Leaders Club is the loyalty program of The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), one of the largest and most prestigious luxury hotel collections in the world. Comprising more than 400 hotels in over 80 countries, LHW hotels are curated for the curious discerning traveler in search of their next discovery. In this overview, I’ll explain the the Leaders Club loyalty program:
- Membership tiers & benefits
- Pros & things I like about Leaders Club
- Cons & things I don’t like about Leaders Club
- My reviews of luxury hotels covered by Leaders Club
- Key points
- Poll: what’s the best hotel loyalty program?
LEADERS CLUB : MEMBERSHIP TIERS & BENEFITS
There are the three tiers within the Leaders Club program:
- Club membership is the base level, and comes with the following benefits:
- Upgrade priority at arrival, subject to availability
- Complimentary continental breakfast for two each day
- Complimentary internet access
- Early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability
- One pre-arrival upgrade per year (after your first paid stay)
- Exclusive members-only offers and rates
- Earning hotel points (1 point per 1 USD spend) towards free nights
- Sterling membership requires a minimum spend of USD 5,000 USD on room rates at LHW properties per calendar year. Sterling membership commences on the date you earn Sterling status and will continue through December 31st of the following calendar year. For example, status earned in April 2019 will last through 31st December 2020. Sterling membership gets you the following benefits :
- Upgrade priority at arrival, subject to availability
- Complimentary continental breakfast for two each day
- Complimentary internet access
- Early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability
- Five pre-arrival upgrades per year
- Exclusive members-only offers and rates
- Earning hotel points (1 point per 1 USD spend) towards free nights
- An annual renewal points bonus, equal to 5% of the room rate you spend in USD or the currency equivalent, excluding taxes and fees, during the membership year immediately preceding your membership renewal.
- Aurelian membership is the program’s premium and invitation-only tier, awarded to travelers who belong to LHW’s top 1% of customers (minimum $10,000 USD spend on room rates per calendar). In addition to the Sterling benefits, Aurelian members also get:
- Complimentary one-way airport to hotel transfers in 30 cities (capped at $300 USD per membership year).
- An annual renewal points bonus, equal to 8,8 % of the room rate you spend in USD or the currency equivalent, excluding taxes and fees, during the membership year immediately preceding your membership renewal.
- Unlimited number of upgrade requests (one category – no suites)
- No blackout dates on point awards
PROS & THINGS I LIKE ABOUT LEADERS CLUB
- In July 2021, LHW made its Leaders Club program complimentary to everyone (prior to this date, one had to pay an annual fee of $170 USD for Leaders Club membership). This free Leaders Club membership gets you one pre-arrival upgrade awarded annually, complimentary daily breakfast for two, access to members-only savings, priority for upgrades, early check-in and late check-out. Now at no cost to you. For clarity, bookings must be made via the Leading Hotels of the World website to receive the benefits above (bookings made directly with the hotel do not count).
- As a Leaders Club member, you can enjoy benefits across some of the most iconic and luxurious hotels of the word, such as the 12 Apostles Hotel in Cape Town, The Datai Langkawi in Malaysia, Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin, Le Sirenuse in Positano (Italy), Laucala Island in Fiji, The Setai Miami Beach, and The Ritz in Paris. You can access the full list of LHW hotels here. So when you consider several stays at one or multiple of the 375 remarkably uncommon properties, it’s worth signing up for the program.
- The LHW collection mainly consists of independent high-end hotels that work together under the LHW umbrella to increase their sales, marketing, and revenue. Remarkably, the LHW portfolio does include some properties that are managed by luxury hotel chains, such as a few Kempinski, Constance, and One&Only hotels.
- Leaders Club members have access to special rates and offers at LHW hotels across the globe, with up to 20% off the best available rate with every booking. These rates are available exclusively for Leaders Club members and are not available anywhere else. Simply search hotels and rates, then sign-in as a Leaders Club member to view the discounted rates.
- Leaders Club members earn one Leaders Club point for every USD they spend on the room rate at a LHW hotel for each qualifying stay, with a maximum of three rooms per booking. Your Leaders Club account must be activated and associated with the booking prior to your arrival to earn Leaders Club points for that stay. These points can be used for free hotel nights at other LHW properties, with redemptions beginning at 4,000 points.
- Leaders Club is one of the very few programs that rewards loyalty for stays at luxury hotels. Hotels using the program make efforts to reward their most loyal guests. In comparison, hotel chains such as Four Seasons, Rosewood, Aman, and Banyan Tree do not offer a loyalty program.
- The program is uncomplicated and thus very easy to understand. You collect points that you can spend on free nights and you also get some benefits at LHW properties.
- As long as a member keeps traveling with Leading Hotels their membership will not expire, and neither will the points they accrued.
CONS & THINGS I DON’T LIKE ABOUT LEADERS CLUB
- Most LHW properties belong to Virtuoso portfolio. As such, you will receive many of the same benefits when booking via Virtuoso as you would get as a Leaders Club member. So the program definitely isn’t the only way to get VIP perks at the hotels that are part of the LHW portfolio. In addition, Virtuosos also offers an additional benefit, usual $100 USD of food and beverage credit per stay, which you don’t get via Leaders Club.
- Benefits can only be enjoyed as long as you make your bookings via the official LHW website or through one of LHW’s worldwide reservations and service centers. Making your booking directly on the official hotel website will not get you any benefit.
- Leaders Club is one of the few hotel loyalty schemes that does not earn you frequent flyer miles.
- Redemptions begin at 4,000 points but it’s not clear how many points you need per property (the number of points probably fluctuates depending on the season and room rate). So basically, you are engaging yourself into a program with very vague terms & conditions.
- Leaders Club has a pathetic best rate guarantee program. If you find a lower rate for your reservation within 24 hours of booking with them, they simply match it without applying any additional discount.
- The pre-arrival upgrades are only valid for rooms, not suites.
MY REVIEWS OF LUXURY HOTELS COVERED BY LEADERS CLUB
KEY POINTS
- LHW’s loyalty program, Leaders Club, can only accessed by paying a fee.
- The program is useless since you can get the same benefits (without paying an annual fee) when booking LHW hotels via Virtuoso.
POLL
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