--- title: Loyalty Programs Miss Opportunities for Rental Car Integrations description: Even without the current market factors, car rental is one of the largest transaction drivers in an ancillary portfolio. image: https://www.iseatz.com/hubfs/highway-ocean-iseatz_cropped-1.jpg --- [iSeatz](https://www.iseatz.com/) [Blog](https://www.iseatz.com/blog) Menu - [ Our Platform ](https://www.iseatz.com/our-platform) - [ Travel & Lifestyle Portfolio ](https://www.iseatz.com/portfolio) - [ Work With Us ](https://www.iseatz.com/work-with-us) - [ News & Insights ](https://www.iseatz.com/blog) - [ About ](https://www.iseatz.com/about-iseatz) - [ Careers ](https://www.iseatz.com/careers) - [ Contact ](https://www.iseatz.com/contact-us) ![](https://www.iseatz.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Website/hot-air-balloons.jpg?width=866&height=1300&name=hot-air-balloons.jpg) Help Them Check Off Their Bucket List Our travel and lifestyle portfolio has everything from first-class flights to fitness classes, including over 400,000 tours and activities. [ View Our Portfolio ](https://www.iseatz.com/portfolio) Go back to menu toggle ![](https://www.iseatz.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stock%20images/Solutions/Mobility/highway-ocean-iseatz.jpg?width=640&name=highway-ocean-iseatz.jpg) Post Tags - [ancillary revenue](https://www.iseatz.com/blog/tag/ancillary-revenue) - [travel](https://www.iseatz.com/blog/tag/travel) - [ancillary](https://www.iseatz.com/blog/tag/ancillary) - [customer loyalty](https://www.iseatz.com/blog/tag/customer-loyalty) - [car rental](https://www.iseatz.com/blog/tag/car-rental) # Loyalty Programs Miss Opportunities for Rental Car Integrations [![Picture of iSeatz](https://www.iseatz.com/hs-fs/hubfs/iseatz-favicon-white.png?width=70&height=70&name=iseatz-favicon-white.png) ](https://www.iseatz.com/blog/author/iseatz) [iSeatz](https://www.iseatz.com/blog/author/iseatz) Jul 15, 2021 4 minute read If you’ve been following the travel industry’s pandemic recovery, you’ve likely seen reports that car rental is surging, including stories of [travelers renting uHauls](https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/hawaii-tourists-renting-uhaul-trucks) in popular beach destinations because no cars were available. Car rental has indeed had the fastest and sharpest recovery of all travel ancillary products. As of June of this year, the category has seen **8 straight months of growth** in total bookings, according to iSeatz transaction data. Our data also shows average booking value way up from 2019, as high as **129% increase YOY in May**. This surge is a result of a lack of supply - largely due to rental companies selling off portions of their fleets during 2020 and a [semiconductor shortage hindering their ability to replace them quickly](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/01/rental-car-shortage-economy/) - combined with an increase in demand. Overall leisure travel is increasing, but international restrictions have kept people more local; plus many travelers still view driving as a “safer” alternative to other modes of transportation.  Even without the current market factors, car rental is a critical component for travel reward programs and one of the largest transaction drivers in an ancillary portfolio. In our recent [State of Loyalty: 2021 Hotel Ancillary Report](https://www.iseatz.com/state-of-loyalty-2021-hotel-report), we examined the ancillary strategies of over 30 leading hospitality brands. Despite it being the biggest ancillary transaction driver, only 9 of the 33 hotels we reviewed have both earn and burn opportunities for car rental incorporated into their loyalty programs.  [![New call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4857126/32420492-ffb6-4c90-866a-9f8c3a5b46c8.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4857126/32420492-ffb6-4c90-866a-9f8c3a5b46c8) With or without the current surge in bookings and average booking value, that’s a lot of ancillary revenue left on the table. Not only that, it’s also a missed opportunity to engage guests with a critical element of their journeys and potentially offer even further value to loyalty members given the current rental landscape. Could larger corporate partnerships help with availability and price surging? It certainly makes business sense that rental companies would prioritize volume-driven relationships over individual renters.  