As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel has been halted and hotels have been struggling financially. Hotels know we’re at home itching to travel and have come up with a great idea to benefit both the traveler and hotel.
You can now purchase credits from hotels at a discounted price to use on booking rooms, food, and spa treatments in the future.
Oxford Hotels & Resorts is currently testing the idea at four hotels in Chicago. The upscale hotels are selling $100 bonds to be redeemed for $150 after 60 days of purchase.
According to USA TODAY and data firm STR, hotel occupancy was 64.4% in April 2019 and has now fallen to 23.4% as of April 18th.
George Jordan, president of Oxford Hotels & Resorts LLC tells USA TODAY, “Everyone is scrambling to build occupancy in their hotel. You’re not going to get any business today because of the travel bans.” However, he notes that the credits will help to “raise revenue for a future day.”
Jordan says that after the deal went live, they began to get tons of requests and sales.
Hotel Credits is a site started by Zaino von During which has over two dozen properties globally offering deals. Zaino created the site through her tech firm Porter & Sail and her vision is to “offer great deals at properties (consumers) may not find otherwise and the hotel gets money today.”
While the hotels usually set their own discounts on Hotel Credits, most are choosing to accept $200 purchases of credits in exchange for travelers to redeem $300 on rooms, food, and treatments. Most of the hotels are requiring travelers to use their credits by the end of 2022.
“We’ve had a lot of consumers who have stayed at these properties before and are anxious to return,” says Zaino von During.
The pandemic isn’t going to last forever, and when we’re able to travel again, purchasing a credit now will make your future hotel stay more affordable.
