Three years after its acquisition of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, IHG announced Friday morning its plans to merge Kimpton’s loyalty program—Kimpton Karma Rewards—into IHG Rewards Club in early 2018. The move will combine loyalty members into one program with a single reward point system.
The company said that members from both IHG Rewards Club and Kimpton Karma will benefit from the breadth of hotel options and redemption possibilities the combined program will offer. Kimpton Karma members will be automatically enrolled in IHG Rewards Club and able to access an expansive portfolio of nearly 5,300 hotels, including 11 additional IHG brands in almost 100 countries. In turn, IHG Rewards Club members will now be able to earn reward points and redeem Reward Nights at more than 60 Kimpton boutique hotels across urban locations, up-and-coming cities, and resort destinations.
Kimpton Karma members will also be able to accelerate higher tier status and earn more benefits with personalized incentives and promotions on top of the current benefits: discounted rates when booking direct; value-priced Reward Nights with no blackout dates; no cancellation penalties; online reward redemption; and the opportunity to redeem with hundreds of partners, including airline miles. Members can also earn points through IHG partners for other activities like renting a car, ordering flowers, shopping, dining and more. Members also have access to a mobile app as well as mobile check-out and stay preferences. The personalized perks and recognition that have been a hallmark of Kimpton Karma will continue as part of the Kimpton experience, in addition to exclusive Kimpton offers, invitations to private events, and more.
“Both IHG and Kimpton have built two strong loyalty programs that have attracted a tremendously loyal base of members who are passionate about our brands,” said Susanna Freer Epstein, senior vice president of customer loyalty marketing at IHG. “By joining them together, Karma Rewards members will now have access to the global scale of nearly 5,300 hotels, as well as all of the great benefits available through IHG Rewards Club, like access to our many partners and exclusive rates. We will also extend our personal offers and customized benefits to welcome Kimpton guests into our family. At the same time, our existing IHG Rewards Club members will also be able to earn and redeem points for stays at Kimpton hotels, further exposing them to new brands and new places.”
“Becoming part of IHG Rewards Club allows us to answer some common requests from our Kimpton Karma Rewards members, such as no blackout dates, online redemption, and perhaps the pinnacle of it all, a whole world of international opportunities that the IHG Rewards Club program offers,” said Kathleen Reidenbach, chief commercial officer, Kimpton. “With the increased portfolio of hotels–80 times more hotels than what we’ve been able to offer–our members can now travel all around the world earning and redeeming points, including new international Kimpton destinations. What’s equally exciting is that members will continue to enjoy the highly personalized experience that Kimpton delivers, while gaining access to the rich benefits of IHG Rewards Club. It’s really a win-win.”
