Guide 52 · Tiers and status
Tier downgrades: soft landing or hard reset?
Use a soft landing, dropping members one level at a time or keeping their tier for one more cycle, when the tier still exists and members earned their status in good faith. It costs some benefits for a year but protects members who are likely to requalify. Use a hard reset when the old tier no longer exists, when the benefit can no longer be offered, or for members far below the new requirement.
Every tiered program needs a loyalty tier downgrade rule: what happens when a member stops qualifying, and what happens when the program raises its thresholds. A soft landing lowers status gradually. A hard reset places everyone where their current activity puts them. The choice affects cost, member trust and how many of your best customers stay. This guide explains the trade-offs and a practical rule for each member.
Two approaches
What is the difference between a soft landing and a hard reset?
A tier downgrade happens in two situations: a member does not requalify at the end of the qualification period, or the program changes its rules and a member no longer meets them.
With a soft landing, the member drops one tier at a time. A top-tier member who missed requalification moves to the tier below, not to the base. Air Serbia’s Elevate program, for example, publishes this rule: a member who does not keep a tier moves down one tier instead of going back to the starting tier, Blue. When a program raises thresholds, a soft landing can also mean members keep their current tier for one more cycle under the new rules.
With a hard reset, every member is placed in the tier their current activity earns. A member who held the top tier but earned little this year returns to the base level.
| Soft landing | Hard reset | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the member lands | One tier lower, or same tier for one cycle | The tier current activity earns |
| Cost | Benefits continue for members not fully earning them | Lowest immediate cost |
| Member reaction | Easier to accept; a path back is visible | Sharp loss; higher risk of leaving |
| Effect on tier sizes | Tiers shrink slowly | Tiers match current activity at once |
| Main risk | Members learn they can coast | Losing valuable members after one quiet year |
Why it matters
Why do downgrades matter so much to members?
Because members see status as something they have already paid for with past spend. Changing it after the fact feels like taking back value. A hard reset after one quiet year, caused by a job change, an illness or a move, can end a relationship that was profitable for many years.
Downgrades also shape behavior before they happen. Members near the end of a qualification period who can see a cliff ahead may increase spending to avoid it, or give up if the gap looks too big. A softer, visible step down keeps more of them engaged.
What it costs
What does a soft landing cost?
The cost is the difference between the benefits a landed member receives and those they would have received after a hard reset, for as long as the landing lasts. It is real spending: upgrades, bonus points, service capacity and other elite status benefits that continue while the member may not be bringing enough new margin to cover them.
Set it against what you would lose. In a hypothetical program that soft lands 15,000 top-tier members to the second tier for a year, suppose the second tier’s extra benefits cost $7.50 per member per month, or $1.35 million in total. If a hard reset would push 40% of those members to stop buying, and each brought $900 of yearly margin, the lost margin would be $5.4 million. In that case the landing costs much less than it protects. Replace these numbers with your own; the result can go either way.
Who to protect
Which members should get a soft landing?
Decide member by member, not for the whole base. A practical rule has two stages.
- Protect members close to the requirement. If a member reached a high share of the new or annual requirement, for example 80%, a soft landing is cheap: they are likely to requalify, and they are still commercially active.
- Reset members far below it, with one exception. Members well below the requirement land in the tier their activity earns. The exception is members who reached their tier only recently, for example within the last six months; for them, a one-level drop is fairer, because the promise is still fresh.
Pick the share and the period from your own data, and check how many members each version protects and what it costs. Then decide whether the policy is a standing rule in your terms or a decision you announce each year. Large travel programs have introduced, changed and withdrawn soft landings over time, and members notice when a landing they counted on disappears, so say plainly which kind yours is. Combine this with a fast-track: a reduced target within a few months that restores the previous tier. It gives members who had a quiet year a way back and limits how long you pay for status they did not earn.
Watch for coasting. If members learn that they keep high status without effort, landings encourage the inactivity they were meant to forgive. Limit soft landings to one level per year so status still falls if activity does not return.
When to reset
When is a hard reset the right call?
A hard reset is the better choice in three situations. First, when the program removes a tier or changes its benefits so completely that the old tier has nothing to land in. Holding members in a tier that no longer exists only delays the change. Second, when a benefit can no longer be offered, for example because of a legal or regulatory change; a clean reset with clear notice is less damaging than a landing you later have to take back. Third, for members far below the requirement who have shown no recent activity.
Resets also make sense when tiers are badly inflated and you need sizes to match current activity quickly. Even then, announce the change in advance and consider a soft landing for members close to the new thresholds. See tier inflation for the wider fix.
Tell members
How should you tell members about a downgrade?
Early and with specifics. Show each member their progress toward requalification during the year, with the amount still needed and the date the period ends. A reminder a few months before the end gives members a fair chance to act. Confirm the outcome before it takes effect, explain what changes and say how to get the status back.
Prepare service teams for the calls that follow. When a member complains, show their actual qualifying activity against the threshold instead of restating the policy; for members who buy in more than one currency, explain how conversion affected the total. Apply one written goodwill rule, such as a single extension for members within a set distance of the threshold, and log every exception with its reason so the next agent gives the same answer.
For rule changes, give notice before the qualification year the new rules apply to. Changing thresholds partway through a year members are already working toward breaks trust and may be treated as a material change under your terms. Setting the new thresholds well is covered in how to set loyalty tier thresholds.
More answers
Frequently asked questions
What is a soft landing in a loyalty program?
A downgrade rule that drops a member who missed requalification by one tier at a time, instead of returning them to the base level. Some programs also extend status for one more cycle when they raise thresholds.
What is a hard reset?
A downgrade that places every member in the tier their current activity earns, regardless of their previous status. A member who held the top tier but earned nothing this year returns to the base level.
How should service teams handle downgrade complaints?
Show the member their actual qualifying activity against the threshold rather than repeating the policy, and apply one written goodwill rule to everyone instead of deciding case by case. Log every exception with its reason so the next agent treats the member the same way.
Do soft landings encourage members to stop qualifying?
They can, if members learn they keep high status without effort. Limit landings to one level per year, or offer them only to members who reached a meaningful share of the requirement.
How much notice should members get of a downgrade?
Tell members their status and progress well before the end of the qualification period, and confirm the outcome before it takes effect. For rule changes that cause downgrades, give notice before the qualification year that the new rules apply to.
Can a downgraded member get their status back quickly?
Many programs offer a fast-track: a reduced target within a few months that restores the previous tier. It gives members who had a quiet year a way back and keeps them engaged.