Is Meeting Kimi Antonelli Enough to Guarantee a Lifetime of Hotel Loyalty?

I’m in the Silverstone Club, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One team’s lounge, one of the most exclusive viewing platforms for F1’s biggest race. I’ve just listened to a Q&A with the current championship leader (and the potential future youngest ever world champion) Kimi Antonielli and even grabbed a selfie with him on the way out. I’m here as part of Marriott Bonvoy’s loyalty programme, which allows members to bid on experiences with their points. And with competition for luxury hotels hotter than ever, are experiences like this the way to keep bookings coming?

Isn’t A Free Night Enough?

Hotel loyalty used to be simpler: stay enough nights, get a free one. But it isn’t enough any more; there is a growing list of price-comparison tools that show whether member rates beat the open market or whether there’s another option close by. Furthermore, members who once booked direct out of habit are just as likely to book wherever is cheapest or at an alternative via a digital ad.

At the same time, the hotel landscape is getting more crowded. Lifestyle brands, luxury rentals, and a wave of new boutique openings are all chasing the same high-spending traveller, and many of them have a loyalty scheme of their own. A free night no longer gives enough of a reason to pick one programme over another. 

The Rise Of The Luxe Experience

The more interesting shift is the one away from room rates and toward money-can’t-buy extras: in the paddock, at a festival, in the front row. Marriott Bonvoy’s partnership with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team does just this. Members earn points through stays and everyday spending, then bid them, in 2,500-point increments, for experiences on the Bonvoy Moments platform: race weekend hospitality, behind-the-scenes access, driver Q&As, meet-and-greets. Since 2021 they’ve delivered around 1,445 Moments packages and over 413 million points have been redeemed.

What About The Competition?

Most of the main hotel loyalty programmes all work in a similar way: you join free, earn points on eligible stays, and move up status tiers by collecting nights or spend over a year, with the best perks usually reserved for frequent guests. Hilton Honors offers generous points earning, free breakfast at many brands, fifth-night-free redemptions and Diamond status perks; World of Hyatt is smaller but good value, with strong award pricing, suite upgrade awards, free breakfast and waived resort fees for top-tier members; IHG One Rewards gives access to a range of hotels and adds milestone rewards like extra suite upgrade options, lounge passes and points bonuses. Accor Live Limitless is the closest to Marriott Bonvoy’s, where status benefits like upgrades, late checkout and brand experiences are all included in the package. 

The Last Word

A discounted room rate is easy to match, a selfie with a future world champion for an F1 megafan? Not so much. Experiences like this create the kind of story members repeat to friends, get people talking about the hotels and ultimately earn brand loyalty in a way most points schemes just can’t. 

My take: you can’t beat discovering a locally owned boutique property or an off-the-grid secret stay. Independent properties and local gems will always have my heart, but when it comes to staying loyal to one of the big brands, meeting your racing hero is a (significantly) bigger blag than a late check-out, and much more likely to keep me coming back for more. 

I attended the Silverstone F1 Grand Prix as the guest of Marriott Bonvoy and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS.