Miles & More is expanding its partnership with Booking.com
Miles & More members will no longer only earn miles by booking accommodation through Booking.com. The partnership is also expanding to include spending miles, giving hotel bookings a greater role within one of Europe's largest loyalty ecosystems.
Miles & More and Booking.com have taken a new step in their cooperation. According to information TravelTalk, Programme members can from now on use their reward miles when booking accommodation through Booking.com.
Until now, the relationship has functioned mostly in one direction. Passengers could collect Miles & More miles via a special Booking.com channel, while spending them through other options in the programme. The official Miles & More website currently lists a rate of one award mile for every euro spent on qualifying accommodation bookings.
From collecting to spending miles
A new feature changes the value of the partnership because Booking.com is no longer just a place to earn new miles. It is also becoming a channel where members can use them for one of the biggest travel expenses – accommodation.
Miles & More already allows miles to be used for hotel bookings through its own hotel partners and the Hotels & Cars by Rocket Travel by Agoda platform. The inclusion of Booking.com further expands the choice of available accommodation and brings the loyalty currency closer to the moment when the traveller is actually planning their entire trip.
Loyalty programmes are moving beyond the plane
For tourism industry The broader direction of development is more interesting. Airline loyalty programmes are increasingly about more than just reward flights and upgrades. The aim is to increase the number of situations in which a member can earn or spend miles throughout the entire journey.
At the same time, Booking.com gets an additional reason to drive the user directly to its platform, while Miles & More increases the practical value of its miles. It is a classic “earn and burn” model, but set within a much broader travel ecosystem.
What does that mean for hotels and distribution
For Hotelier This type of development also has a flip side. Loyalty benefits connected with major OTA channels can further increase guests' motivation to make a booking through an intermediary rather than directly with the hotel.
Therefore, the battle for the guest will increasingly be fought on more than just price. The value of loyalty currency, ease of payment, and the ability to combine flights and accommodation are becoming an ever more important part of the decision on where the booking will ultimately be made.
