your program data to monitor the natural loyalty of your travelers, you can sometimes accelerate your volume toward that supplier by joining an SME program," said the anonymous buyer, but urged cost-focused buyers to compare rates with what they might be getting from their agency. "If the opportunity is right, eventually your company may have enough volume to negotiate, and that could be great starting point for a contracted partnership because you’ve shown what you can deliver.”