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When you’re traveling chances are you are going to need a ride, and these days many of us are opening the Uber App to get one. This is something IHG knows well having recently partnered with Uber to make getting a ride easier and to also give their IHG Rewards Club members who don't use Uber some added incentives to give it a try including their first ride for free and 2,000 IHG Rewards Club points to boot.
“Our strategic relationship with Uber coupled with our digitally-driven innovations already in market, allow our guests to have a seamless experience throughout their travel journey,” Lara Hernandez, Vice President, Digital, Loyalty and Partner Marketing, The Americas, IHG.
Getting started
To get started IHG members should update the hotel company’s app, or download it if they are not currently using the app. When you’re managing your stays and decide you want to book a ride, you click on the Uber button in the app, and tell the system you would like a ride.
The IHG app will then open the Uber app, and your hotel's address will be transmitted to it. The system will then take you through the Uber menu as usual. If you don't have the app, the system will ask you to download it. New customers who are eligible for the promotion will get $20 off and the 2,000 IHG points will be added to their account.
Points can be used to book stays at any of the IHG hotels. There are 4,900 located around the world, and their portfolio of properties includes InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, and Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts.
IHG and Uber in 2016
Starting in 2016 people will also be able to receive Uber Ride Reminders via email from IHG reservations, letting them know they can easily set up a ride before their stay.
This partnership is a result of IHG seeing a need for their guests to have seamless pick-ups and drop-offs while on the road, and this partnership is a way to give customers more of what they are looking for when traveling.
Uber Technologies Inc. is based in San Francisco, California. Their Uber app can be used to book rides with smartphones in 58 countries and 300 cities around the world.