A hotel loyalty glossary: the terms every member should know

Status Points, Rewards Points, qualifying nights, breakage, status match, comps: a plain-English glossary of the words that hotel loyalty programmes love to use.

Loyalty programmes come with their own vocabulary, and not all of it is obvious. Here are the terms we use most often on this site, explained in plain English.

Points and tiers

• Rewards Points: the spendable currency of Accor's programme. 2,000 points take €40 off an eligible bill.
• Status Points: points that decide your tier. You cannot spend them, and they reset each year.
• Tier: your level in the programme, such as Classic, Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond.
• Qualifying night: a night booked through an eligible channel and rate that counts towards status.
• Soft landing: when you fail to requalify and drop only one tier instead of falling to the bottom.

Booking terms

• Member rate: a discounted price shown to logged-in members of some programmes.
• Third-party booking: a reservation made through an online travel agency. These usually do not earn points.
• Best rate guarantee: a promise to match a lower public price found elsewhere, subject to conditions.

Industry words

• Breakage: the share of points that are never redeemed. It is part of how programmes are funded.
• Devaluation: any change that makes points buy less than before.
• Status match: a new programme gives you a tier based on the one you hold with a rival.
• Comps: short for complimentaries. In casino resorts, rooms, meals and shows are given to players based on how much they are expected to wager, rather than through a points balance.
• House edge: the built-in advantage a casino has in each game. It is the gambling equivalent of breakage: the part of the money that, over time, stays with the house.

If a term is missing, write to us through the contact page and we will add it to the next update.