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Online Travel

Booking.com Sees Loyalty Programs as a Burden, Not an Opportunity

Dennis Schaal photo
Dennis Schaal

Photo Credit: Is the customer experience or paying them points through a rewards program the key to user loyalty? Booking.com is going without a loyalty program for now. Booking.com

Skift Take

All companies want repeat, loyal customers. Expedia is willing to buy their allegiances through loyalty programs while Booking.com vows to do without. It's another point-counterpoint between the two companies as they compete against one another in villages and cities around the world.

Loyalty programs among online travel agencies seemed to be a trend with the launch of Orbitz Rewards in 2013 and then Expedia revamped its program a year later but hotel-site Booking.com wants no part of them. Priceline Group CFO Daniel Finnegan, speaking at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch retail tech conference in mid-March, said there is a downside to loyalty programs and its Booking.com unit would rather create a great user experience for site visitors and app users instead of paying them to be loyal. "I feel our performance has been strong without being beholden to loyalty programs," Finnegan said. Noting that many hotels have loyalty program and rival Expedia does too, Finnegan said it can be costly to compensat

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