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Red Lion offers members-only rates through Expedia

In a move that flies in the face of the major brand’s discounted direct booking programs, Red Lion Hotels Corp. (RLHC) has made a deal with Expedia Inc. to offer RLHC’s “Hello Rewards” member-only rates on Expedia.com and Hotels.com (US), and provide direct member sign-up for Hello Rewards from these sites.

Less than one month into the program, Expedia reports RLHC has seen an increase of over 4x month-over-month in Hello Rewards member sign-ups through Expedia.com and Hotels.com.

“It can be difficult for brands to generate any real, meaningful demand or ROI though loyalty programs without spending substantial amounts of marketing dollars on a long-term basis,” said RLHC’s Chief Marketing Officer Bill Linehan. “Our approach is to be extremely respectful of the guest and the channel they chose to make their booking, so we in turn view OTAs like Expedia as partners and make sure we leverage their marketing and innovation investments to drive both customer acquisition and future loyalty.”

“We have spent a lot of time listening and reflecting on what our partners need so we can better align with their business objectives,” said Melissa Maher, senior vice president of Expedia’s Global Partner Group. “Many of our partners, like RLHC, are looking for ways to differentiate themselves, so by providing them with new and unique offerings that improve their visibility in the Expedia marketplace, while delivering incremental business that benefits their bottom line, we’re investing in our long term partnership.”

In addition to RLHC, Expedia is currently in discussions with other hotel chains to offer members-only loyalty rate through its sites.

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