New AirBnB Loyalty Program

Is there any major hotel chain that doesn’t have a loyalty program? Has anyone heard of a loyalty program that doesn’t give free nights/points/credit to frequent guests?

Does anybody else want AirBnB for Business to start offering business customers whose companies spend $100-$200 per night for rooms a loyalty program to bring their $$$ to the AirBnB platform?

As a frequent business traveler I know why my fellow travelers pick the places they do to stay, loyalty points/credit towards future stays are very important to them!

sounds like a good idea. I think it would further ‘legitimize’ airbnb

I think this happens already to some degree, at least on a local level. For example, we have several good business travelers who stay quite regularly. Since we know they’re excellent guests and quite consistent in the way they leave things upon departure, we keep their rates a bit lower.

The problem with a national rewards program is that it would ultimately force up the booking fees customers would be paying to the site. Even if it isn’t reflected in our individual rates, the end cost to the average guest who books from time to time would be higher.

You can earn Virgin America Elevate points when booking with Airbnb

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Interesting points felixcat; for the small business owner who’s just starting out and staying in private rooms, your discount system is an appealing one. They are a bit more price sensitive and spending their own money, so any discount you give them goes straight in their pocket. There is another large contingent of business travelers who are reimbursed for their travel by their companies. They appreciate loyalty programs that give them points and free stays over time since any discount would be for their company and not for them. The best way to show them your appreciation for their loyalty would probably be by giving them a free night or percentage of their stay, maybe 10-20%.

I was thinking a rewards option for AirBnB for Business listings so that not all listings would charge it, just AirBnB for business listings which are a part of the program and meet a special set of criteria. Since offering loyalty rewards would bring in business I think letting the AirBnB for Business host determine what reward percentage they would offer could work. They would quickly see that their bookings and the amount that they could charge would increase. Would you support it if it worked that way, where fees weren’t increased across the board and those hosts could determine if they wanted to offer a reward?

Interesting point! I would definitely like to see the program work regardless of what airline I flew though…

It makes things unnecessarily complicated. Driving up prices just to give a discount is probably not the best way of going about it. If you’re just going to drive up prices for business customers in order to prepare some perks for them using the service, you’re going to have to create a portal for business customers. As it stands, I would imagine businesses that allow reimbursement of Airbnb accommodations vs. only hotels are already seeing quite a bit of savings.

Whether you ever use the platinum perks at your usual hotel chain or not, everyone shares the cost. What businesses seem to want more than a discount here and there is flexibility. Last-minutes reservations, easy changes, and easy cancellation are among these desires.

We are a collection of hosts, not a chain of hotels and franchises.

I agree, that the loyalty program shouldn’t be unnecessarily complicated. You’re right, it should be connected directly to the AirBnB for Business program that already exists. As it stands business travelers who get reimbursed often choose programs that give them something for being a loyal customer. I think that it would be good to give them an option to book through AirBnB and get rewards that way. With the credits they can then stay at other AirBnBs and provide additional income for hosts who don’t qualify for the AirBnB for Business program.

You’re right, we are a collection of hosts, not a chain of hotels and franchises! That’s why business travelers would prefer to stay with us as long as it’s an even playing field. As long as they get the same type of loyalty credit that they get when they stay at every chain hotel. As a business traveler I would much rather book with AirBnB to earn rewards points with AirBnB and then spend them in the community. Hotels are cold, homogeneous and boring, but business travelers like my peers will keep booking them over AirBnB until we have a loyalty program. I say we give business travelers a superior experience both during the week, and on the weekends when they spend their reward dollars with us hosts that don’t qualify for AirBnB for Business listings!