While this under-utilization of car rental in hotel loyalty programs is surprising, there’s another element worth highlighting. Most hotel loyalty programs that include car rental are facilitated through a link-off to book directly with their rental partner of choice. In fact, of the major hoteliers offering point burn for car rental, Marriott and Hilton are the only 2 with direct booking via their online reward platforms. A fully integrated booking path does require financial investment to build and host, but there’s more to these economics than meets the eye. Why is this something hoteliers should consider? - Link-offs create a broken user experience. Loyalty member recognition disappears, with travelers having to re-enter their information and frequently forced to sign-in with the rental company. - Wasting valuable marketing resources. You spend time and money to acquire these customers, but by sending them off your site, you lose branding and customer engagement in the process. - Missed opportunities to cross-sell. A fully-integrated booking path allows you to promote other products of interest to your members. And these cross-selling opportunities have shown to have higher take-rates. - Missed opportunities to up-sell. You can’t apply your own business rules for special promotions based on membership tier, vendor preference, or other personalization tokens from your member data. - Lower conversion rates. At iSeatz we’ve found that our custom designed, branded frontend experiences **convert at a rate 30% higher or more than standard affiliate link-offs** Of course, the points above apply to all ancillary products in a reward portfolio, not just car rental, but as one of the key trip components, both in terms of use and revenue, it’s where hoteliers will likely see the quickest return on their investment. --- Want to get more insights and updates from iSeatz? Sign up for our newsletter! [![SUBSCRIBE NOW](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4857126/de7a6932-16f5-40cb-93d5-9c4896069fae.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4857126/de7a6932-16f5-40cb-93d5-9c4896069fae) You can also learn more about iSeatz by reaching out to [marketing@iseatz.com](mailto:marketing@iseatz.com). ## Related Posts - ![](https://www.iseatz.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Gift%20Card%20GTM/Social%20Media%20Graphics/Gift%20Card_Blog%20Teaser_TW.png?width=420&name=Gift%20Card_Blog%20Teaser_TW.png) ### [ Why eGift Cards Are Table Stakes for Ancillary Engagement ](https://www.iseatz.com/blog/why-egift-cards-are-becoming-table-stakes-for-ancillary-engagement) A trend we have talked a lot about over the past couple of years here at iSeatz is Microburn: point redemption opportunities which are less ... - ![](https://www.iseatz.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Campaigns/State%20of%20Loyalty%202023%20Hospitality/woman-booking-hotel-tablet-iseatz%20copy.jpeg?width=420&height=280&name=woman-booking-hotel-tablet-iseatz%20copy.jpeg) ### [ [Press Release] iSeatz shows Potential in Travel Loyalty Programs ](https://www.iseatz.com/blog/press-release-iseatz-report-reveals-untapped-potential-in-travel-loyalty-programs) Latest analysis of rewards programs offered by major hotel brands reveals emerging trends focused on unbundling, upselling, and AI-driven ... - ![](https://www.iseatz.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Campaigns/State%20of%20Loyalty%202022%20Hospitality/Stock%20Images/family-pool-day-resort-iseatz%20reduced.jpeg?width=420&height=280&name=family-pool-day-resort-iseatz%20reduced.jpeg) ### [ COMING SOON: The 2022 State of Loyalty Hospitality Report ](https://www.iseatz.com/blog/coming-soon-the-2022-state-of-loyalty-hospitality-ancillary-report) Our 3rd annual State of Loyalty: Hospitality Ancillary Report is coming soon! Since 2019, our State of Loyalty Report series has provided a ... - [LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/company/iseatz/) Loyalty Tech Built in New Orleans ## Footer Navigation ### [ About ](https://www.iseatz.com/about-iseatz) Toggle About child menu ** - [Leadership Team](https://www.iseatz.com/about-iseatz#about-leadership) - [Careers](https://www.iseatz.com/careers) - [News & Insights](https://www.iseatz.com/blog) ### [ Contact ](https://www.iseatz.com/contact-us) ### [ Partnerships ](https://www.iseatz.com/work-with-us) Toggle Partnerships child menu ** - [Work With Us](https://www.iseatz.com/work-with-us) - [Become a Supplier](https://www.iseatz.com/contact-us) ### [ Technology ](https://www.iseatz.com/our-platform) Toggle Technology child menu ** - [Security & Compliance](https://www.iseatz.com/security-and-compliance) - [Travel & Lifestyle Portfolio](https://www.iseatz.com/portfolio) - [Request a Demo](https://www.iseatz.com/demo-the-platform) ![Louisiana Economic Development](https://www.iseatz.com/hubfs/Louisiana%20ED%20Logo%20with%20Text%20v2.png) - [ LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/company/iseatz/) ## Legal - [© iSeatz 2026](https://iseatz.com/) - [ Privacy Policy ](https://www.iseatz.com/en/iseatz-privacy-policy) - Cookie Settings Cookie Settings