Uber Inc is partnering with hotel chain Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc to give riders more incentive to choose the ride-hailing service over a taxi.
Uber passengers can now earn one Starwood rewards point for each US$1 they spend on a ride in a car found through the San Francisco-based company’s mobile app.
Guests spending the night at one of Starwood’s 1,200 hotels would earn from two to four points per US$1 spent, depending on their level of status with Starwood, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut.
Free hotel nights start at 3,000 points for the lowest tier of hotels, including the Four Points near Sheraton Tucson Airport in Arizona, and can be as high as 35,000 points per night for properties such as the St Regis Princeville Resort in Hawaii.
This is the first global partnership in which ground transportation passengers can earn hotel points for trips, which potentially helps Uber in big cities such as New York, Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Bangalore, India, where it is going head-to-head with established taxi companies and car services.
Some airport car services do offer passengers airline miles for their trips, but those programs are open to a number of airlines.
This new Uber partnership is exclusive to Starwood. Neither company would disclose the terms of the deal.
The hotel company, known for its Sheraton, Westin and W brands, already has similar partnerships with Delta Air Lines Inc and Emirates Co.
“Our guests get to us in many different ways,” Starwood senior vice president of loyalty and partnership marketing Mark Vondrasek said. “We’re trying to get members to concentrate their stays with us.”
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