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Airbnb doesn’t have a loyalty program, but that might soon change, according to the company’s founder and CEO, Brian Chesky. In an exclusive roundtable interview in Los Angeles, Chesky told TPG that “something big is coming.”<\/p>\n
Just don’t expect a traditional loyalty program.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know if we’ll ever do a traditional points program because a traditional-approach program is kind of like a subsidy,” he said, adding that he likes to joke that “a loyalty program is what you create when you don’t have loyalty; in other words, you have to pay for people to come back.”<\/p>\n
Chesky emphasized how things might look different for his company. “There’s a way to reward people [who] have used Airbnb, but without being like a ‘get 10 nights, get one free’ kind of thing,” he said. “I think there’s something maybe a little more interesting and a little more novel than that.”<\/p>\n
Instead of a points-based system, Airbnb is looking into different models, including paid membership programs.<\/p>\n
“I’m not sure exactly [if] Amazon Prime’s the right analogy, but I do think there is maybe a paid subscription that we could look at that’s an elevated level of service that could be really interesting,” Chesky said.<\/p>\n
Whereas traditional hotel loyalty programs<\/a> require members to work hard for their earnings (by staying a minimum number of nights to work their way up the loyalty ladder, for example), paid subscription services offer more immediate rewards or instant gratification.<\/p>\n Amazon Prime<\/a> members, for example, usually get some sort of free expedited shipping. On the hospitality front, Chesky might be leaning more toward examples like Dis-loyalty, the paid membership program from Ennismore<\/a>, the lifestyle division of Accor that’s behind brands like Hoxton<\/a>, Mondrian<\/a> and SLS. Dis-loyalty, which starts at $18 a month, offers members a slew of perks like discounts on new hotel openings, first-time stays and return visits; savings on food and drinks; and even a free coffee every single day of the year.<\/p>\n A paid membership program would also make sense based on the nature of Airbnb’s business model.<\/p>\n Daily Newsletter<\/p>\n Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter<\/p>\n Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG\u2019s experts<\/p>\n