Before you start
Outlined below are some key points to ensure are done before you start.
You must have loyalty setup permissions in the admin portal.
Your loyalty program must already be created.
Understand your program structure including membership tiers and earning strategy
📌Note: Credit earning rules work alongside or instead of the rewards feature
Access the loyalty earning rules
Follow the steps below to access the loyalty earning rules.
From the left navigation menu click Loyalty Setup and click Loyalty Earning Rule Setup.
Understanding rule types
Outlined below are some of the rule types.
Base rules
Required for every hotel in your program.
Provides the foundational earning rate for all qualifying stays.
Each hotel may have its own base rule in multi-property programs.
Typically awards a fixed number of credits per stay or per dollar spent.
Promotion rules
Optional additional earning opportunities.
Applied in addition to the base rule when criteria are met.
Multiple promotion rules can apply to a single reservation. This is rule stacking.
Use for seasonal offers, tier bonuses, or special earning events.
How rules evaluate and stack
Outlined below are points on evaluation order and rule stacking.
Evaluation order
Rules process in ascending order by ranking, 0 is highest priority:
System retrieves all active rules within their date ranges.
Each rule evaluates the reservation against its criteria.
When a rule matches, credits are awarded.
Next rule evaluates unless stop further rules is enabled.
Rule stacking
By default, multiple rules can award credits for the same reservation. Outlined below are some examples of this.
Rule 1 (Ranking 0): Base earning - ten credits per stay.
Rule 2 (Ranking 1): Weekend bonus - five extra credits.
Result: Guest earns fifteen credits for a weekend stay.
Stopping rule evaluation
Enable stop further rules to prevent lower-ranked rules from processing. Outlined below are some examples of this.
Rule 1 (Ranking 0): VIP exclusive - 50 credits, stop further rules = Yes.
Rule 2 (Ranking 1): Base earning - 10 credits.
Result: VIP guests earn only 50 credits and rule 2 never gets evaluated.
Create an earning rule
Outlined below are steps on how to create a new earning rule.
From the left navigation menu, click Loyalty Setup.
Click Loyalty Earning Rule Setup.
Click Add Earning Rule.
Next configure the general information:
Add a rule name: This is an internal identifier for administrators for example Summer promotion.
Display name: This is the guest-facing name shown in the guest portal
Description this is optional: Internal notes explaining the rule's purpose.
Choose a rule type:
Base - Required foundational rule for the property.
Promotion - Additional earning opportunity.
Membership tiers: Select which tiers qualify for this rule. Leave blank to apply to all tiers.
Hotel: Select properties where this rule applies.
Loyalty program: Choose the loyalty program for this rule.
Ranking: Determines processing order. This starts at 0 as the highest priority.
📌Note: Lower ranking numbers process first. If stop further rules is enabled on a matching rule, subsequent rules won't process.
Next configure dates:
Rule date: Date range when the rule is active from the start and end dates.
Stay date type: Determines which dates must fall within the stay date range.
Arrival - Only check-in date must qualify.
Departure - Only check-out date must qualify.
Both - Both check-in and check-out must qualify.
Expiration, choose how earned credits expire:
Expiration by date - Credits expire on a specific date.
Expiration by number of days - Credits expire X days after earning.
Does not expire - Credits never expire.
Arrival date this is optional. Date range for qualifying check-ins.
Departure date this is optional. Date range for qualifying check-outs. This is only visible when stay date type is equal to departure or both.
Booked date this is optional. Date range when reservation must have been booked.
Configure reservation criteria:
Each criterion uses include or exclude or all logic:
Market segment: Qualifying market segment codes use semicolon to separate.
Channels: Qualifying channel codes use semicolon to separate.
Room type: Qualifying room type codes use semicolon to separate.
Rate code: Qualifying rate codes use semicolon to separate.
🤓Tip: Use semicolons (;) to separate multiple codes in each field
Select earning type. Choose how credits are calculated:
Credit calculation by reservation:
Awards a fixed number of credits per qualifying reservation.
Fields:
Issued - Number of credits per reservation.
