ETW Staff – Mumbai
Emirates Airline and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide have announced a new partnership providing reciprocal benefits to Emirates Skywards and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) members. The programme, ‘Your World Rewards’, begins November 19, 2014 and allows Skywards and SPG elite members who register for the programme, to elevate their earnings and benefits when they fly with Emirates or stay with Starwood.
With Your World Rewards, registered Emirates Skywards and SPG members will now earn in the air, on the ground and around the world. Whether on business or leisure, Emirates Skywards and SPG members will enjoy the best in travel from take-off to check-out with rich benefits, personal service and extensive access around the world through this partnership of two loyalty programmes.
Elite Emirates Skywards and SPG members will receive exclusive rewards of each loyalty programme. Skywards Gold and Platinum members will have the opportunity to upgrade their hotel experience, receiving exclusive benefits. In turn, all SPG Platinum members will enjoy some of the advantages of Emirates Skywards elite like priority check-in and priority boarding when flying Emirates. Members will also receive complimentary e-gate access for flights in and out of Dubai.
Thierry Antinori, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, Emirates Airline, said, “The combination of Emirates’ growing global network, Starwood’s innovative take on hospitality and our top-rated loyalty programmes allow us to recognise our most valuable customers with a heightened level of service and greater rewards wherever they travel – be it to one of our more than 140 destinations or at any of Starwood’s 1,200 hotels. This partnership unites two like-minded companies with complementary global footprints, putting more rewards on the map and taking our most loyal guests’ travel to new heights.”
Mark Vondrasek, senior vice president, distribution, loyalty and partnership marketing at Starwood, said, “We are living in a new golden age of travel with more people from more places traveling than ever before. Your World Rewards allows us to cultivate even greater loyalty with travellers from the world’s fastest-growing travel markets. As Emirates increasingly connects east with west, and the emerging markets to the developed world, their reach dovetails perfectly with Starwood’s preeminent high-end, global footprint and our pipeline of new hotels, 75 per cent of which will open in emerging markets.”
According to Vondrasek, SPG membership has grown 400 per cent in key emerging markets over the last five years. Over the years, Starwood has gained great insights into the Indian market and the Indian consumer. As domestic travel increases and Indian travellers continue to demand more sophistication in terms of both quality and experience, Starwood believes it has a significant opportunity to grow its brands across the luxury, upper upscale and mid-market segments in gateway cities, tertiary markets as well as in resort destinations. India is Starwood’s fourth largest market and is well poised to soon emerge as the third.