Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Uber Passengers Can Now Earn Starwood Hotels Points With Each Trip


Uber and Starwood Hotels are teaming up in an effort to get more passengers to choose Uber over regular taxis, with a new partnership that gives riders Starwood rewards points every time they take a ride using the car-hailing mobile app.

Passengers will get one rewards point for each dollar they spend on Uber rides, reports the Associated Press, while guests staying the night at a Starwood hotel will earn two to four points per dollar spent, depending on the level of their status with the hotel chain.


But it’s not like everyone who takes a ride with Uber will automatically start bringing in the Starwood points — passengers won’t be eligible to rack up points on rides until they’ve spent at least one night in the calendar year at a Starwood hotel.


It takes at least 3,000 points to get a free night in a Starwood hotel at the lowest tier of hotels, and as high as 35,000 points a night for upscale properties. That’s a whole lot of Uber rides.


This is the first such global deal that rewards ground transportation passengers with hotel points, and could give Uber a boost in cities where it’s competing fiercely with established taxi companies and other car services.


Neither company revealed the terms of the deal.


“Our guests get to us in many different ways,” says Mark Vondrasek, Starwood’s senior vice president of loyalty and partnership marketing. Through these partnerships, “we’re trying to get members to concentrate their stays with us.”


Uber partners with Starwood, giving hotel points for rides [Associated Press]




by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

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