A leading website on loyalty intelligence, Colloquy, reports that the pooling of points with friends, family members and charities with a rewards program increases loyalty and usage.  They quote “The Share the Love: 2014 Consumer Study” with statistics that proved the point. 70% of respondents would shop more often and 45% would spend more if sharing of their reward points were allowed.  Citibank and JetBlue are cited as examples of companies that are allowing sharing.  3RD HOME was created to allow individuals to get more value from their vacation home investment by sharing it with others.  We agree that sharing increases utility!

Steve Zacks, 3RD HOME

Hoteliers, in the news, commenting on the impact of the shared economy,  have been debating whether such stays, including those by members of 3RD HOME the luxury vacation home exchange, are incremental trips, or replacing stays normally made at hotels.  Based on the thousands of trips 3RD HOME has facilitated we can state with certainty that both are true.

Our members love the fact that they can exchange unused weeks in their luxury vacation homes for stays at similar accommodations around the world and save thousands per trip. The lower cost of travel makes our members more spontaneous and increases the number of vacations taken per year.

At the same time, the ability to stay in a  home creates a different type of vacation experience that replaces a traditional hotel stay.  The large shared spaces of a home, as compared to a hotel, make for great multi-family, multi-couple, and multi-generational trips. And many travelers enjoy the local experience that can be achieved by staying in a home.  Many home owners will share their expert advice to allow their guests to truly live like locals.  And the cost of a luxury home exchange via 3RD HOME barely dents the wallet compared to several hotel rooms at an equivalent resort.

Does the shared economy, and reciprocal travel clubs like 3RD HOME, increase travel occasions or simply replace trips that otherwise would have been taken?  The answer is not one or the other, it is “both.”

Steve Zacks, 3RD HOME

I noted two very interesting findings in a recent study on Affluent Travelers by Google and Ipsos MediaCT.

First, 48% of affluent travelers plan to research or use peer-to-peer sharing alternatives to traditional hotels and or car rental services in the next year.

Second, the internet and family, friends and colleagues are the most important sources of inspiration for personal travel, with 76% and 75% respectively rating them as extremely or very important.  At the same time, however, only 27% of this same affluent traveler group have posted a review of the places they have been.

Affluent travelers with luxury second homes can satisfy their interest in peer to peer sharing, stay at luxury residences around the world, and save thousands of dollars per trip, plus view unedited testimonials from other affluent travelers at 3rdhome.com.

Steve Zacks, 3RD HOME

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