Credit Card Helps Intercontinental Check in With Top Travelers
Chase Card Services and the InterContinental Hotels Group used direct feedback from their frequent travelers to design a new credit card product, the Priority Club Select Visa Card.
With the new card, IHG is targeting Priority Club Rewards members, particularly elite members who stay 15 nights or more at IHG hotels, as well as other frequent travelers and business travelers. Everyone who signs up for the card will be automatically enrolled in Priority Club Rewards, says Lincoln Barrett, vice president, guest marketing and alliances, IHG
The feedback the program was designed around came through a private online community comprising about 300 Priority Club Rewards members who are also Priority Club Rewards Visa card members.
Communispace developed the forum about a year ago, which allowed Chase and IHG to have direct and ongoing conversations with customers in real time. Input on the forum was gathered via surveys, discussion boards, photo galleries and directed questions and conversations, as well as from original threads generated by members, notes Barrett.
The Visa card, which debuted in late June, is being promoted online at the PriorityClub.com site, via direct mail and e-mail to club members, in IHG reservation channels, and via print advertising in travel publications.
As an incentive to new cardmembers, Chase is offering 30,000 bonus points — enough for up to two free nights at many IHG hotels — after the first purchase is made using the card, and no annual fee the first year, a $49 value.
Benefits of the new card include a free hotel night certificate on the account anniversary of each cardmember. Members can also earn more points when purchasing gas, grocery and dinners out, among other new benefits.
“Chase and IHG are constantly looking for new ways to deliver incremental value to loyal cardmembers through the benefits and services offered, as well as the level of rewards earned through purchases made with the card,” Barrett says. “So, when the Chase and IHG team decided to design a new credit card product that delivered the strongest possible value, they turned to a core group of brand enthusiasts for input.”
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