Why the new Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club is a massive devaluation

The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) is a collection of over 375 independently owned hotels operating in 75 countries. We’ve been extremely happy with our membership for years but are not pleased with the upcoming renovations to the program. First formed in 1928, LHW has seen its ranks rise while providing exceptional quality standards to its customers and adding inspirational properties to its ever-growing portfolio. Unlike most hotel loyalty programs, The Leaders Club membership program has 2 simple levels- Leaders Club and Unlimited. The basic membership (Leaders Club) costs $150/year while the Unlimited membership costs $1200/year. The added cost of the Unlimited Membership has been worthwhile since it comes with additional perks and credits and earns you reward nights faster. At least it used to…we’re not sure what’s going to happen with the new Leaders Club and no one at the LHW customer service can answer all our questions. We feel like we’re in the dark about changes that unveil in just 2 weeks.

As Unlimited members since 2015, we’ve saved well over $10,000 by using our reward nights at some of the most exclusive LHW properties around the world. We were able to save $1900/night by staying at Le Sirenuse on the Amalfi Coast and enjoying some of the best views in Positano from our Sea View Suite.

LHW Unlimited members also take advantage of generous perks, which vary by hotel, such as spa and dining credits on top of complimentary breakfast and suite upgrades. Perks we gladly took advantage of during our stay at the Mezzatore Resort & Spa in Ischia while saving $1000+/night.

Alas, all great things must come to an end sooner or later. Effective September 26, 2018, The Leaders Club will switch from its generous stay credits system to a point-based system where members “will earn 1 point for every 1 USD spent” on hotel rooms for every day of their qualifying stay. Free nights will start at 4,000 points! OUCH!!!! In other words, members will need to spend a minimum of $4,000 at LHW to get a free reward night! DOUBLE OUCH!!! Even then there is no saying how many points would be required to redeem at the most exclusive properties under the LHW portfolio given that no table has been provided regarding the specifics of the redemptions.

While the often outstanding LHW agents have been trying to convince us how this points-based system is an improvement over the existing system, they have struggled to come up with valid arguments given that no additional details have been provided by Leading Hotels of the World. Under the program slated to go into effect exactly 2 weeks from today on September 26, 2018, there are no blackout dates and members will enjoy complimentary benefits during every stay and complimentary upgrades before check-in. While that sounds nice, those are perks we already had as Unlimited members for the most part. We never had any issues booking our reward nights so didn’t have a problem with blackout dates. And though upgrades were based upon availability at check-in with the old program, we have always received an upgrade upon check-in.

Under the original membership, members who stayed in different LHW properties in the $200 – $500/night range came up ahead. They could spend $800 – $2000 total to earn a reward night that could be redeemed at any LHW property, such as the $4800/night resort Laucala Island in Fiji. Under the new membership, a minimum $4000 spend would be required to earn a reward night. We are not happy about these changes since it means we’ll have to double our even quadruple our spending to earn a reward night.

Winners and Losers Under The New LHW Membership

The LHW noted that the membership change came about following members’ feedback. Under the new membership program, those members spending the most on $1000+/night properties or booking additional rooms during the stay will be able to accrue points faster. With the old system, members could only earn one credit per stay, regardless of whether they stayed for one night or a week. Members also only earned one credit per stay even if they booked multiple rooms, which has changed with the new system. So this change will certainly benefit members who book multiple rooms and have extended stays. However, members like us who were able to accrue reward nights through affordable one-night stays at different properties without spending anywhere near $4,000 will end up on the short end of the stick.

What Are We Planning to Do?

We’ve had nothing but excellent experiences with the LHW properties thus far. While we don’t plan on dropping out of the membership altogether, we are considering doing the following and await more details from LHW:

• Switch our spending to alternative programs with better spending/earning ratio. For example, if we were to spend $4000 at Hyatt properties using our Hyatt branded credit card, we would be able to redeem at least 4 nights valued as high as $10,000 during high season at the luxurious Park Hyatt Maldives. How? This gets complicated, but here it goes. We would earn 20,000 Hyatt points because Hyatt gives 5 points for every dollar spent at Hyatt properties + up to 60,000 bonus points by taking advantage of the current World Of Hyatt promotion + 16,000 points for the Hyatt credit card spending since Hyatt gives 4 points for every dollar spent on their credit card at Hyatt properties + 6,000 bonus points for being Hyatt Globalists. So $4,000 dollars spent at Hyatt could turn into $10,000 savings. That’s a much better return on investment!
• Downgrade our Unlimited membership to the basic one. LHW still has not released any information about the upcoming membership levels so we don’t know yet how having the Unlimited Membership will be worth the extra cost with this new system.
• Complete two more stays prior to September 26, 2018 in order to secure an additional award night that would be valid for one year. It will require way more spending to earn LHW reward nights once the new program unveils.

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