Can Loyalty Points Transform Travel Metasearch? A Japanese Case Study

Industry observers have said it for years: Eventually, travel metasearch will evolve beyond being price comparison and click-through sites. The change is already nipping at the heels of the old metasearch model with Google tightening its grip around the travel search-and-refer game and with online travel agencies under pressure to reform “lowest-price” practices.

Lowest-price marketing may be coming to a head. Within the past two months, consumer and competition watchdogs from Singapore, Japan, and the United Kingdom have called on travel booking sites to clean up their act on misleading price and discount displays. Japan’s Fair Trade Commission earlier in the year probed major online travel agencies (OTAs) alleged to have pressured hotels into offering their lowest prices on their platforms, among other practices.

In the increasingly murky and crowded realm of price comparison, Line Travel Japan aims to differentiate itself by launching its own loyalty points system, on top of the points awarded by the online travel company the consumer books with.