Loyalty points give guests a reason to book direct and come back. Here is how to set one up and make it actually work.
Airbnb and Booking.com have built enormous businesses in part by owning the guest relationship. A guest books through Airbnb, has a great stay, and when they plan their next holiday, they go back to Airbnb — not because they want to find another Airbnb, but because that is where they know how to search. The OTA has captured the repeat booking.
A guest loyalty programme is one of the most effective ways to recapture that repeat booking and bring it back to your direct channel. Points earned from a stay at your property give guests a tangible reason to book with you directly for their next trip rather than returning to the OTA search bar.
The principle is simple and it works: guests who earn and accumulate points from their accommodation spend are meaningfully more likely to return to the same network of properties to redeem them.
The mechanics of a holiday rental loyalty programme differ from hotel loyalty schemes in a few important ways.
In a hotel loyalty programme, points are earned and redeemed within one brand. In a holiday rental context, where guests typically stay in different properties across different destinations, points work best when they can be earned at any participating property and redeemed at any other. This cross-property model creates real value for the guest — their points follow them regardless of which property they chose for their last stay.
The LetPilot loyalty programme within the Stays Network operates on this model. Guests earn points for every night of direct booking at any Stays Network property. Points accumulate in their account and can be redeemed as a discount on any future Stays Network booking. The value proposition is clear: book direct, earn a discount on your next holiday.
Enabling the loyalty programme for your property involves a few straightforward configuration steps.
First, confirm your property is listed on the Stays Network — the loyalty programme operates within this direct booking ecosystem. Navigate to your property settings in LetPilot and enable guest loyalty. Configure your point earn rate: the number of points awarded per pound of accommodation spend. Review the redemption value: how much monetary discount each point represents.
Once enabled, points are awarded automatically at booking confirmation for direct bookings through the Stays Network. Guests can see their points balance and redemption options in their guest account. You can see loyalty participation in your booking data — which bookings involved loyalty point redemptions and what discount was applied.
The loyalty programme only creates value if guests know about it. Communicate it at every relevant touchpoint.
In your listing description: mention that direct bookings through the Stays Network earn loyalty points and include a brief note about the redemption value.
In your booking confirmation: confirm how many points were earned from the booking and what they are worth toward a future stay. This reinforces the value immediately after booking.
In your post-stay review request: remind guests of their current points balance and that their next direct booking will earn more. This is the most powerful re-engagement moment — the guest is fresh from a positive stay and predisposed to consider returning.
In seasonal or occasion-based outreach: a message in January noting that guests have a points balance that could cover part of a spring break is a proven driver of repeat bookings.
Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo all have guest loyalty or rewards schemes of varying quality. Competing directly with these on point value is not necessarily the goal — you are competing on a different dimension: the combination of direct booking savings, better communication, a more personalised experience, and the loyalty programme as an added incentive.
A guest who understands that booking direct means no OTA service fee, a loyalty points balance they can spend anywhere in the Stays Network, direct communication with the host, and no algorithmic intermediary standing between them and the best rate — that combination is genuinely compelling to the growing segment of travellers who have noticed what OTA fees cost them.
Repeat guests are more valuable than new guests in several measurable ways. They require less marketing spend to acquire — they already know and trust you. They have lower pre-arrival anxiety and ask fewer questions, reducing your operational overhead. They are more likely to leave positive reviews because their expectations are calibrated by a previous positive experience. And they are significantly more likely to book directly on repeat stays than to return to the OTA where they originally found you.
A loyalty programme formalises and accelerates this dynamic. Instead of hoping that a guest who had a great stay will think to book directly next time, the programme gives them a specific, tangible reason to do so — their accumulated points.
Track these metrics to understand how well your loyalty programme is working: the percentage of direct bookings coming from guests who have previously stayed and earned points; the redemption rate (what proportion of earned points are eventually redeemed, indicating genuine engagement with the programme); the repeat booking rate before versus after implementing the programme; and the revenue contribution from loyalty-driven repeat bookings versus first-time guest acquisition cost.
A well-run loyalty programme should show measurable improvement in repeat booking rate within two to three seasons of consistent operation and promotion.