New Loyalty Program Journey Targets Independent Boutique Hotels

Journey, a new company focused on bringing loyalty program capabilities to independent hotels and vacation rentals, is preparing to launch its consumer-facing platform this month.

The U.S.-based company has notable backers. It was founded by CEO John Sutton, the former chief digital officer at Red Ventures, which owns media brands like The Points Guy, Lonely Planet, and Bankrate.

Journey's investors include Brian Kelly (The Points Guy founder), Chris Burch (owner of the award-winning Nihi Sumba Resorts), and Eric Wu (the former Opendoor CEO).

Journey is one of the first reward programs to cover stays at both hotels and vacation rentals, two categories of lodging that have historically competed.

It also aims to drive direct bookings in an unusually explicit way. Guests earn at least five points per dollar on eligible stays booked directly with participating properties versus one point per dollar when booking through online travel agencies. By incentivizing travelers to book directly, the goal is to reduce commission costs for independent operators.

Crowded Field

Journey enters a crowded field of lodging loyalty programs. Major hotel groups have loyalty programs, and independent properties can participate in programs like the Curator Hotels & Resorts Collection, Global Hotel Alliance, and American Express's Fine Hotels + Resorts.

Like those groups, Journey aims to create a loyalty ecosystem that allows travelers to earn and redeem points across independently operated properties.

So far, it only has a few dozen hotels and barely 1,000 private rental properties participating. That's about half as many as they were hoping for by now when they began recruiting properties six months ago. It's also well shy of the roughly 180,000 luxury home rentals and 5,000-plus boutique hotels worldwide that could be the full potential customer base, according to their estimates.

Yet once they have a consumer launch, that may change. Kelly has over 400,000 Instagram followers who are loyalty program fans.

The startup's approach to integrating data is also notable. For property owners using cloud-based property management systems like Mews, Journey will offer an integration that lets it analyze guest data to provide personalized service.

Solution for Independent Operators

James McBride, CEO of Nihi Sumba Resorts and past general manager of the UK's Grosvenor House, said that Journey offers a tech solution to challenges independent operators have faced for years.

"We've all tried to put programs together with the technology that existed, but the efforts were sporadic and not executed well," McBride said.

McBride also highlighted how traditional loyalty programs often disappoint even high-status members due to inventory constraints.

"The big programs have become so big that what they actually do is disappoint to a certain degree," McBride said

"I was walking through a larger hotel in Sydney, and there was a big sign in the lobby that said, 'Today we have 250 check-ins. 180 of you are members of our loyalty program, and we only have 12 upgrades.'"

Partly to address the problem, the program emphasizes flexibility, with no blackout dates, the ability to pool or transfer points, and options to redeem points for smaller rewards when you're not traveling often enough to rack up the big prizes.

"The greatest loyalty programs offer psychological, not financial, benefits," said Sutton, Journey's founder. Hoteliers are betting that the desire for recognition — that moment when a staff member greets you by name or remembers your preference for an extra pillow—remains a currency at least as valuable as points.

Whether Journey can successfully thread this needle — creating a program that simultaneously offers the scale of traditional loyalty while preserving the intimacy sought by the independent-minded traveler—depends a lot on execution and having the right talent. A majority of the travel startups that Skift has written about in the past decade haven't achieved their aims.

Yet Journey's bet on independent operators is notable as a bet on broader trends in travelers seeking authentic, distinctive accommodations while still desiring the benefits and predictability traditionally associated with chain hotels' loyalty programs.