The Protea Hospitality Group has joined forces with Avios Group (AGL) Limited as South Africa’s foremost hospitality partner.
The Avios Travel Rewards Programme was recently launched in South Africa and is a new loyalty programme allowing travellers to collect Avios points to use for flights on premium airline, British Airways. The partnership with the Protea Hospitality Group, available to members of the Avios Travel Rewards Programme as well as British Airways Executive Club members, brings together two iconic travel brands.
As of today, the programme will allow Avios members to earn points on their hotel accommodation spend at Protea Hotels & African Pride Hotels.
Protea Hospitality Group Director of Sales, Marketing and Revenue, Danny Bryer, says the earning of Avios points at Protea Hotels and African Pride Hotels is linked to the company’s own Prokard Rewards Programme, which is the first loyalty programme established in South Africa.
Silver, Gold and Platinum Prokard members receive double value if they are Avios Travel Rewards Programme or British Airways Executive Club members, in that they earn Avios points as well as Prokard Rands on their accommodation spend every time they check into a Protea Hotel or African Pride Hotel.
Prokard Rands work on a 1:1 basis, while one Avios point is earned for every R10 of a guest’s accommodation spend.
To qualify for Avios points, guests need to quote both their Prokard and their Avios Travel Rewards Programme or British Airways Executive Club membership numbers to hotels during check-in.
Bryer says the partnership is a natural one between a loyalty programme that has more than 5 million members globally, and Africa’s largest and leading hotel group.
“When the Avios Travel Rewards Programme launched here recently, the Protea Hospitality Group was the obvious choice of accommodation partner because of our strategic spread, our brand standards and our own successful loyalty programme and membership base. “We know Avios shares those same brand values, which is why we’ve gone the extra mile in giving our Prokard members from Silver upwards a ‘double dip’ earning both Prokard Rands and Avios Points on their accommodation spend, which is a very attractive rewards programme benefit and one like no other in the South African travel industry.
“We look forward to a long partnership with Avios that will showcase not only the best of South Africa, but the leading hotel group on the continent too.”
Nick Pilbeam, Director of New Markets & Business Development for Avios Group Limited (AGL) says of the partnership with the Protea Hospitality Group: “We’re very excited to partner with the Protea Hospitality Group and offer South Africans a chance to collect Avios points in some of the top hotels in the country. This partnership gives our members great value for money by offering them the opportunity to earn Avios points to use towards flights with British Airways* as well as to earn Prokard Rands when they check into a Protea Hotel or African Pride Hotel.”
* Taxes, fees and charges or Reward Flight Saver (RFS) are payable on flights. Instead of paying airline taxes, fees and carrier charges on local and regional flights, Avios Travel Rewards Programme members as well as British Airways Executive Club Members who collect 1 Avios in the 12 months prior to booking flights pay RFS. This is a flat fee of R700 per person on a return economy regional or domestic British Airways flight, plus the Avios fare, to exciting destinations including Durban, Port Elizabeth, Livingstone, Windhoek and as far afield as Mauritius and Maputo, Harare and Victoria Falls. This is good value as airline taxes, fees and carrier charges can be up to 50% more expensive. Full taxes, fees and charges will be levied against international flights.
About Protea Hotels:
Protea Hotels is Africa’s largest and leading hotel group and has a footprint of more than 125 properties throughout South Africa and nine other African countries, including Zambia, Nigeria, Namibia, Ghana, Uganda and Kenya amongst others. Each hotel is uniquely different in character and the collection ranges from urban accommodation to country retreats, all in the 3 and 4-star markets. Protea Hotels is the winner of 2 World Travel Awards for Best Hotel Group in Africa, winner of 3 Sunday Times Markinor Top Hotel Brand Awards and the winner of 4 Coolest Hotel Group awards in the Sunday Times Generation Next surveys. The hotel group became a wholly owned South African company again in April 2009 after a consortium comprising Protea Hotels management, its BEE shareholders and Investec Private Equity bought back the 74 percent stake the hotel group sold to Australian-based Stella Hospitality Group.
Follow us on twitter@ProteaHotels
About Avios Group (AGL) Limited
Avios Group Limited (AGL) is part of International Airlines Group (IAG), and operates the global Avios rewards currency for British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus, and the Avios Travel Rewards Programme in the UK and South Africa. AGL has been successfully creating and running travel reward programmes for over 25 years; currently AGL manages over 350 Avios collection and redemption partners worldwide.
www.avios.com
About the Avios Travel Rewards Programme
The Avios Travel Rewards Programme launched in South Africa in August 2013 and is a new loyalty programme. Avios can be collected on every day spend such as shopping at Pick n Pay, paying for purchases with the Avios credit card (issued and supported by ABSA), and filling up with fuel at BP fuel retailer sites. Other collection partners include premium airline British Airways, Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty and Avis car rental.
