As time goes on, more and more of mine and other travelers spending on lodging is shifting from the traditional hotel chains & boutiques to the new share economy and operators like AirBnB. According to a report released by CBRE Hotels users spent $2.4 billion over the period October 2014 – September 2015.
- AirBnB domaintes the market place. When it comes to the share economy and lodging, AirBnB is a dominant force. They have a sixty million person userbase and they average half a million stays per night. The main reason credit card issuers want these co-branded partnerships is because the other brand has an in built userbase that would naturally be attacted to the card.
- American Express will be losing their major hotel partner. If the SPG & Marriott merger goes through, it’s high unlikely that American Express will be able to issue the SPG card anymore, it’s also unlikely that Chase will allow them to issue a Marriott card. Even if they did then American Express would have two hotel partners: Hilton & Marriott. Both of which would be shared with other card issuers (Citi also issue Hilton credit cards).
- They already have a partnership in place. It’s already possible to redeem American Express membership rewards points towards AirBnB stays (including an additional verification for AirBnB users) or gift cards. American Express have even run an AmEx sync offer for AirBnB.
If American Express & AirBnB launched a cobranded credit card, I’d almost certainly sign up for it. They could add a few benefits/features quite easily to make it popular:
- Higher than 2% earning rate on AirBnB purchases (could also include bonus categories for categories that AirBnB owners are likely to shop in like homewares).
- Discount on AirBnB purchases/redemptions. For example if redeeming MR points for AirBnB stays, offer a 5%+ bonus. Lots of other loyalty programs offer a similar bonus.
I honestly don’t understand how an AirBnB credit card doesn’t already exist, my only guess is that other hotel chains (namely Hilton & SPG) have put pressure on American Express not to release such a card. What features would an AirBnB credit card have to have for you to sign up?
Also, I’ll be annoying both @AmericanExpress & @AirBnB on twitter until they release such a card, so feel free to follow me and like our tweets if you also want a co-branded card from them. Alternatively, send your own annoying message.
