From humble beginnings to industry leaders, the iSeatz story is one of driving change, sustained growth, and an unwavering vision. Founded in 1999 as a restaurant reservations platform by Kenneth Purcell, who continues to lead the company today as its Chief Executive Officer, iSeatz’s natural expansion has taken the company into the realm of tours, activities, and broader travel bookings, and we have continued to evolve and innovate since.
Pioneering Initiatives, Industry Excellence
Over the past 25 years, we have achieved some significant milestones, such as pioneering third-party ancillary services in the booking path with Delta in 2007— a first in the airline sector during its business model shift towards unbundled services. Since launching in 2012, our ongoing partnership has helped American Express Travel become one of the largest global travel distributors and the “gold standard” for reward travel. In subsequent years, iSeatz continued diversifying its offerings and expanding into new markets. The introduction of the IHG Hotels & Resorts Trip Extras platform in 2016 and the Wyndham Hotels & Resorts ancillary platform in 2018 demonstrated iSeatz's commitment to providing comprehensive solutions for the hospitality industry, including enabling Wyndham and IHG to become the first hotels to offer loyalty-integrated food delivery.
Our technology continues to be the foundation of some of the world’s most widely-recognized and best-loved travel loyalty programs. Since our first Travel-as-a-Service platform launched in 2008, we have powered nearly 40 million bookings for over 65 million travelers and processed more than 928 billion total loyalty points.
A Leader in Lifestyle Rewards and Results
During the pandemic, our focus on lifestyle rewards provided crucial touchpoints for brands to engage with consumers while they could not travel. We enabled hotel and travel loyalty programs to offer unique and tailored earning and redemption opportunities beyond typical travel activities. These non-travel rewards encouraged members to interact with their favorite brands, maintaining a vital connection between brands and their most valued customers through travel bans and lockdowns.
As travel demand enters its third consecutive boom year, the lifestyle rewards we have developed are becoming more influential than ever. They are not just perks; they shape how people plan their trips and feel about the brands they interact with. Brands that implement these rewards strategically offer a unique edge in a crowded market, turning customer engagement into significant revenue streams. Notably, brands can increase customer lifetime value (CLV) by a factor of five by utilizing our travel and lifestyle portfolio.
The Preferred and Trusted Partner for Travel Loyalty
We help brands achieve this by being a “one-stop shop” that enables brands to integrate everything from first-class flights to fitness classes and easily configure their offering for point earning, redemption, or direct travel purchases. We manage all financial reconciliation and supplier relationships, maintaining a supplier-agnostic approach; our partners can preserve their existing relationships and benefits while creating a more consistent and connected brand experience by incorporating those offerings directly into their booking platforms.
Our ongoing journey has positioned iSeatz as a trusted partner for lifestyle and travel rewards and bookings, continually shaping the future of travel loyalty and its technology.
Learn more about the iSeatz story in our next post, where we discuss our latest solution, LXPTM, and how our commitment to innovation has positioned us to lead the industry and set the standard for travel loyalty excellence in the years ahead.
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You can also learn more about iSeatz by contacting us at marketing@iseatz.com.