Expedia survey finds out that 32% Indians with travel loyalty programs redeem points once in six months.
NEW DELHI – Expedia India has launched its loyalty program, Expedia+. Members of Expedia+ can join the program for free and will earn points on all of their hotel or holiday activities bookings. The loyalty program provides additional benefits such as exclusive member-only deals and bonus offers. Expedia+ has three tiers: +blue, +silver and +gold. With the launch of Expedia+, the brand gets to recognize and award its regular loyal users and also entice prospective customers with an appealing value-added proposition.
Expedia conducted a consumer survey on loyalty program participation and discovered that 44% of Indians would be open to enrolling into new travel loyalty programs and desired benefits include – complimentary upgrade of hotel/room category (82%), free drinks and meals (77%), hotel nights abroad (34%), flexibility to redeem or gift points (27%) and flexible check-in and check-out options (19%). Indian travelers not only use their personal account for office travel bookings (61%), but also volunteer to book travel for their extended family (73%) in order to earn reward points. While 29% of the travelers surveyed are still collecting reward points, 31% have already redeemed their points once.
Expedia+ addresses the needs of the Indian consumer when considering a travel loyalty program. Members will be able to redeem their points whenever they want, with no blackout dates for high season holidays and space capacity. Free membership automatically gives the consumers a +blue status, followed by +silver status after staying 7 qualifying hotel room nights and +gold status after staying 15 qualifying hotel room nights. The +gold and +silver members enjoy additional benefits such as extra bonus points on every booking, plus free amenities or room upgrades if they book one of Expedia’s 1,800 VIP hotels in over 200 destinations globally. Travelers also get triple the amount of points for booking via Expedia’s mobile application. Expedia+ points can be used for making booking for oneself as well as fellow travelers.
Mr. Manmeet Ahluwalia, Marketing Head, Expedia India said, “With the growing acceptance of e-commerce and evolution of the Indian travelers, the consumer has now started looking for value-based programs that not only offer them great rewards but also exclusive benefits. Our survey on loyalty program discovered that 47% Indians are a part of 2-3 travel loyalty programs while 38% participate in at least 1 program. This clearly reflects that there is an appetite for loyalty programs as the Indian consumer is growing smarter and wants to accumulate and avail benefits on every purchase. The Expedia+ program offers exclusive deals for its consumers not only in India, but across the globe.”
“The Expedia+ program will not only help us reach out to a larger number of customers but also expand our base of loyal customers in the country,” he added.
Expedia+ Benefits
Overall benefits
- Earn 2 points per INR 65 spent on hotels and activities
- Exclusive member-only deals
- Redeem for a INR 1650 off hotel coupon with as few as 3,500 points
- Earn for everyone – unlike other programs, points are earned for all travel booked in the enrolled account, regardless of who travels
- Earn for every supplier – customers love choice and we don’t limit them to a single hotel or holiday activity supplier, giving them a widespread choice
- Exclusive benefits from dedicated concierge service in Hawaii and Orlando via Expedia Local Experts
Benefits to save money
- Room upgrades and flexible check-in and check-out at +VIP Access hotels for +gold members
- Free amenities like spa discounts, breakfast, Wi-Fi or free drinks at select +VIP Access hotels for +gold and +silver members
- Exclusive travel offers for + gold and +silver members
- 250 bonus points for +VIP Access hotel bookings for +gold and +silver members
Expedia +gold and +silver benefits:
- Earn 250 bonus points when you book a +VIP Access hotel
- Enjoy amenities like free breakfast and spa credits, and +gold members can receive free room upgrades upon availability
- Get 30% bonus points on top of base hotels bookings with +gold and 10% bonus points on top of base with +silver.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
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