News and Research

October 24, 2005

October 24, 2005
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IdeaWorks Issues Report on Frequent Guest Partnerships for the Top 15 US-Based Hotel Brands

InterContinental Hotel Group’s Priority Club program eclipses Delta, Lufthansa and United with its network of 190 partner relationships.

By JAY SORENSEN

October 24, 2005

October 24, 2005, Shorewood, Wisconsin, USA. IdeaWorks recently completed analysis on the frequent guest programs offered by the top 15 US-based hotel brands. Frequent guest programs have been steadily building their partner portfolios to become more attractive to consumers and to broaden the reach of their brands.

The lodging business has been compelled by the financial troubles and uncertainty of the airline industry to decrease its reliance on frequent flier relationships with major airlines. To accomplish this, the frequent guest programs are becoming more like their airline counterparts by adding numerous points-earning opportunities and becoming stronger through a wide array of reward choices. The Industry Analysis describes activities in the following partner categories: air travel, car rental, other travel, financial services, communications, retail, and entertainment. Here is a sampling of the observations:

  • Only 30% of partner reward opportunities involve air travel – – with 70% of reward choices provided by other partners such as retailers, restaurant chains, cruise lines and theme parks.
  • InterContinental Priority Club and Choice Privileges lead the pack by offering more than 100 reward partner choices.
  • Over 80% of points-earning opportunities involve retail partners.
  • Delta Air Lines leads all carriers with the most numerous hotel partnerships for travel rewards or earning miles.

“The IdeaWorks Report on Partnerships for the Top 15 U.S. Frequent Guest Programs” was released today as a 15-page Industry Analysis. The full Industry Analysis is available at the IdeaWorks web site: https://ideaworkscompany.com/news-research.

About IdeaWorks: IdeaWorks was founded in 1996 as a consulting organization building brands through innovation in product, partnership and marketing, and building profits through financial improvement and restructuring. Its international client list includes the hotel, airline, marine, railroad, consumer products and health care sectors. IdeaWorks specializes in brand development, profit improvement, competitive analysis, creating partner-marketing strategies, cost reduction programs and business restructuring. IdeaWorks brings value as a consultant by researching the expectations of the customer, learning from the wisdom of the client organization and applying innovative ideas to create solutions for clients and consumers. Learn more by visiting: IdeaWorksCompany.com

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