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Priceline will buy Rocketmiles, a hotel-booking site that helps customers earn air miles for $20 million reports the Wall Street Journal. The sale has not been confirmed by Rocketmiles, but if it goes through would be part of a pattern of consolidation in the online travel industry, including Expedia’s announcement last week that it would buy Chicago-based Orbitz for $1.34 billion.
Rocketmiles is an online hotel booking service that gives customers bonus air miles when they make reservations on their site, much like credit card companies reward their customers for making purchases. To create these hotel-air miles deals, Rocketmiles focuses on finding hotel rooms at a discount and packaging them with air miles that it buys from major airlines.
The company is partnered with dozens of airlines, giving travelers options for earning points, something frequent flyer credit cards often do not. For example, frequent flyer program partners of Rocketmiles include American Airlines, Alaskan Airlines, British Airways, Southwest Airlines, Virgin America Airlines, United Airlines, and Qatar Airways.
The site’s possible sale to Priceline comes as online travel sites are jockeying for position as the best one-stop shop for traveler needs. The bonus air miles customers earn from using Rocketmiles would be an attractive feature for Priceline; Rocketmiles says they focus on creating package deals that at a minimum offer 1,000 points to customers.
The company claims that a typical frequent traveler would earn an extra 80,000 miles per year through Rocketmiles and on its website Rocketmiles pitches such deals as a more efficient way for business travelers to save up air miles for vacations. Reportedly, Rocketmiles’ customer repeat purchase rate is quite high, suggesting Priceline would gain a loyal crop of customers.
Rocketmiles has raised $8.5 million in capital, including money coming from Chicago-based investors Chicago Ventures.
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