Choice Privileges Honored at Prestigious Freddie Awards

03 May 2017 – Choice Privileges, the loyalty rewards programme from Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) was honored by the travel loyalty industry’s most prestigious awards organization. At InsideFlyer’s 29th Annual Freddie Awards Ceremony in Jersey City, New Jersey in the United States, the Choice Privileges programme brought home the 2017 Freddie 210 Award for Europe. More than 3.5 million loyalty customers from across the travel industry voted on which programmes they felt offered the greatest added value to their travel experiences.

The Freddie 210 for Europe Award was based on voting from travel loyalty customers specifically in the European market, where Choice Hotels franchises more than 400 properties in 18 countries, which include United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Belgium, Turkey, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Lithuania.

“Choice Hotels has a fantastic portfolio of hundreds of distinctive hotels throughout Europe and we continue to build on this success, expanding rapidly worldwide. So, we are extremely pleased to know Freddie voters and Choice Privileges loyalty guests in that region are so enthusiastic about us and our generous offerings,” said Mark Pearce, senior vice president, international division for Choice Hotels.

The Choice Privileges programme was relaunched in 2016 to offer guests more immediate and frequent rewards and benefits. These enhancements have generated a surge of positive response from guests and are attracting new members. Since the programme changes debuted, worldwide new enrollments to the Choice Privileges programme have jumped by more than 40%.

“Our engagement among Choice Privileges members is at all-time high levels, which tells us the programme understands the wants and needs of today’s traveler,” said Jamie Russo, vice president of loyalty programmes and customer engagement for Choice Hotels. “We are honored to receive this recognition from the millions of Freddie voters and Choice Privileges members who enjoy our programme around the world. The Choice Privileges team thanks them for their membership, feedback and support as we keep working to ensure the programme continues to be meaningful and relevant to the way they travel.”

These honors come on the heels of Choice Privileges earning the Best Hotel Loyalty Program distinction on the 2017 USA Today 10 Best Readers' Choice Award list, an honor determined by USA Today readers' popular vote, as well as second place in loyalty programme rankings by U.S. News & Report.

The Freddie Awards represent excellence in frequent travel programmes and rate the best programmes in six categories: Program of the Year, Best Promotion, Best Redemption Ability, Best Customer Service, Best Elite Program and Best Loyalty Credit Card. Voters were permitted to vote for programmes in one of three global regions: Americas, Middle East/Asia/Oceania and Europe/Africa. The awards were introduced in 1988 in honor of Sir Freddie Laker to recognize the best frequent flyer programmes, having since expanded to honor loyalty programmes in hotel and credit card industries.

The redesigned Choice Privileges programmed now offer faster rewards for members, including Your Extras, FlexRewards, Keep Your Points, and 10 Points per Dollar. It's free and easy to join the programme, so any planner or traveller can enjoy the benefits. Members can redeem points towards free nights, airline miles and more while staying at any of Choice’s 11 global brand hotels Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria hotels & suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge, Rodeway, and the Ascend Hotel Collection. For full information about the Choice Privileges rewards programme, visit www.choicehotels.com/choice-privileges.