The oneworld alliance has just announced a first-of-its-kind loyalty partnership with a hotel brand, which is pretty cool. While the brand is pretty niche (at least on a global basis), it’s cool to see the concept behind this.
For context, the oneworld alliance includes airlines like American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qantas, and Qatar Airways, while Indian Hotels Company has the Taj InnerCircle NeuPass program, and includes brands like Taj, Claridges Collection, Brij, SeleQtions, Clarks, Gateway, Vivanta, Ginger, Tree of Life, and amã Stays & Trails. The hotel group has 630+ properties across four continents.
So, what does this partnership entail?
- Effective immediately, all oneworld elite members get access to savings on hotel stays — Emerald members get 15% savings, while Sapphire and Ruby members get 10% savings, and that applies to room rates, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and spa treatments
- Furthermore, non-elite oneworld members booking their first stay at participating properties will unlock vouchers offering savings on stays and food and beverage experiences
- As a next step, the programs will offer reciprocal loyalty recognition — oneworld Emerald members will be matched to Taj InnerCircle NeuPass Gold, while oneworld Sapphire and Ruby members will be matched to Taj InnerCircle NeuPass Silver
- As the partnership evolves, the two companies will explore the introduction of points earning opportunities on hotel stays, across select oneworld airline loyalty programs
Here’s what oneworld CEO Ole Orvér had to say about this:
So by comparison, I find this to be great. To boil it down as much as possible, I view it as an easy status opportunity for oneworld elite members. Getting Taj InnerCircle NeuPass Gold status as an Emerald is pretty cool, as that ordinarily requires 40 nights, and actually offers some meaningful perks.
There are many Taj properties I’ve wanted to check out, so this might just be the thing that pushes me to finally stay at one. And I suspect that’s exactly the intent behind this partnership, to make these hotels appealing to people who may not otherwise stay at them.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
