Airbnb and Qantas Ties Up To Reward the Frequent Players

The Australian based airline company, Qantas, is now joined hands with the Airbnb. Now, it gives one Qantas point to its 11.4 million users for every dollar which they spend on Airbnb if the booking was made through Qantas.com.
People who fly frequently, in order to have more points, the flyers should choose the Airbnb option in the Qantas.com and have to enter their membership details then they will redirect you to the Airbnb Australia site then they will make you to complete the booking in any Airbnb listing across the world. By booking on the Airbnb site directly, the member can’t earn any points.
This option is available to the members who book the Airbnb via Qantas. Consider, you book Airbnb in some U.S site at such situations the option will not be there on the site.
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This Australian airline company has the partnership with the other hotel and accommodation providers also; it provides the same facility for the people who book these hotels in the Qantas.com. But Qantas is having partnership for the first time with the kind of a company like Airbnb. That is the alternative accommodation provider, Airbnb belongs to the hotel industry and Qantas belongs to the airline industry. And it is first for an airline in Australia to have a partnership with this kind of accommodation provider.
Airbnb has also acquired the United States based airline, Virgin America. After this partnership with the Airbnb, the Virgin America gives one elevate point to its elevate members for every $1 spent on Airbnb booking. For the first time, the users of Airbnb receive 1500 bonus points plus $20 Airbnb credit.
Elevate members also get the chance to become the Airbnb hosts and they can earn 20,000 elevate points if they complete the 5th night of hosting.
Airbnb also has a partnership with the American Express; this partnership is somewhat similar to the other two partnerships. With this partnership, American Express allows its card members to make of the points to book the Airbnb accommodations, while the other companies provided the way to earn the points.
In Qantas, the frequent flyers have the advantage of booking the Airbnb, whereas, with the partnership with the Airbnb, American express allows its users to make use of the points.
When the airline started comparing the true value of the airline loyalty, it was found that, many airlines were trying to devalue their programs in order to satisfy the high spenders and the frequent travelers, in this attempt Qantas seem to be more progressive, and it provides the one more way to earn the loyalty points, which in turn increases the brand and loyalty to the company.
Some obstacles
Some people are not satisfied with the Qantas and Airbnb partnership; these are the group of people and the hotels who had partnered with the Qantas previously and it offered the same points earning functionalities. Tourism Accommodation Australia is one of the hotel and lodging industries of Australia, said in a report that, it is disrespect to the traditional hotel partners of Qantas.
The CEO of the TAA, Mr. Carol Giuseppe said that, they respect the attitude of the airline to have commercial agreement with the different organizations, but, Qantas should recognize the importance of working with the same industry as theirs, so that they will help in contributing to the tourism industry and also they help in supporting the industry, by doing so, it will help to meet the regulatory requirements of the industry.
Many countries and the cities are going towards the greater regulation of businesses such as Airbnb; the reason is that, they are functioning on the commercial side without focusing on the same regulatory requirements that the valid hotels, motels, B&B hotels and the service apartment have to process.
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The president of the travel consultancy firm, Idea Works, the company is specialized in operating the aircraft and frequent flyer programs, Mr. Jay Sorenson said that, Qantas would have failed to notice that, the impact of the partnership with the Airbnb would affect its relationship with many of its hotel partners.
The frequent flyer program of Qantas has invested a lot in relationship with many of the branded hotels and he says that, the airline has generated good revenue from these branded hotels. In situations like these the company has to be cool and sportive, they should not have in mind about the reaction of the long term partners.
He also said that, Qantas would have underestimated the concern of the hotels which had trust in the frequent flyers program.
He further said that, the partnership of the Airbnb and Qantas has gone beyond booking. Airbnb and Qantas have filmed the video, which focuses on the traditional flight safety video. In Qantas, the flight attendants were advertising the properties of Airbnb in Tokyo, London and Sydney. Many Qantas planes were repainted to include Airbnb’s logo, in the repainted planes the Belo replaces the first “a” in Qantas.
Reasons behind the teaming up of Airbnb and Qantas
According to Alan Joyce, the CEO of Qantas, the reason which drives the partnership is, in order to meet the customers demand for hospitality and the natural fit of the two companies.
Joyce said that, with the digital revolution, the way of booking for the flight and travel experience changes rapidly. Most of the customers of the Qantas prefer Airbnb for their stay at different locations, so it is a kind of recognizing and giving reward to them.
Qantas has always looked at the ways to reinvent and modify the airline travel, For example, it introduced the business class in the flights in 1970, and in recent years, it introduced the technology for transforming the check-in process. From the starting period to till present, the company has taken steps to bring improvements in airline travel. Same way Airbnb has taken steps to bring changes in the accommodation, so Qantas is happy about the partnership.
The CEO of Airbnb, Mr. Brain Chesky said that, the partnership with the Qantas replicates the fastest growing activities for the unique experiences that are available through the Airbnb family. People across the globe are expecting different experiences with the Airbnb; the company is aimed to connect the people with the locals to provide proper hospitality.
He feels that, there are only a few brands, who understands, the travel is changing rapidly, and Qantas is one of those brands.
What made the partnership to work?
If Airbnb is one of the similar partnerships that Qantas has established with other hotels, it means that, Airbnb is making payment to be a part of the Qantas program and Qantas is charging form Airbnb for the annual marketing fees and the points purchased are linked with the loyalty member’s Airbnb booking.
Many hotel and accommodation providers, mostly seek the help of the airline partnerships, because it is easy for them to connect with the people who travel across the globe, and these travelers are the ones who have the ability to earn miles or points.
In order to promote the partnership, both the companies are organizing the contest for the loyalty members. The winners of the contest receive the free business class tickets in Qantas they can travel to any places in Australia from San Francisco, and they also get a five night stay at Airbnb in San Francisco worth for $5, 000.