Australia: Qantas frequent flyers can earn points when they book Airbnb accommodation through the airline’s website.
The companies have teamed up to enable Qantas’ 11.4 million loyalty scheme members to earn one point for every Australian dollar they spend on Airbnb‘s 2.5 million accommodation listings.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said: “The way that people around the world plan, book and experience travel is changing rapidly with the digital revolution. We know many of our customers are just as likely to arrange an Airbnb as they are to book a hotel, and we wanted to recognise and reward them for that.
Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky said: “Our announcement today with Qantas highlights the rapidly growing movement towards the personalised and unique experiences available through the Airbnb community.”
The partnership has not been well received by Australia’s hospitality sector.
Carol Giuseppi, CEO of Tourism Accommodation Australia, said: “Qantas should understand the importance of working with partners who fully support and contribute to the tourism industry and meet all their regulatory requirements. These unregulated short-term accommodation operators do not have in place the consumer safety and community amenity regulations and insurances that apply to regulated operators, nor do they pay the requisite fees and taxes. This is why so many overseas jurisdictions are regulating to prevent even more non-resident apartments and houses being taken off the long-term rental market and sold as unregulated short-term accommodation.”</p
