Brands
Marriott & Singapore Airlines enhance partnership for member benefits
Mumbai: Marriott International and Singapore Airlines (SIA) today announced the strengthening of their strategic partnership, which provides members of Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott International’s award-winning travel programme, and KrisFlyer, the SIA Group’s lifestyle rewards programme, with more ways to maximise their benefits.
Starting today, eligible members of the two programmes may receive a status match and take advantage of an accelerated pathway to obtain a higher elite status. The expansion of this collaboration is in addition to the two-way points and miles transfer benefits for members of both programmes that were announced in January 2023, and allows them to convert their Marriott Bonvoy points into KrisFlyer miles and vice versa.
Marriott International chief sales and marketing officer, Asia Pacific excluding China, John Toomey said: “We are thrilled to announce the expansion of our collaboration with Singapore Airlines, providing members with added value to make the most of their travels and enjoy exclusive benefits across Marriott Bonvoy’s extensive global network of nearly 8,700 hotels and resorts spanning over 30 distinct brands. This is a significant milestone that not only marks the extension of our global airline programme but also reaffirms our commitment to continuously enhance our approach to customer loyalty.”
Singapore Airlines’ acting senior vice president of marketing planning Dai Haoyu said: “Strengthening our partnership with Marriott allows KrisFlyer members to unlock even greater benefits while enjoying more ways to earn and redeem their points and miles. This comes at an opportune time amid the strong demand for international travel. With this enhancement, our members can look forward to better value, as well as more accrual and redemption opportunities that match their evolving lifestyle interests.”
Details of the enhanced benefits include:
. Status match: Members will be able to enjoy elite status matches according to the elite tiers of both programmes. Solitaire PPS Club, PPS Club, and KrisFlyer Elite Gold members will receive a status match to Marriott Bonvoy Gold, while Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador members will receive a status match to the KrisFlyer Elite Silver tier.
. Marriott Bonvoy Elite status benefits may include room upgrades, late check-outs, bonus points, welcome gifts, and more. KrisFlyer Elite status benefits may include bonus miles, complimentary seat selection for customers flying with Singapore Airlines, complimentary lounge access, priority check-in and boarding, additional baggage allowance, and more.
. Accelerated Pathways to Higher Membership Tiers: Eligible Marriott Bonvoy members can accelerate the upgrade of their KrisFlyer membership to higher tiers by completing as few as two to four flights with SIA within six months. Similarly, eligible KrisFlyer members can achieve accelerated status matches with Marriott Bonvoy by staying three to 10 nights at any participating Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotels, within six months.
. Access to Exclusive Promotions: Marriott Bonvoy and KrisFlyer will periodically launch exclusive campaigns where members can earn both miles and points through their hotel stay and flights. More details will be announced in due course.
Brands
UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
