Skift Take
This is a prime example of "Why didn't they think of this sooner?"
Beginning today, U.S.-based members of OpenTable's loyalty program can redeem their OpenTable Dining Points for discounted hotel stays on sister company, travel metasearch site Kayak.
For example, an OpenTable user can redeem 2,000 OpenTable Dining Points for a $40 discount on hotel bookings made on opentable.kayak.com. Diners must have at least 2,000 points to enjoy discounted savings, and they also have the option to continue to use those points toward a $10 Amazon gift card, or anywhere from $10 to $25 off a restaurant reservation. While Kayak is primarily a metasearch site, the actual hotel bookings are powered by a sister brand, called Rocketmiles.
The idea for this loyalty connection resulted from the fact that OpenTable and Kayak now share the same executive leadership team, following the October departure of former OpenTable CEO Christa Quarles and subsequent appointment of Kayak CEO Steve Hafner as the restaurant reservations platform's new leader.
"Now that Kayak and OpenTable are part of the same family and we report to the same executive team, we decided to take a look at the program and tried to find a way to provide incremental value to OpenTable users," Kayak CEO Stev
