News out of the Middle East: AccorHotels and Qatar Airways have joined forces to offer members of their respective loyalty programs — Le Club AccorHotels (LCAH) and Qatar Airways Privilege Club — the opportunity to convert airline miles into hotel stays. It's another example of the drive to make loyalty currency more fungible - and keep that liability off the books.
Members of Qatar Airways' Privilege Club can now convert their Qmiles into LCAH points at the conversion rate of 4,500 Qmiles for 1,000 LCAH points. This conversion will allow them to purchase free nights and discounts on their next stay in over 3,400 hotels, from luxury to economy, and to access multiple rewards including Elite Experiences, Dream Stays, La Collection and e-boutique among others offered by the Le Club AccorHotels loyalty program.
The more than 30 million Le Club AccorHotels program members who have already collected 2,000 points can convert them into Qmiles and access a network of over 150 destinations. They can simply log into their Le Club AccorHotels account either from a PC or directly via the AccorHotels app, provide their Privilege Club membership number and choose how many points they would like to convert. Similarly, Privilege Club members can convert their Qmiles to LCAH points by logging into their account.
Money quote from Qatar Airways vice president, customer loyalty and relationship management, Ian Di Tullio:
"Qatar Airways Privilege Club is delighted to further enhance the benefits offered to our members by partnering with AccorHotels and Le Club AccorHotels. This unique partnership will provide a rewarding travel experience to our members by offering them even more options to earn and redeem their Qmiles at some of the best hotels and resorts worldwide. This partnership illustrates the continued commitment of Privilege Club to listen to its members and make the program more engaging to the increasingly discerning world traveler."
And the reciprocal quote from Emanuel Baudart, chief customer officer at AccorHotels:
"Since its inception, the Le Club AccorHotels loyalty program has focused on recognizing our guests and continuously enriching the services and experiences we offer them. That's why today we are delighted to have this partnership with Qatar which reflects the dynamic momentum of our burgeoning program and allows us to supplement the already wide range of benefits and rewards we reserve for the group’s loyal guests."
There you have it: travel in the Middle East just got a little more rewarding.