Loyalty Truth

The online travel industry has been in an uproar over the past week.

Expedia announced it would purchase Orbitz for $1.34 billion, and now Priceline is rumored to be working on the acquisition of Rocketmiles, a hotel-booking site, for an estimated $20 million.

The sale is not yet confirmed however the rumors highlight how valuable the prize has become for online travel booking sites to win market share as a go-to hub for consumer travel needs.

Rocketmiles rewards users for booking hotels with the lure of airline miles. Through partnership with a variety of airlines and hotels, the site provides consumers with multiple outlets for earning and redeeming points. The magic seems to lie in the algorithms Rocketmiles has created to somehow offer hotel nights at competitive prices in the online channel, while being able to offer hefty chunks of airline miles to the customers who book nights on the site.

Priceline customers stand to benefit from the additional benefits generated using the Rocketmiles service, or may just incorporate Rocketmiles into their portfolio of brands, thereby offering more choice to Priceline customers.