This summer, Marriott International will begin offering Apple Pay as a payment alternative to credit cards in a trial at 11 US hotels.
It's the first global hospitality conglomerate to make the move. Last month, JetBlue became the first US airline to introduce Apple Pay as a payment method.
Marriott will install contactless readers at the front desks. Guests will be able to use Apple Pay at check-in, via their iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, or soon, Apple Watch.
Members of the chain's loyalty program who have its co-branded credit card can load it into Apple Pay and designate it as their primary card to earn Marriott Rewards points.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based company expects to start rolling out Apple Pay this summer beginning at these eleven hotels:
• The Ritz-Carlton New York, 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
• Courtyard Chicago Downtown/North River
• San Jose Marriott
• Courtyard Los Angeles L.A. Live
• Residence Inn Los Angeles L.A. Live
In related news, the global chain has created an app for the Apple Watch. Loyalty program members will be able to use the app to check-in in advance, receive prior notification when their room is ready, and checkout at almost 4,000 hotels worldwide.
The move follows an experiment involving Apple's iBeacons, a tool that extends location awareness to Bluetooth-powered signals placed locally. (See: Marriott and EasyJet each try tracing travelers’ whereabouts, via iBeacon.)
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