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Marriott International will become the first major hotel chain to accept Apple Pay at check-in.
Marriott International will become the first major hotel chain to accept Apple Pay at check-in. The company said it will allow customers to use Apple Pay starting this summer at some of 11 of its hotels in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago, including some of its Ritz-Carltons, Courtyard, Residence Inn, and Edition brands. 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, reports AppleInsider. 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. Apple Pay is a service available on the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and will also be available on the Apple Watch when it hits stores in April. Apple Pay was unveiled last fall and has been gaining acceptance among retailers and credit card issuers. But it is not as widely available as traditional credit cards since it requires a contactless reader, reports CNN Money. 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. "Approximately 75 percent of our guests travel with one or more mobile devices, and it is even higher among 25-35 year olds – a group that will make up a much larger proportion of our guests over the next three years," said George Corbin, senior vice president, Marriott Digital, told the Washington Business Journal. |
