Reward Loyalty · Industry guide · Illustrative settings
https://rewardloyalty.co/use-cases/pet-boarding-loyalty-program
Industry guide · Pet boarding
A pet boarding loyalty program built around completed overnight stays
Reward settled boarding spend without encouraging extra nights, bypassing animal checks, or pretending the loyalty record knows bookings and care requirements.
Recommended starting program
Start with one mechanism customers can remember.
Award one point per $1 of eligible boarding charges after checkout and payment. At 400 points, staff can apply a $20 credit to a later eligible boarding invoice of at least $100.
Card
1 point per $1
Reward threshold
400 points
Reward
$20 boarding credit from $100
Points expiry
12 months
Why this fits
The trade decides the mechanism.
This guide covers independent kennels and pet resorts that board dogs or cats overnight. Dog daycare, grooming, veterinary care, pet sitting in the owner's home, dog walking, training schools, shelters, and long-term quarantine facilities need different eligibility and reward rules.
Boarding invoices can include deposits, nights, medication administration, transport, daycare, grooming, retail goods, and third-party care. Staff need one settled eligible subtotal after the stay.
A spend threshold reflects invoice value without treating a short stay and a long stay as the same visit or rewarding an owner for booking care they do not need.
The kennel system remains the source for animal eligibility, vaccinations, behavior notes, dates, capacity, care instructions, deposits, and final payment.
Customer journey
From the first QR to a reason to return.
The program should follow the transaction or appointment that already exists. It should not create a second queue.
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01
Join before the stay
The booking confirmation and front desk link to the boarding points card.
-
02
Complete the booked stay
The kennel system keeps animal eligibility, dates, care, and capacity.
-
03
Settle the invoice
Staff close the stay, payment, adjustments, and excluded charges.
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04
Award boarding points
Staff enter the eligible settled subtotal on the owner's card.
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05
Use the future credit
Four hundred points become $20 on a later eligible invoice of at least $100.
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06
Refer after launch
A referral completes after the friend makes a first points-earning purchase.
Exact program setup
Configure the base program before the campaign.
Complete the steps in order. Each documentation link opens the current 5.x setup guide for that task.
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1
Create the boarding points card
Set one point per $1, a 12-month expiry, and a per-purchase cap that limits exposure on one long stay.
Create the boarding points card -
2
Configure the boarding credit
Set 400 points for a $20 credit on a later eligible boarding invoice of at least $100. Put every excluded charge and the no-stacking rule in the reward description.
Create the boarding credit -
3
Prepare the checkout award
Close the stay and payment, remove deposits, tax, care and transport charges, grooming, daycare, retail, and third-party fees, then enter the eligible subtotal.
Prepare staff point awards -
4
Start with three available milestones
Enable 5 loyalty days, First reward enjoyed, and One year together as recognition. First successful referral stays unavailable until a referral campaign exists.
Activate boarding achievements -
5
Add referrals after the day-30 review
Give 50 points to the owner and 50 to the friend when the friend completes a first points-earning purchase. Then enable First successful referral without another achievement reward.
Configure the boarding referral
Achievement strategy
Use milestones as a supporting layer.
Reward Loyalty provides a curated catalog of predefined, one-time milestones. The business chooses which achievements to activate and whether to attach an optional reward. Names, thresholds, measured events, and formulas stay fixed.
A loyalty day records qualifying loyalty activity on a distinct business-local date. It is not a configurable product, service, branch, booking-source, or purchase-count rule. See the fixed achievement catalog and progress rules.
Exact Reward Loyalty name
5 loyalty days
- Fixed milestone
- Earn loyalty days on 5 different dates.
- Why it matters here
- Five dates of qualifying loyalty activity give the kennel a cross-date activity signal.
- Reward approach
- Use recognition. The points card already carries value.
- Guardrail
- This does not count nights, stays, animals, locations, or bookings. Compare the dates with the kennel system before using stay language.
- 30-day check
- Members reaching five loyalty days, time to completion, and eligible spend across those members.
Exact Reward Loyalty name
First successful referral
- Fixed milestone
- Invite a friend who then makes their first purchase.
- Why it matters here
- An owner invited a friend who then made a first points-earning purchase.
- Reward approach
- Use the referral campaign's 50-point reward for each party. Add no achievement reward.
- Guardrail
- A shared link, signup, or booking does not complete the referral. The friend must make a first points-earning purchase.
- 30-day check
- Pending and completed referrals, first-purchase value, and point cost after launch.
Exact Reward Loyalty name
First reward enjoyed
- Fixed milestone
- Redeem your first reward.
- Why it matters here
- The member redeemed a first points-card, stamp-card, or voucher reward with the kennel.
- Reward approach
- Use recognition. Do not attach extra value to a milestone that already requires a redemption.
