Preferred Hotels & Resorts has launched a new loyalty platform, I Prefer Alliance Program, which allows partner hotels to extend full benefits of the I Prefer Hotel Rewards to members of their own guest reward programmes.

Featuring a straightforward points exchange structure, I Prefer Alliance allows partner hotels to incentivise their respective loyalty members by extending access to the Preferred Hotels & Resorts portfolio where they can earn and redeem points.

Through I Prefer Alliance, partners can extend the full benefits of I Prefer Hotel Rewards to members of their own loyalty programmes upon every eligible stay. The points exchange structure for each I Prefer Alliance partnership will be unique to the structure of each individual partner’s programme.

As inaugural partner, Tokyu Hotels’ affiliation with I Prefer Alliance will offer all Tokyu Comfort Members two Comfort Points for every US$1 spent on net room reservations when they book any hotel outside Japan. In addition, I Prefer members visiting Japan will now be able to earn 25 I Prefer points per US$1 spent on net room reservations, as well as redeem I Prefer Reward Certificates, at 19 participating Tokyu hotels, four of which are members of Preferred Hotels & Resorts: The Capitol Hotel Tokyu, Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel, Kyoto Tokyu Hotel, and Nagoya Tokyu Hotel.

Jeri Salazar, vice president of loyalty, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, said in a statement: “I Prefer Alliance was created to provide independent hotels with the flexibility to personalise their own programmes in a way that would help drive more loyalty from their current members, while creating more visibility for partner properties and all hotels that participate in I Prefer… We look forward to integrating more hotel partners into I Prefer Alliance globally in the months ahead.”

As of January 2019, more than three million members have enrolled in I Prefer. Benefits included points that could be exchanged for cash value, Prefer Reward Certificates, as well as elite status and additional benefits such as priority early check-in/late check-out, room upgrade based on availability, and complimentary Internet access.

In 2018, the programme produced a 24 per cent increase in reservations revenue and a 31 per cent increase in stays to participating hotels, as compared to 2017. I Prefer was first introduced as a points-based model by Preferred Hotels & Resorts in August 2013.

Update: The headline was amended to clarify that I Prefer Alliance is an extension of the company’s existing programme