First Airline Alliance in China creates more opportunities for members to earn airline mileage

InterContinental Hotels Group announced today at a signing ceremony at Crowne Plaza Parkview Wuzhou Beijing that it has secured the first airline partnership with Air China, making it the 43rd airline alliance of its loyalty programme Priority Club Rewards (PCR), the fastest growing loyalty programme in the world.

Commenting on the new partnership, Vice President of Air China, Mr Cai Jian Jiang says, "Air China is proud to forge a partnership with an internationally renowned company like InterContinental Hotels Group. The value we bring to our members is greatly enhanced through this strong alliance. They can expect more options to earn mileage and at the same time enjoy quality accommodation at many of the hotel brands within the group."

Patrick Imbardelli, InterContinental Hotels Group Asia Pacific Managing Director added: "We are very honoured to have Air China as our first airline partner in China as the alliance brings together two well-known brands to benefit our mutual membership base of frequent travellers. This partnership is also significant for us as it underlines our commitment to continuously identify opportunities to bring greater value to the 18 million members of our global loyalty programme, Priority Club Rewards."

"The new alliance with Air China creates even greater opportunities for frequent travelers to earn their rewards faster. Besides having access to one of the most established flight routes network and a wide selection of quality hotels under the InterContinental Hotels Group where they get rewarded with airline mileage, members can also choose to earn Priority Club points. These points can be used to redeem for free hotel stays, in-hotel amenities, retail certificates and a host of other exciting rewards," says Julia Wong, Director of Loyalty Marketing for Asia Pacific.

Beginning today, for every stay on a qualifying room rate at all participating hotel brands, Air China Club Companion Frequent Flyer members automatically earn 800 Kilometres. In addition, Priority Club members who collect Priority Club points will now be able to redeem their points under the Mileage Redemption Plan at the ratio of 10,000 Priority Club points to 2,500 Kilometres.

Air China is the national carrier in Mainland China and has an extensive domestic route network flying to many key cities where InterContinental Hotels Group currently has 35 hotels and another 25 in the pipeline: namely, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Jinan, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Xiamen and Zhengzhou. Also, in every key destination that Air China fly to in the world, there is always a hotel within the group for members to earn air mileage.

Hotel brands participating in Priority Club Rewards include InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Express by Holiday Inn, encompassing more than 3,300 hotels around the world.

Award-winning Priority Club Rewards features more sought-after benefits than any other hotel offering. It combines features like Points Transfer, Points Purchase and the fastest way to Elite status with program pillars of no blackout dates on Rewards Nights and no point expiration to form one powerful program that is simple and easy.

Priority Club Rewards recently captured top honours at the 15th Annual International Freddie Awards, based on responses from the world's most frequent travelers. Among hotel loyalty programmes around the world, Priority Club Rewards placed first in Best Hotel Newsletter (Americas), Best Hotel Newsletter (International) and Best Hotel Web Site (International).

To earn mileage for qualifying stays, guests must be enrolled in Priority Club Rewards and designate Air China as their preferred alliance. Becoming a member of Priority Club Rewards is free. Enrol online at www.priorityclub.com, the front desk of any InterContinental Hotels Group location, or by calling any of the Priority Club Rewards Service Centre in Asia Pacific (Guangzhou, Syndey and Tokyo), the Americas and Europe.