Include amount paid by points - Whether revenue paid with credits counts toward earning.
Concurrent reservations - Maximum overlapping stays allowed. Zero is unlimited.
Max Earning - Maximum credits a guest can earn from this rule. Zero is unlimited.
LOS (Length of stay) says - Minimum or maximum stay length requirements.
Room spend - Minimum or maximum revenue thresholds. Do not include decimals, for example enter 59999 for $599.99.
Back to back reservations allowed - Whether consecutive same-day stays earn credits.
Stop further rules - Prevents lower-ranked rules from processing.
Credit calculation by spend:
Awards credits based on revenue in the hotel's base currency.
Fields:
Issued - Base credits awarded.
Calculation type - Select revenue categories that count:
Room amount.
Service amount.
Room tax.
Service tax.
Food and beverage.
Food and beverage tax.
Spa.
Spa tax.
Other revenue.
Other revenue tax.
Spend calculation - Credits earned per currency unit for example one credit per $10 spent.
Include amount paid by points - Whether redeemed credits count toward earning.
Plus all fields from by reservation type.
Formula: Credits is equal to FLOOR (Total Spend divided by Spend Calculation) multiplied by issued.
Credit calculation by room nights:
Awards credits based on number of nights stayed.
Fields:
Issued - Credits awarded per qualifying number of nights.
Number of nights - How many nights equal one credit issuance.
Count same day check-in and check-out as one night. Whether day-use stays count as one night.
Plus all fields from by reservation type.
Formula: Credits is equal to FLOOR (Room Nights divided by Number Of Nights) multiplied by issued.
Credit calculation by join date:
Awards credits X days after a guest joins the loyalty program.
Fields:
Join date - Days after joining when credits are awarded, typically zero for immediate.
Issued - Number of credits awarded.
Max earning - Should be zero for unlimited, as this is a one-time award.
📌Note: This earning type is processed by a separate automated service, not reservation-based processing.
Credit calculation by member referral:
Awards credits when a guest's referral link is used for new member signup.
Fields:
Issued - Credits awarded to the referring member.
Max Earning - Should be one, since each member can only join once.
🤓Tip: Create a separate join date rule to reward the new member who signs up.
Click Save and Close to create the rule.
View earned credits
Guests can view earned credits via the guest portal. Guests see their credit summary after logging in. They will see available points which is their current balance, points earned this year, points to expire or credits expiring soon and points history which will show detailed transaction history with filters for the last 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, or 48 months.
CRM Administrator view
For an administration view of points follow the steps below.
From the left navigation menu, click Guest Management.
Search for and open the guest profile.
View the Reservation List section.
Each reservation shows:
Earning rule qualified - Loyalty program codes where credits were earned.
Earning rule not qualified - Reasons why credits weren't awarded.
Credit assigned - Number of credits awarded.
How guests redeem credits
Guests can redeem credits through:
Integrated booking engines during the booking process.
Integrated voice applications when booking by phone.
Manually with hotel staff in the CRM Admin manually with an authorized user.
Redemptions occur in real time based on available credit balance and redemption rules.
How membership tiers affect earning
Outlined below are how tier types affect earning points.
Tier filtering, use the membership tiers field to restrict which guests qualify for a rule:
Leave blank - Rule applies to all tiers.
Select specific tiers - Only those tiers qualify.
Tier-based earning strategies.
Tiered earning rates:
Rule one (Ranking 0): Platinum tier - 20 credits, Tiers = "PLATINUM"
Rule two (Ranking 1): Gold tier - 15 credits, Tiers = "GOLD"
Rule three (Ranking 2): Silver tier - 10 credits, Tiers = "SILVER"
Rule four (Ranking 3): Base tier - 5 credits, Tiers = "BASE"
Other base plus tier bonuses:
Rule one(Ranking 0): Base earning - 10 credits, Tiers = (blank - all tiers).
Rule two (Ranking 1): Platinum bonus - 20 credits, Tiers = "PLATINUM"
Result: Platinum earns 30 credits (stacked), others earn 10 credits.
