Based on the major upgrades to Wyndham’s mobile app, drive-to travel and contactless hotel experiences are here to stay.
Wyndham’s mobile app overhaul — launched this week at Skift Global Forum — includes mobile check-in and check-out, digital room key technology, and a three-tap “Lightning Book” reservation feature designed for drive-to travel. Lightning Book shows mobile app users the nearest Wyndham-branded hotels and allows them to quickly book via loyalty points or connected credit card while en route.
While Wyndham’s upgrade may seem in line with with what most major branded hotel apps offer, the company claims its tech evolution is significant due to its reach to more economy and midscale hotels.
Wyndham’s app update is a significant boost to its economy and extended-stay brands like Hawthorn Suites and Days Inn, where travelers may not expect to find the same contactless tech features of a full-service Hilton or Marriott.
But how groundbreaking is the app? Hilton and Marriott’s apps offer similar contactless features, which extend to their own extended-stay and midscale brands.
While Wyndham’s app may be in line with some existing hotel tech, Richie Karaburun, a professor at New York University’s Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality, recognizes it is still significant to see such technology arrive to economy brands.
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