In the news: Of loyalty programmes, partnership and NDC – this week’s focus featuring AccorHotels, Malaysia Airlines, Livin and Travello, and Sabre.
Hotels: Raffles, Fairmont and Swissôtel loyalty platforms integrate with Le Club AccorHotels programme
LeClub AccorHotels is now available in 3,500 properties worldwide. (Image credit: LeClub AccorHotels)
AccorHotels Group’s loyalty programme, Le Club AccorHotels, has expanded with the inclusion of members of Raffles Ambassadors, Fairmont President’s Club and Swissôtel Circle programmes.
The luxury Raffles, Fairmont and Swissotel brands became part of AccorHotels when the French hotel group purchased Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI) in late 2016 for US$2.9 billion.
The inclusion of FRHI loyalty programmes, as of July 2, has boosted AccorHotels’ loyalty portfolio to over 3,500 properties worldwide across all hotel segments.
The estimated 45 million members of Le Club can earn and redeem point from these properties – from economy (ibis Styles and ibis) and luxury/upscale (Raffles, Fairmont, Sofitel, MGallery, Pullman and Swissôtel) to midscale hotel brands (Novotel, Mercure and Mama Shelter).
With the integration, current Le Club members can now earn and spend points during their stays at the FRHI properties, and can also use the points for experiences at more than 550 upscale and luxury Accor properties.
Members of the FRHI loyalty programmes can switch to Le Club and continue to enjoy the services available to them according to their status. In addition, they are eligible to receive credit for stays during the past six months.
“This consolidation opens a new chapter in the history of Le Club AccorHotels loyalty programme,” said Isabelle Birem, SVP, Loyalty, AccorHotels. “Recognising and rewarding our loyal members has always been our top priority, and the integration of the Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel programmess unlocks more earning power, more privileges, more rewards and more extraordinary experiences for each and every member.”
Ian Di Tullio, guest services SVP at AccorHotels, explained the combined programme was a result of extensive research and analysis, and that “technology was the single most critical driver” in ensuring the success of the integration.
AccorHotels is in the process of rolling out a new proprietary system that would allow for the real-time sharing of guest travel preferences and insights, he added.
Airlines: Malaysia Airlines makes it easier to buy miles with new accelerator feature
More miles, more travel perks with Malaysia Airlines (Image credit: suriya-silsaksom/iStock-Getty Images)
Airlines are constantly coming up with new ideas to boost their ancillary revenue or use their services more. Malaysia Airlines is no exception, as it is encouraging members of its frequent flyer programme, Enrich , to buy more miles with its new ‘miles-accelerator’ feature.
The feature on its ‘Buy Miles’ platform makes it easy for Enrich members to purchase miles or top up their existing miles balance to enjoy more travel perks.
Powered by Loylogic, which provides e-commerce and e-payment solutions for loyalty programmes and loyalty providers worldwide, the accelerator offers a simple solution for Enrich members to instantly increase their miles without further accrual effort.
This is how it works: members can buy a minimum of 1,000 and a maximum of 50,000 Enrich miles per transaction. A total of 150,000 Enrich miles can be purchased a year. (1 Enrich mile = US$0.025).
The acquired miles can be used immediately to redeem ‘award flights’ on Malaysia Airlines, oneworld airlines and Enrich partner airlines. Members can also use these miles to redeem them for seat upgrades, access to Golden Lounge or Enrich vouchers for in-flight shopping, Temptations.
Malaysia Airlines’ head of customer experience Lau Yin May said the accelerator feature gave Enrich members flexibility and more options in accumulating miles. “With the Enrich Buy Miles platform, nearly four million Enrich members are now able to top-up their Enrich Miles balance online with just a few clicks, at their own convenience, at any time any day.”
Partnership: Livn’s tours and activities now distributed on travel networking app, Travello
Travello ‘s users can now book tours and activities on Livn. (Image credit: Travello)
Sydney-based aggregator of instantly bookable tours, activities and attractions, Livn, has expanded its growing distribution channels in a partnership with the Travello, a social network app for travelles.
Travello has 80,000 global monthly users and enables travellers to meet each other on the road, sharing company, tips and adventures.
Co-founder Ryan Hanly said Travello members could now instantly book tours and activities supplied by Livn through the app, customising offerings based on users’ locations and profile.
“We’ve had a fantastic response and are finding that the ability to book tours and activities while in-destination is a feature our users have enthusiastically embraced – it’s a perfect fit.”
Mark Rizzuto, CEO of Livn, concurred: “Mobile apps are an ideal platform for selling tours and activities when you consider that most tours and activities are booked within 48 hours of the start time.”
Livn is described as “the world’s largest live inventory source for tours and activities”, operating a B2B (business to business) model. Through a single integration with the platform’s API, partners can connect to 15,000 tour operators with more than 700,000 tours and activities from all over the globe.
Travel Technology: Amadeus achieves IATA Level 3 NDC certification
Amadeus is connecting airlines and travel sellers using the NDC standard. (Image credit: den-belitsky/iStock-Getty Images)
Amadeus has received the level 3 New Distribution Capability (NDC) certification as an aggregator from International Air Transport Association (IATA).
This comes in addition to Amadeus’ existing level 3 NDC certification as an IT provider, making Amadeus one of the first providers with dual level 3 certification.
Level 3 is the highest NDC certification and is awarded to companies that can demonstrate the ability to execute Offer and Order Management. This means that Amadeus is able to consume NDC offers from airlines and distribute them to travel sellers.
Through the NDC-X programme, which Amadeus launched earlier this year, the company is connecting airlines and travel sellers using the NDC standard. This certification has been achieved through Amadeus’ work with Travix, a leading online travel agency that joined the program earlier this year.
“The NDC-X programme is in full execution mode and this is the latest example of Amadeus enabling the reality of NDC for the industry,” says Gianni Pisanello, VP, NDC-X programme, Amadeus. “We’re making great progress on our mission to enable our airline customers to make their new NDC content available to our global travel sellers network – at scale.”
John Mangelaars, CEO, Travix commented that the latest certification showed the capabilities using IATA’s NDC standard. “Later this year, our teams will be using this NDC-enabled solution to ‘shop, order and pay’ through Amadeus.”
Amadeus received the level 3 NDC certification as an IT provider in 2016, and was the first to renew this certification on version 18.1 , the latest version of the NDC standard released in March this year.
• Featured image (Raffles Hotel Singapore) credit: AccorHotels
