Recently, Alipay officially launched its own global luxury hotel perks program, Alipay Member Hotels & Resorts Program (AMHR) , which is one of Alipay's benefits programs. From the name, it appears to be modeled on AMEX FHR. At the moment, AMHR is only open to Alipay Diamond and Platinum members. For most readers in the U.S., these two tiers are fairly hard to achieve; for readers in China, Platinum is not too difficult.

  • Entry: Alipay App → Me → Alipay Membership → All Privileges → Hotel Privileges. If your tier is not high enough, you can see it, but you cannot enter it.
  • For Alipay's membership system, you can refer to this post.

Perks

Similar to FHR-style hotel bookings, you can enjoy the following benefits:

  • Room upgrade (subject to availability on the day)
  • Free breakfast for two
  • $100 on-property credit per stay
  • Early check-in and late check-out (subject to availability on the day)
  • SNP accrual (subject to hotel policy)

FHR allows SNP accrual. Bookings made through Alipay are theoretically in the OTA category (probably Fliggy?) , so it will likely be difficult to earn SNPs. This needs to be tested in practice.

  • Alipay Platinum members can book up to 6 times per calendar year;
  • Alipay Diamond members have unlimited bookings each year

Partner Hotels

The first batch of partner hotels is not large, and they are all luxury hotels, as follows:

  • Conrad (Hilton)
  • Waldorf Astoria (Hilton)
  • Six Senses (IHG)
  • InterContinental (IHG)
  • SLH (Hyatt partner)
  • Mandarin Oriental
  • The Peninsula Hotels
  • Rosewood
  • LHW
  • Preferred Hotels & Resorts
  • Aman
  • One & Only
  • Dorchester Collection
  • Rocco Forte

Review

Marriott's relationship with Alibaba should be better, and you can also do a fast-track status challenge (see this post), so it's surprising that none of the initial hotels are from Marriott.

FHR almost guarantees at least a one-category room upgrade, early check-in, and late check-out, while AMHR only offers those based on availability.

SNP is a very important factor in whether this program can attract hotel loyalty members, and AMHR does not guarantee it.

Platinum and Diamond membership levels are relatively difficult for overseas Alipay users to reach.