I'm one of the founders of Journey — we built a free loyalty program for independent boutique hotels and luxury short-term rentals (Airbnbs).
The problem we're solving: Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt have spent decades locking travelers into their ecosystems with points. But the most interesting properties in the world — the family-run ryokan in Kyoto, the cliffside villa in Santorini, the converted palazzo in Florence — have zero loyalty mechanics.
You stay there, you get nothing back, and there's no reason (beyond the experience) to return or refer friends.
Independent hotels make up ~60% of global hotel inventory but capture almost none of the loyalty spend. That's the gap we're filling.
What Journey is:
Free membership — earn 5x+ points at 2,500+ handpicked boutique hotels and luxury residences worldwide
Properties are curated, not just anyone can list — we're building a quality signal, not an OTA
Points are redeemable for stays, upgrades, and experiences at any Journey property.
We're backed by some interesting people in the travel space (like The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly and Chris Burch, Co-Founder of Tory Burch and Nihi Hotels).
Why now: Post-COVID luxury travel is booming, but the big chains haven't meaningfully innovated on loyalty in a decade. Travelers are increasingly seeking authentic, independent properties — but there's been no loyalty infrastructure to support that behavior. Until now.
We're also running a 1,000,000 points giveaway right now for anyone who wants to try the program...takes 2 mins to sign up.
Happy to answer anything about how we built this, the points economics, how we onboard properties, or where we think loyalty is going. Ask me anything.
How have you validated that the travelers care about loyalty programs? The big corp programs cater mostly to business travel, which is going to repeat, so the loyalty programs become a basic cost saving measure. People who travel frequently may also like them because they come to rely on a couple solid brands when choosing where to stay.
But for one-off experiences, you don't have the business travel. You don't have the brand reliability. The entire reason for going is the one-off experience. So the lack of a loyalty program is not even a consideration for most travelers.
I see why the hotels would want loyalty. I see why the people who runs points programs want this. I just don't see why a traveler would want to sign up, as the lack of a loyalty program is in no way a blocker to their travel.
Great question — and honestly, a fair challenge (you sound like those investors who didn't participate in our seed:)).
You're right that most loyalty programs exist for business travelers. They're retention tools for captive audiences, not real value propositions. We've all seen that.
But here's what the data across Mckinsey/Amex/Chase is actually showing: the travelers who want boutique and independent stays — the ones booking for the experience, not the brand — are still abandoning those properties to stay at a Marriott.
Not because they love Marriott per se, but because they can't get the suite upgrade, the member rate, the late checkout, and the "we know who you are" moment anywhere else.
McKinsey found 60%+ of leisure travelers would pay a premium to stay independent if they could trust the quality and find the properties easily. Chase and Amex are watching their fastest-growing redemption categories shift toward boutique stays. The demand is real. The infrastructure doesn't exist yet.That's exactly the gap Journey is closing.
The traveler booking a safari tent for their dad's 70th birthday isn't thinking about a loyalty program until they realize they could have had a bottle of wine waiting, a room upgrade, points, and a member rate, without giving up a single thing that made that property special.
Big brand programs don't hold people because of the points. They hold people because the points are the only way to get the perks.
Hey all,
I'm one of the founders of Journey — we built a free loyalty program for independent boutique hotels and luxury short-term rentals (Airbnbs).
The problem we're solving: Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt have spent decades locking travelers into their ecosystems with points. But the most interesting properties in the world — the family-run ryokan in Kyoto, the cliffside villa in Santorini, the converted palazzo in Florence — have zero loyalty mechanics.
You stay there, you get nothing back, and there's no reason (beyond the experience) to return or refer friends.
Independent hotels make up ~60% of global hotel inventory but capture almost none of the loyalty spend. That's the gap we're filling.
What Journey is:
Free membership — earn 5x+ points at 2,500+ handpicked boutique hotels and luxury residences worldwide
Properties are curated, not just anyone can list — we're building a quality signal, not an OTA Points are redeemable for stays, upgrades, and experiences at any Journey property.
We're backed by some interesting people in the travel space (like The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly and Chris Burch, Co-Founder of Tory Burch and Nihi Hotels).
Why now: Post-COVID luxury travel is booming, but the big chains haven't meaningfully innovated on loyalty in a decade. Travelers are increasingly seeking authentic, independent properties — but there's been no loyalty infrastructure to support that behavior. Until now.
We're also running a 1,000,000 points giveaway right now for anyone who wants to try the program...takes 2 mins to sign up.
Happy to answer anything about how we built this, the points economics, how we onboard properties, or where we think loyalty is going. Ask me anything.
Cheers! Zach
How have you validated that the travelers care about loyalty programs? The big corp programs cater mostly to business travel, which is going to repeat, so the loyalty programs become a basic cost saving measure. People who travel frequently may also like them because they come to rely on a couple solid brands when choosing where to stay.
But for one-off experiences, you don't have the business travel. You don't have the brand reliability. The entire reason for going is the one-off experience. So the lack of a loyalty program is not even a consideration for most travelers.
I see why the hotels would want loyalty. I see why the people who runs points programs want this. I just don't see why a traveler would want to sign up, as the lack of a loyalty program is in no way a blocker to their travel.
Great question — and honestly, a fair challenge (you sound like those investors who didn't participate in our seed:)).
You're right that most loyalty programs exist for business travelers. They're retention tools for captive audiences, not real value propositions. We've all seen that.
But here's what the data across Mckinsey/Amex/Chase is actually showing: the travelers who want boutique and independent stays — the ones booking for the experience, not the brand — are still abandoning those properties to stay at a Marriott.
Not because they love Marriott per se, but because they can't get the suite upgrade, the member rate, the late checkout, and the "we know who you are" moment anywhere else.
McKinsey found 60%+ of leisure travelers would pay a premium to stay independent if they could trust the quality and find the properties easily. Chase and Amex are watching their fastest-growing redemption categories shift toward boutique stays. The demand is real. The infrastructure doesn't exist yet.That's exactly the gap Journey is closing.
The traveler booking a safari tent for their dad's 70th birthday isn't thinking about a loyalty program until they realize they could have had a bottle of wine waiting, a room upgrade, points, and a member rate, without giving up a single thing that made that property special.
Big brand programs don't hold people because of the points. They hold people because the points are the only way to get the perks.
AtJourney we're working to remove that tradeoff.