- Guardrail
- Check the reward ledger before attributing the milestone to the boarding credit.
- 30-day check
- First reward redemptions, reward type, claim timing, and front-desk exceptions.
Exact Reward Loyalty name
One year together
- Fixed milestone
- Earn a loyalty day a full year after your first.
- Why it matters here
- The member earned a qualifying loyalty day a full year after the first.
- Reward approach
- Use recognition. Avoid a reward that encourages a boarding stay without a real need.
- Guardrail
- The milestone does not prove continuous boarding, animal eligibility, or future travel. Check the kennel system before using return copy.
- 30-day check
- Eligible members, completions, later eligible spend, and owners with a real future booking.
Before attaching value, review achievement reward availability, expiry, and grant caps.
Reward economics
Show the arithmetic before approving the reward.
Illustrative calculation
$400 of eligible settled boarding charges earns 400 points before a $20 future boarding credit. Once referrals launch, 50 points per party add $2.50 each, or $5 total face value, after the friend's first points-earning purchase.
The base reward rate is 5% at the threshold; track the separate $5 referral exposure against the referred friend's first eligible purchase.
Cost the credit against staffing, occupancy, cleaning, and care during the dates when a member claims it. Peak and quiet dates carry different capacity cost.
Margin protections
- Award points after checkout and payment on the settled eligible amount.
- Exclude deposits, tax, medication administration, veterinary charges, transport, daycare, grooming, retail goods, and third-party fees.
- Require at least $100 of eligible boarding charges when staff apply the credit.
- Check animal eligibility and capacity in the kennel system, set a per-purchase cap, and refuse stacking.
Where to promote it
Put the invitation inside the existing visit.
- Booking confirmation: link to the card without promising that points confirm a reservation.
- Front desk: place the join QR where owners settle the final invoice.
- Checkout receipt: show the member link and new points balance.
- Care documents: keep vaccination, medication, behavior, and feeding instructions outside the loyalty material.
Staff script and operating routine
One line, at the right moment.
“Settled boarding charges earn one point per dollar. Four hundred points gives you $20 toward a later boarding invoice of $100 or more.”
- Best moment
- After the animal has checked out and the final boarding invoice is paid.
- Operating habit
- Close the stay, remove excluded charges, enter the eligible subtotal, and state the new balance.
- Common staff mistake
- Awarding points at booking or deposit time funds rewards for stays that can still change or cancel.
First campaign
Wait until the base program works.
A campaign should address one observed behaviour. It should not compensate for missed awards, unclear terms, or an untrained team.
- Audience
- If the account includes Member segments, save current balance at or above 200 points AND below 400 points. Otherwise postpone this bounded campaign.
- Offer
- A balance reminder with no extra voucher and no request to book an unnecessary stay.
- Timing
- Send before the kennel's own booking season and keep the campaign page open until delivery finishes. The kennel system still decides dates and animal eligibility when an owner books.
- Intended behaviour
- Keep earned progress visible for owners who have a real future boarding need.
- Measure
- Delivered emails, later eligible spend, and boarding-credit claims. Reward Loyalty does not track email opens or clicks.
30-day review
Use the first month to fix operation and economics.
Thirty days can reveal adoption, workflow, progress, and reward-cost problems. It is too early to claim proven lifetime value or long-term retention.
Join-to-first-earn rate
A low rate points to a weak booking link or missed checkout handoff.
Points against settled invoices
Audit deposits, early awards, adjustments, excluded care charges, and missed checkout awards.
Awards posted before checkout
Move ownership to the final-invoice role if staff post before the stay closes.
Credit claims and capacity
Raise the minimum or narrow eligible dates if credits crowd peak boarding periods.
Referral readiness
Add referrals after staff can award the first paid stay without animal or invoice exceptions.
Common mistakes
What to stop before launch.
- Awarding points on a deposit or uncompleted stay.
- Including veterinary, medication, transport, grooming, daycare, or retail charges.
- Calling five loyalty days five nights or five stays.
- Rewarding a referral at signup or booking instead of the friend's first points purchase.
- Promising availability or animal eligibility from a loyalty balance.
Printable launch checklist
Pet boarding launch plan
- Define the eligible settled boarding subtotal.
- Cost the $20 credit against quiet and peak capacity.
- Create the points card and 12-month expiry.
- Test checkout award, undo, and credit claim.
- Activate 5 loyalty days, First reward enjoyed, and One year together.
- Place the join link in confirmations and at checkout.
- Brief staff on deposits, care charges, and final payment.
- Build the 200-to-399-point audience.
- Review the base workflow before adding referrals.
- Test referral signup and first-purchase completion.
- Enable First successful referral without an extra reward.
Owner: __________________
Launch: ________________
30-day review: __________
Implementation guides
Open only the setup pages this program needs.
These links point to the current Reward Loyalty 5.x documentation.