Hilton HHonors, Hilton Hotels’ loyalty program, has partnered with airline Virgin America on a program that allows members to earn Virgin rewards points for stays at Hilton-owned hotels.
Customers can earn one point in Virgin’s Elevate loyalty program for every $2 spent at a Hilton property, or a fixed number of points per night spent at a hotel with the point value varying according to the franchise. Hilton operates the Hilton, DoubleTree, Conrad, Embassy Suites and Hampton Inn brands, among others.
The program allows Hilton attract new customers and to “collectively reach out to the broader pool of travelers with an association that makes sense,” said Jeff Diskin, SVP of global consumer marketing at Hilton Worldwide.
“It’s not the first time we’ve had a partnership like this,” he added. “We’ve worked with some of the other industry leading airlines on points and miles earnings exchanges, but we’re really excited about this one with Virgin America because they’re doing a lot of innovative things that have captured the public’s attention.”
Virgin America’s Elevate program has 1.1 million members. Hilton Worldwide owns 3,400 hundred hotels in 79 countries.
Virgin America began offering rewards through its Elevate frequent flyers program in October 2008. It hired Loyalty Lab for help on the project after conducting a lengthy RFP process.
