AppleInsider Staff
Adding to Apple Pay's expanding footprint, Marriott and Etsy announced separately that they will offer physical and digital support for Apple's payments service in the coming weeks.
This summer, select Marriott properties in the U.S. will kick off a phased introduction of Apple Pay, extending its existing app-based services to touchless payments via iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch.
With Apple Pay, guests can provide payment information via Apple Pay's NFC capabilities, streamlining the check-in process as they will not have to provide credit card details. In addition, Marriott Rewards members can load the loyalty program's co-branded credit card into Apple Pay.
The first batch of Marriott hotels to get Apple Pay include The Ritz-Carlton New York at Central Park, The Ritz-Carlton Washington D.C., EDITION Miami, JW Marriott Chicago, Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel, San Francisco Marriott Marquis, San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront, New York Marriott Downtown, San Jose Marriott, Courtyard Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile, Courtyard Los Angeles L.A. Live and Residence Inn Los Angeles L.A. Live.
Along with iPhone 6 support, Marriott plans to launch an app for Apple Watch that will allow Marriott Rewards member to check-in in advance, receive a notification when their room is ready and checkout at almost 4,000 hotels around the world.
Starwood Hotels rolled out similar capabilities in November.
Popular e-commerce website Etsy also announced it will start processing Apple Pay transactions through its iOS app in the near future. The feature will work in the U.S. on iPhone 6, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. Sellers who accept Direct Checkout, currently available in 22 countries, will be automatically eligible to receive payments via Apple Pay from U.S. buyers
At Apple's "Spring forward" event on Monday, CEO Tim Cook revealed that over 700,000 retailers now accept Apple Pay, up from an initial 220,000 in September. The service is also accepted at some 40,000 Coca Cola vending machines.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
4 Comments
Marriott, by far, has the clunkiest and buggiest iPhone app I've experienced. It's got 1.5 stars on the App Store right now. It takes the thing hours to realize you've checked in, you can't search multiple rate options at once, and you have to keep going back and forth between the screens that keep reloading. Hilton is OK. Starwood is the best (4.5 stars), but they don't have any hotels.
[quote name="konqerror" url="/t/185149/apple-pay-to-land-in-marriott-hotels-this-summer-etsy-ios-app-soon#post_2688976"]Marriott, by far, has the clunkiest and buggiest iPhone app I've experienced. It's got 1.5 stars on the App Store right now. It takes the thing hours to realize you've checked in, you can't search multiple rate options at once, and you have to keep going back and forth between the screens that keep reloading. Hilton is OK. Starwood is the best (4.5 stars), but they don't have any hotels.[/quote] It's worth putting up with the buggy app for the best rewards program on the planet! I wish the airlines would take a look at how Marriott treats its Marriott Reward members. The airlines and telecommunications industries are the most corrupt industries on the planet. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them! (...but LOVE Marriott Rewards!!!) Hmmm.... Off topic. LOL
It's worth putting up with the buggy app for the best rewards program on the planet!
I prefer Hilton for rewards. You get straight miles, and with promotions, I've gotten thousands per stay. For perks, I think Starwood is better, with free booze for giving up housekeeping, and easy corporate status which entitles you to upgrades.
[quote name="konqerror" url="/t/185149/apple-pay-to-land-in-marriott-hotels-this-summer-etsy-ios-app-soon#post_2689156"] I prefer Hilton for rewards. You get straight miles, and with promotions, I've gotten thousands per stay. For perks, I think Starwood is better, with free booze for giving up housekeeping, and easy corporate status which entitles you to upgrades. [/quote] I've been travelling for business for 15 years now. The first year I did it, I split my stays between Hilton and Marriott properties and did a full analysis (of the pieces that are important to me) on both rewards programs. As far as the hotel chains themselves are concerned, I found that Marriott was much more consistent from property to property and city to city. Hilton was more of a hit and miss experience for me. Some properties were extremely nice, elegant and luxurious. Others were "meh". After an extende stint at the Newark Airport Hilton, I switched to Marriott permanently. The Newark Airport Hilton is probably the lowest quality Hilton I've ever stayed at (at the time). In the 14 years since, I havent ever regretted the decision to fully commit to Marriott. And as for the rewards - Hilton definitely lets you accumulate points faster than Marriott, however the Marriott points are worth more. The best value you'll ever get from a hotel rewards program is on free stays. Using your points for merchandise or gift certificates gives you the least value for your points. I'm Platinum Premier with Marriott and I earn 10 points per dollar spent, plus a 50% bonus for my status level. I also carry the Marriott Rewards credit card which gives me another 5 or 10 points per dollar spent at Marriott properties, 3 points per dollar for restaurant and gas station expenses and 1 point per dollar for everything else. Now converting those points to something of value... It normally costs 3 Marriott points to get 1 airline point - UNLESS you purchase their "travel package" - it gives you a 7-night hotel stay and let's you covert up to 150,000 points to miles at a 1:1 ratio. It's a phenomenal deal. When I book a reward stay at a Marriott property, the points I use cover the entire stay (room and tax) plus I still get all the benefits of being a Platinum member - a welcome gift, a complimentary room upgrade, late checkout if I like, etc. Conversely, when I use airline points to book a reward flight, the points only cover the basic flight. I still have to pay cash for all the taxes, fuel surcharges, etc - and it doesn't matter what your status level is with the airline...they treat you like dirt because you're traveling on a "free" ticket. If your flight gets cancelled, you're the last person they'll rebook and you can't use any upgrade certificates you've earned and that you may have on-file. If my "free" hotel stay includes all of the taxes associated with the room, why cant ny "free" airline ticket also include the taxes? Because the airlines are assholes and they will take every chance they get to screw you out of another nickle. I've stayed in a couple Starwood properties during vacations when there was no Marriott property nearby and I've always found the Westin and Sheraton to be very nice hotels - but again, to really maximize the value of the rewards program, you really need to pick a program and stay within that brand as much as possible. Twice in the last 8 years, I've done 30-day vacations to Asia (3 different countries each trip) and flown business class and stayed in JW Marriott or Renaissance properties and paid for all of the flights and hotels stays using nothing but Marriott points. The only thing I needed cash for was for meals and entertainment. End rant. :) End sales pitch. :D