Chase Travel to expand and rebrand its luxury hotel program

The luxury hotel booking engine for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers is getting a revamp and a new name.

Chase previewed The Edit by Chase Travel — currently known as the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection — Tuesday morning as part of the International Luxury Travel Market conference in Cannes, France. The upcoming change, slated to launch early next year, will add an editorial component to the platform by noting what a property is best known for and how it syncs up with traveler needs and preferences.

“The Edit is designed to make it easier for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers to plan, book and visit the most sought-after, hand-selected and highly vetted hotel properties across the globe,” said Rena Shah, head of lodging at Chase Travel, in a prepared statement. “While we’ve seen great success with the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection, luxury travel has evolved and the evolution of our lodging program represents today’s traveler. We’re doing more than just listing hotel names on our site, we’re storytelling and building new ways for our travelers to discover properties with premium benefits that will provide them with an elevated experience.”

Chase’s Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection behaves in a similar manner as American Express’ Fine Hotels + Resorts: Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers get elitelike benefits at participating hotels. Breakfast for two, property credits and space-available room upgrades are part of the amenity lineup on the existing platform and will continue on The Edit.

On the newly created editorial platform, The Edit will flag properties under various categories, such as family-friendly resorts, spa or wellness retreats and properties perfect for art lovers, design aficionados or those looking for an elevated culinary experience.

“Chase Travel bookings are reaching new highs and, as we are committed to meeting our customers where they need us, we are continuing to invest in growing our travel offerings, including our luxury hotel programs, airport lounges, dining partners, and more, to show why Chase Travel should be the number one choice among consumers,” Shah added.

Chase’s 2024 travel trends

Ahead of the launch, Chase provided some emerging travel trends that might fit in with the editorial features of The Edit.

Some of the most-booked hotels off Chase Travel’s booking platform for the upcoming New Year’s Eve holiday include the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi, The Kahala Hotel & Resort in Honolulu, the Fairmont Banff Springs in Canada, The Wall Street Hotel in New York City and The Charles Hotel, a Rocco Forte Hotel, in Munich.

Trending properties for next year include The St. Regis Aspen Resort in Colorado; 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay (pictured above) on Kauai; Villa d’Este in Cernobbio, Italy; Nobu Hotel Los Cabos in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; and Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa in the Cayman Islands.

The Chase report also indicated a clear need for travelers to book ahead, especially for major events, and that they might face competition on premium modes of travel.

Year over year, there is a 47% increase in future bookings for springtime travel in 2024, while fall travel is currently experiencing a 59% increase. There’s already a 115% increase in travel bookings to Melbourne, Australia, for the Australia Open, and Salt Lake City can brag about a 39% increase in bookings for dates during the Sundance Film Festival in January. Travel bookings to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl next February are also up by 12% compared to last year.

Travelers aren’t being chintzy, either. Chase Travel reports a 40% year-over-year increase in luxury hotel bookings, a 28% increase in business-class ticket bookings and a 14% increase in first-class ticket bookings.

With data like that, one can’t help but wonder: What is this recession everyone keeps worrying about?

Bottom line

For now, the preview seems to indicate this move is more of a rebranding than a complete gutting and overhaul of Chase’s Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection.

The added editorial categories and descriptions will be a nice user-friendly addition, and the overall program should continue to be a major perk for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers — especially amid a swelling movement of travelers deciding to forego chasing loyalty status tiers in favor of being a loyalty free agent.

Who needs a top-tier hotel status when you can stay across a variety of brands and still get perks like free breakfast and upgrades? But we’ll have to wait until 2024 to see if Chase offers any further benefits to coincide with the name change.

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