Troubleshooting
Outlined below are some troubleshooting issues.
Credits not awarded.
Check the reservation in guest management:
Navigate to Guest Management, click search for guest and click open profile.
Review the Reservation List.
Check the Earning Rule Not Qualified column for the reason.
Common reasons why credits are not awared.
Hotel ID not included in rule.
Stay dates don't fall within rule date range.
Booking date outside allowed window.
Channel code excluded.
Stay length doesn't meet minimum or maximum requirements.
Room spend below minimum threshold.
Guest's tier not included in rule.
Market segment excluded.
Rate code excluded.
Room type excluded.
Concurrent reservation limit exceeded.
Back-to-back reservations not allowed.
Rule has expired.
Max earning limit reached.
Loyalty program ID mismatch.
Rule not processing
Verify rule configuration:
Rule is active.
Current date is between rule date start and end.
Ranking is set correctly.
No higher-ranked rule has stop further rules enabled.
Unexpected stacking behavior
If too many credits awarded:
Check if multiple promotion rules are inadvertently stacking.
Consider enabling stop further rules on higher-priority rules.
If too few credits awarded:
Verify stop further rules isn't enabled on a base rule.
Check that all intended promotion rules have correct ranking order.
Best practices
Outlined below are some of the best practices for loyalty credit earning rules.
Start simple - Begin with one base rule per property, add promotions after observing member behavior.
Use ranking strategically - Place tier-specific rules before universal rules.
Test rule stacking - Verify intended credit amounts with test reservations.
Document rule purpose - Use the Description field to explain rule intent.
Monitor max earning - Review guests who hit earning caps to adjust limits if needed.
Set expiration thoughtfully - Balance program liability with member satisfaction.
Frequently asked questions
Outlined below are some of the frequently asked questions for loyalty credit earning rules.
Can multiple promotion rules apply to one reservation?
Yes, unless a higher-ranked rule has stop further rules enabled.
Can guests earn credits on stays paid with credits?
Only if include amount paid by points is enabled on the rule.
Do earning rules apply to all hotels in a hotel group?
Only if configured to apply to multiple hotels during setup.
When are credits awarded?
Credits are processed by a scheduled background service after checkout. They are not awarded in real-time.
Can I create different earning rates for different tiers?
Yes, create separate rules for each tier and use the membership tiers field to restrict eligibility.
What happens if a guest belongs to multiple loyalty programs?
The system evaluates rules for each program the guest belongs to and awards credits to each applicable program.
Are credits refunded if a reservation is cancelled?
Credit refunds are controlled by a master setting in the CRS, configured at the hotel level. This setting determines whether credits are automatically refunded after a cancellation or modification.
⚠️Important:
Cancellations made through the booking engine, CRS, or CRM API will refund credits automatically if the CRS setting allows it.
Cancellations made directly in the PMS do not trigger automatic credit refunds.
No-show reservations do not automatically refund credits. Not all PMS systems send no-show status.
For exceptions, support staff must manually refund credits through the CRM.
How do I manually add credits to a guest account?
There are two methods for manually assigning credits, each serving a different purpose:
Assign credits only or non-tier qualifying.
From the left navigation menu, click Guest Management.
Search for and open the guest profile.
Click the Earnings tab.
Click Assign Credit.
Use this method when you want to give credits that do not count toward tier qualification for example service recovery or promotional credits.
Assign tier qualifying earnings
From the left navigation menu, click Guest Management.
Search for and open the guest profile.
Click the Profile Audit Log tab.
Click Add Tier Calculation.
Use this method when the earnings should count toward:
Tier nights, tier stays or tier spend.
📌Note: Choose the appropriate method based on whether the credits should affect tier progression.
What should I communicate to guests about credit redemptions?
Guest-facing materials and transactional emails should clearly explain:
How credits can be applied to reservations.
Whether credits are refundable upon cancellation.
What happens if a reservation is modified or cancelled.
Any restrictions on credit usage.
For pay-by-points reservations, consider using separate policy content or dynamic email content to set proper expectations about refund behavior.