Forbes Travel Guide and Bilt Announce Partnership
Forbes Travel Guide and loyalty program Bilt have launched a strategic partnership. The collaboration will connect Forbes' Star-Rated luxury hotels, restaurants, and spas with Bilt's millions of members, integrating luxury hospitality with the residential loyalty platform.
- The partnership creates a new program called "Bilt Verified," a marketplace designed to drive direct bookings to Forbes Travel Guide's Star-Rated properties from Bilt's rapidly growing member base across more than 5.5 million U.S. homes. - Bilt, founded by Ankur Jain in 2019, built its loyalty program on a unique model allowing members to earn points on rent payments without transaction fees, a significant monthly expense previously unrewarded. - Forbes Travel Guide, established in 1958 as the Mobil Travel Guide, is the originator of the Five-Star rating system, which relies on anonymous inspectors evaluating up to 900 objective criteria to ensure ratings cannot be purchased. - A key strength of the Bilt program is the ability to transfer points to numerous travel partners, often at a 1:1 ratio, including major hotel chains like Hilton, Marriott, and World of Hyatt, as well as over a dozen airlines. - This collaboration taps into the hospitality marketing trend of using targeted channels to reach affluent travelers, as luxury hotels increasingly leverage user-generated content and short-form video on Instagram and TikTok to build authenticity and drive engagement. - The partnership reflects a broader shift in loyalty programs towards offering experiential rewards and integrating with members' lifestyles beyond travel, a strategy that increases guest spending and provides valuable data on consumer preferences.
