In order to enhance the security of membership accounts — and the points and information which are included in them — a new process to sign in to your Choice Privileges membership account will be introduced, which will include using your e-mail account address as your user name; and new guidelines for passwords which are designed to provide an extra layer of security.
Sign-In Process to Be Updated February 2022 With Choice Privileges
The change to verify all Choice Privileges membership accounts — which will require a process of two steps — is expected to begin on or about Wednesday, February 23, 2022. Official announcements which pertain to the enhancement of security for membership accounts will be sent via e-mail messages to members of the Choice Privileges frequent guest loyalty program.
Two step verification will help to verify and secure your Choice Privileges membership account, as in order to have access, you will now verify your e-mail address associated to your account by clicking a link which is sent to it.
Additional security has also been implemented to the official Internet web site of Choice Privileges to protect your membership account, where some actions or redemptions — such as redeeming points for an award night, as one example — may require an additional step to verify your membership account in order to complete the transaction. For those transactions, a unique code will be sent to your e-mail address — or mobile telephone, if you opt into Short Message Service — so that you can enter it on the front end and complete the transaction.
These steps will help safeguard your membership account and points:
- Select an e-mail address that you want associated with your Choice Privileges membership account
- Verify that you are the owner of that e-mail address by clicking on a unique link sent to its inbox
- Provided a password to be used at login on your membership account
Final Boarding Call
Increased security and protection of the membership accounts of frequent travel loyalty programs are always welcome — provided that the process is not unreasonably more difficult for the member to earn and redeem miles or points.
Data breaches have unfortunately become the norm rather than the exception in the world of frequent travel loyalty programs, as demonstrated by the incidents involving Delta Air Lines, Hyatt Corporation, Hilton, Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, Facebook, Equifax, and other various companies in recent years. Protecting your sensitive information has become almost impossible to do…
…and yet, few measures are in place to rectify the potentially disastrous results which could possibly occur from these data breaches — as though few corporations and government entities are unconcerned about confronting the seriousness of such breaches and attacks. That Choice Privileges is taking a proactive approach on protecting the information and points of the accounts of its members is refreshing in the current environment.
Innocent victims of such breaches and attacks should not be subject to the significant effort and cost just to maintain the integrity of their personal information. which could result in identity theft and other nightmarish experiences. Stricter and more secure measures — which are transparent to individual consumers — should be employed as soon as possible to either mitigate or eliminate similar incidents in the future.
We live in a world which is highly dependent upon electronic transactions. As a customer, you deserve to be reassured by the companies which you patronize that your personal and financial data is indeed protected — and more than adequately at that. Hopefully, the measures being undertaken by Choice Privileges will do just that.
These past articles written by me seem to illustrate how serious is this problem of protecting sensitive data from being breached — and it seems that no company is immune:
- British Airways Data Breach Settlement Reached — But on Confidential Terms
- Was Your Marriott Account Compromised in the Latest Data Breach? What You Can Do
- A Real Password Can Finally Be Used to Protect Your IHG Rewards Club Account
- Reports of Some Hilton Honors Accounts Breached; Points Used For Amazon Purchases
- You May Get a Share of Money From Kimpton Hotels Data Breach Settlement
- Your Chance to Claim Up to £1,500 From British Airways as Compensation For Data Breach
- Delta Air Lines Cyber Incident: Customer Information Breach Possible
- Should Points or Miles Be Given to Compensate Loyalty Program Members For Inconvenience Due to Account Breach?
- Miles Stolen; American, United and Delta Frequent Flier Accounts Breached
- Warning: Security Breach of E-Mail Accounts at Various Companies
- Unauthorized Individual Accessed My Hyatt Gold Passport Account?
- Cyber Attack on an Account I Have Not Had in Years?!?
- Breaking News: Many British Airways Executive Club Accounts Locked; Avios Reset to Zero
- My Starwood Account Was Compromised: More Details — and What Happened
- Follow Up: My Telephone Call With a Starwood Representative
- Warning: Your Hilton HHonors Account Can Be Sold for Cents on the Dollar by Thieves
- More Data Breaches with Starwood and Hilton: What You Can Do
All photographs ©2017 and ©2020 by Brian Cohen.
