In the Comments section of this article here at The Gate pertaining to whether or not you should attain elite status in greater than one frequent travel loyalty program, FlyerTalk member sdsearch states that “…there is hardly any such thing as hotel alliances (it’s not like you can get half of your Hilton HHonors benefits staying at Marriott or half of your Hyatt benefits staying at SPG).”
Should Lodging Companies Form Alliances Similar to Airlines?
That prompted me to think: should lodging companies form alliances similar to airlines? What if Hilton Worldwide formed an alliance with Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, for example, where members of each frequent guest loyalty program could earn and use points for stays at hotel properties in both portfolios of Hyatt and Hilton?
Speaking of Hyatt, you might consider its recent partnership with MGM Resorts International as a hotel alliance, as members of both the Hyatt Gold Passport and M life frequent guest loyalty programs now enjoy reciprocal benefits.
Another example of an alliance of hotel companies is the Global Hotel Alliance, which launched the GHA Discovery frequent travel loyalty program back in 2010. However, this is really more of a collection of luxury hotels and resorts sharing the same frequent guest loyalty program rather than an alliance.
Even car rental companies are getting into the alliance act. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car have recently formed something called the Drive Alliance, where it appears that reciprocal benefits between all three frequent renter loyalty programs will be enjoyed by members.
Then again, it certainly does not hurt that all three rental car companies are owned by the same company known as Enterprise Holdings — so the only question I have about this “alliance” is why it was not launched sooner.
Did you know that there are actually only three major rental car companies serving the United States after Hertz Global Holdings acquired Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group in 2012? Perhaps Hertz Global Holdings and Avis Budget Group should follow the lead of Enterprise Holdings and form their own “alliances” between the rental car companies in their respective portfolios — but I digress.
The three major airline alliances — oneworld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam — all offer various forms of reciprocal benefits amongst members their respective members, such as upgrades, the earning and redeeming of frequent flier loyalty program miles, and airport lounge access. The alliances were supposed to be designed to give member airlines the instant ability to offer additional destinations worldwide to their customers without having to operate any additional aircraft or increase flight frequencies; differentiate themselves from the competition; and offer a “seamless” experience for customers traveling on international itineraries — amongst other reasons.
Summary
Unfortunately, the reciprocal benefits are not always consistent — an understatement, I suppose, as there are far too many discussions on FlyerTalk to highlight as evidence — and there are those who argue that perhaps the days of airline alliances are numbered, as witnessed by the erosion of certain reciprocal benefits between Korean Airlines and Delta Air Lines in the SkyTeam alliance…
…which prompts the question, whether or not it could ever happen: do you believe that lodging companies which offer frequent guest loyalty programs should consider forming alliances? Would customers benefit from such alliances?
What are your thoughts?
