EyeforTravel.com finds out how a niche hotel booking service and loyalty currency aggregator has its sights on emerging markets

Growing demand from travellers throughout BRIC countries including Brazil and India has led hotel booking service, PointsHound to expand its services. The company has added a new international loyalty programme to offer travellers more frequent flyer miles and points earning opportunities as well as local currency acceptance.

With BRIC countries representing four of the five fastest-growing online travel sales markets according to eMarketer, PointsHound has recently expanded its mileage accrual opportunities from North American-based programmes to include three international airline loyalty programmes and two of the BRIC countries’ fastest-growing rewards programmes: Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege and TAM Airline’s Multiplus. PointsHound has also partnered with Air France KLM’s Flying Blue to expand its mileage accrual offerings in Europe.

With significant revenue and growth opportunities in these emerging travel ‘hot spots’, PointsHound has also introduced payment capabilities in over 20 different currencies for travellers to choose from when searching and booking hotel reservations, including the Euro, Rupee, Real and Renminbi.

EyeforTravel.com put some questions to Pete Van Dorn, co-founder of PointsHound to find out why BRICs matter

EFT: How do BRIC travellers differ from other markets? And how does PointsHound cater to this?

PVD: E-commerce and loyalty programme participation are evolving faster in BRIC markets as travellers in these regions shift their purchases online, and start to recognise the benefits of earning points and miles in frequent flyer and other loyalty programmes. PointsHound caters to this growing demand by offering travellers a mobile-optimised online booking experience for hotel stays in any destination globally. Add to that the generous number of points and miles we offer our customers and the service stands out from other booking options available in these markets.

EFT: Can you elaborate on some of the more specific offers made by PointsHound to travellers to drive loyalty?

PVD: Well, just the other day, one of our users earned 37,500 American AAdvantage miles on a hotel stay in Bali! Earning at this level happens quite often. Also, when we onboard new loyalty partners, we typically run launch promotions such as the one we are offering right now with our partner JetAirways. Through the end of November, JetPrivilege members who make their first booking on PointsHound will earn a bonus of 500 JPMiles in addition to the thousands of miles already awarded upon completion of the reservation.We have also recently launched mobile service and are running a mobile-only sale until December 2. Here PointsHound users who book a stay on their mobile devices during the promotion will automatically receive 1,000 extra miles from their favorite loyalty programme.

EFT:  What exactly do hotels and airlines get out of the PointsHound programme that they can't deliver with their own loyalty programmes?

PVD: Hotels and airline programmes that partner with PointsHound are able to reward their most valuable members with more points or miles per dollar spent on hotel reservations. PointsHound’s automated technology platform and access to high-margin inventory allows us to offer loyalty programme members thousands of points and miles per night, an unprecedented rate of accrual. Furthermore, our ability to aggregate points earning options across a growing roster of loyalty currencies is something individual programmes don’t offer themselves. Recognising that frequent travellers are members of multiple loyalty programmes (according to a 2012 Colloquy report the average US household is enrolled in 22 different rewards programmes!), PointsHound offers a single point-of-sale for consumers to reliably maximise their earning across their preferred programmes.

EFT: What is behind your core focus – namely the frequent traveller niche?

PVD: More often than not, frequent travellers are the most experienced consumers of loyalty rewards programmes and as such, tend to be the most motivated by offers that include points and miles bonuses. They understand the value of their preferred loyalty currencies and stand to gain the most from their loyalty programme participation. The frequent travellers who are active on PointsHound take, on average, 13 trips a year for business, so they are able to rack up enough points and miles in just a few months of bookings to claim those valuable rewards.