Money can't buy it: The rewards programme that hooks you up with Lewis Hamilton
How would you like a picayune chinwag with Lewis Hamilton? Or if the five-time Formula 1 champion and his sick-brash dreads don't become y'all all revved upwards, how nigh mingling with Manchester United players aboard the team'south private jet?
These are experiences money can't buy. Merely points from coin spent can.
"Luxury isn't just a bunch of old men sitting in a dark bar drinking cognac anymore."
Marriott Bonvoy is the new loyalty programme launched earlier this year, which is a consolidation of Marriott International's best rewards programmes – Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest – and promises adjacent-level experiences.
"In the erstwhile days, luxury used to be for the 0.005% of the world. Today, it'southward inverse. Luxury isn't simply a bunch of sometime men sitting in a dark bar drinking cognac anymore," said Craig Smith, President and Manager of Asia Pacific at Marriott International.
Instead, the new luxury traveller might exist your boilerplate Joe and Jane – just that they're saving their money for a luxurious feel rather than splurging on the latest designer handbag.
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"What we're finding is that the purchase of experiences is finally outstripping the buy of products. People are saving their coin for that once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Smith, speaking to CNA Luxury while he was in town for the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.
We were sitting at The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore where a select group of Marriott Bonvoy members would afterward arrive for an exclusive poolside effect. What they didn't know was that Hamilton himself, along with Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, would be surprising them – photo ops, included.
The surprise was part of the Marriott Bonvoy's mission to wow its members who bid for this particular "Moment", which included VIP Hospitality Suite Admission to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport Squad'south Argent Arrows Lounge to experience the excitement of the races from a premium viewing location.
Another group of Marriott Bonvoy members, meanwhile, earned special access to the actual Mercedes team garage and were given a backside-the-scenes tour to understand the engineering that goes into the race.
"They take y'all through the entire garage and you lot get to run into practice pit stops. Then they take you to the back and give you lot headphones where you're listening to the engineers talking while yous're watching the race. And so, you lot're learning more and yous really feel like y'all're part of the team," said Smith.
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The experience was made possible thanks to the multi-year partnership between The Ritz-Carlton and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.
As a event of this alliance, you'll now run into the Marriott Bonvoy logo emblazoned across Hamilton and Bottas' mid-section on their new suits – earning prominence and publicity for the brand that money tin can't quite buy, either.
"We want to make it exclusive but the good news is there are a lot of races and we have a lot of partnerships so these are available all over the world. And, we're growing – they're adding another race to Asia adjacent twelvemonth in Hanoi, and nosotros have a hotel at that place so it works very well," said Smith.
To score access to these diplomacy, Marriott Bonvoy members have to login online and bid by redeeming the points they've accumulated from staying in whatsoever of the 710 hotels and resorts endemic past the Marriott International group in the Asia Pacific. They can besides earn points at the two,800 participating restaurants and bars, as well as the 210 participating spas in the region lonely.
"I've been in the concern 31 years and the discussion 'luxury' means different things today," Smith observed. "Luxury clients now desire to learn something and practise more adventurous things. So, we've combined all that and created this loyalty platform where it isn't only transactional – it'due south a hazard for u.s.a. to give them more; to requite them something they can't get somewhere else."
Like riding in a car for an 60 minutes with Hamilton and Bottas, which 2 very lucky Marriott Bonvoy members got to enjoy in Shanghai recently.
Imagine the bragging rights. It only price a couple of hundred thou points.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/experiences/marriott-bonvoy-ritz-carlton-starwood-254301
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