A loyalty number is a unique identifier assigned to you when you join a company’s rewards or loyalty program. It links your account to every purchase, stay, or flight you make with that company, allowing the program to track what you’ve earned and what benefits you’re eligible for. You’ll encounter loyalty numbers across airlines, hotels, grocery stores, rental car companies, coffee chains, and dozens of other businesses that reward repeat customers.
How a Loyalty Number Works
When you enroll in a loyalty program, the company creates an account for you and assigns a number to it. That number is tied to your name, contact information, and all the activity you generate within the program. Every time you make a qualifying purchase or transaction, you provide your loyalty number so the system can credit your account with points, miles, stamps, or whatever currency the program uses.
Without that number, the company has no way to connect a transaction to your account. If you buy a plane ticket without entering your frequent flyer number, those miles won’t automatically appear in your balance. The same applies to hotel stays, grocery purchases, and retail transactions. Your loyalty number is essentially your receipt mechanism for earning rewards.
Different Names Across Industries
The term “loyalty number” is a catch-all, but most companies give it a branded name. Airlines call it a frequent flyer number. Hotels typically call it a rewards member number or a loyalty member ID. Grocery chains and retail stores may call it a rewards card number or club member number. Cruise lines have their own versions too. Royal Caribbean, for example, calls theirs a Crown & Anchor number.
Regardless of the name, the function is identical: it’s a string of digits (sometimes with letters) that ties your identity to a specific rewards account. When a booking site, hotel check-in desk, or airline reservation form asks for your “loyalty number,” they’re asking for whatever member ID that company assigned you.
Where to Find Your Loyalty Number
Your loyalty number typically shows up in several places:
- Confirmation email: The welcome or enrollment email you received when you first signed up almost always includes your member number.
- The company’s app: Most programs display your number on your profile or account page after you log in. On some apps, it appears right under your name in the loyalty or rewards section.
- The company’s website: Log into your account on the program’s website and look under your profile, account settings, or membership details.
- Physical or digital membership card: If the program issued you a card (plastic or stored in a mobile wallet), the number is printed or encoded on it.
- Past booking confirmations: If you’ve used the number before when booking a flight, hotel, or rental car, it often appears in the confirmation email for that reservation.
If you can’t locate it through any of these methods, calling the company’s customer service line and verifying your identity will get you the number.
When You’ll Need It
The most common situation is booking travel. When you reserve a flight, the airline’s website will ask for your frequent flyer number so miles post to your account automatically. Hotels ask for your rewards number at booking or check-in. Rental car companies do the same.
You’ll also need your loyalty number when linking accounts across programs. Many credit cards let you transfer points to airline or hotel partners, and completing that transfer requires your member number with the partner program. Travel booking sites and online profile managers sometimes ask you to store loyalty numbers for your preferred airlines and hotels so they can be applied to future reservations automatically.
Retail and grocery loyalty numbers work a bit differently. You usually scan a physical card, enter a phone number, or pull up a barcode in an app at checkout. The underlying loyalty number is still doing the work behind the scenes, but you rarely need to type it in manually.
Getting a Loyalty Number
Signing up for most loyalty programs is free and takes a few minutes. You provide basic information like your name, email address, and sometimes a phone number or mailing address. The program then generates your unique number and sends it to you, usually by email. Some programs create your account instantly through their app.
There’s no limit to how many loyalty programs you can join, and there’s rarely a downside to signing up even if you only use a company occasionally. The number stays active as long as your account exists, though some programs will deactivate accounts after a long period of inactivity, typically 12 to 24 months without earning or redeeming anything. Keeping your number active usually just means making at least one qualifying transaction within that window.