Avis UK is First Car Hire Company to Give Holiday Travellers Real Perks for Virtual Facebook Places Sharing, Tweets, & Foursquare Check-Ins

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Holiday travel season is upon us: Long lines, cancelled flights, and packed hotels. Through it all, many travelers will be documenting their experiences from their mobile phones on services like Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter. Why not get something tangible in return for all your travel sharing? Topguest is a new service that gives you real hotel points, air miles, and elite travel rewards automatically for your virtual sharing with services like Facebook Places, Foursquare, and Twitter. Just in time for the holiday travel rush, Topguest has launched multiple partnerships in the United Kingdom, including Avis Care Hire UK – the first rental car company in the world to offer a real reward to customers in exchange for their virtual check-ins. Other Topguest partners in the UK include InterContinental Hotel Group, Priority Club, Hilton HHonors, and Doubletree Hotels; plus select Red Carnation, Radisson Edwardian, and Mandarin Oriental Hotels.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101201/SF10617)

Get real travel points, miles, and perks for your virtual check-ins with all major apps* !

Founded only five months ago, Topguest now gives UK travellers bonus points from real programs – plus special perks – at nearly 10,000 hotel, airport, car hire, and restaurant venues around the world; simply for virtually checking in on your mobile phone. Some of the many new rewards available exclusively to Topguests this holiday travel season include:

• 10% off your rental at Avis UK car hire locations
• 50 bonus Priority Club points for check-ins at Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, and other IHG hotels
• 50 bonus Hilton HHonors points for each check-in at all Doubletree properties, including theWit in Chicago
• A 25%-off Bed & Breakfast Gift from Doubletree to give a Facebook friend after you check in
• 50 bonus Wyndham Rewards points for each check-in at Wingate by Wyndham properties
• $20 On-Property Food & Beverage Credit or other benefit after your fifth check-in at select Red Carnation, Radisson Edwardian, Shangri-La, Swissotel, Mandarin Oriental, Movenpick, Regent and Husa hotel properties internationally
• 15% off a room reservation after 5 check-ins at any Thompson Hotel venue - including on-premises restaurants and bars such as hotspots BondSt in Los Angeles and Shang in New York

"We believe top guests deserve special perks automatically when they share their travels virtually. We're thrilled that diverse hotel, airline, restaurant, and car hire companies are integrating with Topguest to award real value for digital loyalty. We're also pleased to welcome Avis UK as the first car hire company in the world to give real rewards for virtual check-ins," said Geoffrey Lewis, Co-Founder and CEO of Topguest.

New iPhone & Android applications make benefiting from Topguest easy and automatic

The easy and free way to become a member of Topguest is to simply download their new iPhone or Android application, open it, and click the "Connect" button. The Topguest application will notify you in real time whenever you receive a Topguest reward, as well as provide an easy way for you to manage, track and redeem your rewards on your mobile device. To unlock bonus points and perks simply check-in at any Topguest Partner location with Facebook Places, Foursquare or other major apps*; the participating partners nearest to you are always viewable on the "Top Spots" tab.

*Includes Facebook Places, Foursquare, Gowalla, Twitter

About Topguest

Topguest provides geo-smart customer relationship management solutions to leading hotels, airlines, restaurants, bars and rental-car companies. Topguest is the only service that links existing loyalty programs with smartphones to reward members, incentivize action, and engage in realtime digital dialogue with high value customers during trip. Topguest's consumer applications for iPhone and Android are the only way to get real hotel points, air miles, and travel perks for your check-ins with Facebook Places, Foursquare, Gowalla, Twitter, or Brightkite. The Company is backed by notable Silicon Valley investors including Founders Fund, Ron Conway, Keith Rabois, Naval Ravikant and Jeff Clavier. Peter Thiel, the first investor in Facebook, is an Advisor. Topguest is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area.

www.topguest.com | www.facebook.com/topguest | www.twitter.com/topguest

SOURCE Topguest