I appreciate when companies get creative with their partnerships, and go beyond what you’d traditionally expect. This is something we’ve seen in general with travel brands, and it’s great for consumers. For example, airlines realize that if you fly a lot you also probably stay in hotels a lot, and may also rent cars a lot.
It has just been announced that Hertz has become the newest member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. This represents SkyTeam’s first non-air affiliate.
As of October 16, 2018, SkyTeam frequent flyers can enjoy a variety of car rental benefits while also earning miles when renting from Hertz. SkyTeam frequent flyer program members will receive a “special code” for their Hertz car rentals to unlock these benefits. I can’t find the exact details of the partnership yet, though that’s what we know as of now.
Unfortunately mileage accrual isn’t possible for members of Alitalia MilleMiglia or Aerolineas Argentinas Aerolineas Plus for “contractual reasons.” That’s fitting for SkyTeam, since historically they’re the alliance where they just don’t offer mileage accrual on some partner airlines, so… 😉
Here’s what executives from Hertz and SkyTeam had to say about this development:
Vincent Gillet, Vice President Marketing, Hertz International, said: “We at Hertz are honored to offer car rental benefits to the 730 million customers traveling annually with the members of SkyTeam, a world leading airline alliance. Hertz already works with more than half of the SkyTeam partner member airlines, so it was a progressive move for us to extend our relationship to the full alliance. As a proud partner of SkyTeam, we look forward to providing a seamless fly-drive experience for our mutual customers.”
Mauro Oretti, SkyTeam’s Vice President Sales and Marketing, added: “Millions of SkyTeam customers hire cars at home or away and we are excited to take Frequent Flyer perks up a gear through our partnership with Hertz, one of the world’s leading car rental brands. Our aim at SkyTeam is to offer the best end-to-end travel experience for our customers. Extending loyalty benefits beyond the airport is a natural step as we continue to add value to our customers’ everyday traveling lives.”
On one hand I appreciate the creativity here, though on the other hand:
- Members of Hertz’ loyalty program get no benefits with SkyTeam airlines
- Hertz already offers free status to members of a countless number of frequent flyer programs and credit cards; seriously, look at how many airline partners they have
- I wonder if this agreement will cause Hertz to cut ties with some non-SkyTeam partners; for example, Hertz and United also have a partnership
So this really isn’t anything to get too excited about. It’s nice that there are benefits across the group, but anyone reading this should have already had access to Hertz status and mileage accrual with one program or another before this development.
What do you make of SkyTeam adding Hertz as a non-air partner?
(Tip of the hat to Point Me to the Plane)
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