Hotels.com used to have the most compelling hotel rewards program for those who don’t want to be loyal to a specific hotel group. Major changes were just implemented to this, and it’s very bad news. For most people, rewards have been cut by around 80%, which is brutal.
While this was first announced a few months back, I wanted to post an update, as the changes have been implemented as of July 6, 2023.
How the Hotels.com Rewards program used to work
Let’s start with some context. Hotels.com Rewards was the name of the popular online travel agency’s rewards program. Prior to this change, the program was simple and extremely rewarding. Hotels.com Rewards essentially offered a reward of 10% for your hotel spending:
- For every 10 nights stayed, you got one night free; this came in the form of each night getting you a “stamp,” and 10 stamps getting you a free night
- The value of your free night was equal to the average of your spending over those 10 nights
- You could choose which night you redeem for, so it didn’t have to be your 11th night; if you redeemed at a hotel costing less than the average amount you didn’t get a refund, while if you redeemed at a hotel costing more than the average amount, you just had to pay the difference (so that was the better option)
Hotels.com Rewards wasn’t for everyone, in the sense that you were giving up points with your preferred hotel loyalty program when you booked this way. Personally I prefer booking directly with hotels (or through a program like Virtuoso, where stays are considered qualifying), so that I earn points and can take advantage of elite perks. However, being able to earn the equivalent of a 10% reward on your spending on virtually any hotel stay (even at hotels without their own loyalty program) was quite a solid opportunity.
Hotels.com Rewards transitions to One Key
As of July 6, 2023, Hotels.com, Expedia, and Vrbo, have launched a new rewards program, called One Key. The new rewards currency is referred to as OneKeyCash, and it covers all three brands.
Unfortunately this isn’t just a branding change, but it also represents a massive adjustment to the value proposition of the program:
- One Key members earn 2% in OneKeyCash for every dollar spent on eligible hotels, vacation rentals, activities, packages, rental cars, and cruises, and 0.2% OneKeyCash for every dollar spent on eligible flights
- For stays at “eligible VIP Access properties,” Silver members earn a 50% bonus, Gold members earn a 100% bonus, and Platinum members earn a 200% bonus
With the new program having just launched, the value of your “stamps” should automatically transition to the new program. In other words, if you had $100 worth of rewards, you’d still have that with the new program.
Suffice it to say that this represents a massive gutting of Hotels.com Rewards. Savvy travelers go from earning the equivalent of a 10% reward on their stays, to earning the equivalent of 2% back on their stays. While you can earn up to 6% on some stays, this requires being Platinum, and only applies at “eligible VIP Access properties.”
Hotels.com is marketing this as a positive (as you’d expect), arguing that this program is simplified, and that you no longer need to stay 10 nights to be able to redeem.
Bottom line
Hotels.com Rewards has been discontinued in favor of One Key, a new unified loyalty program being offered by Hotels.com, Expedia, and Vrbo. Hotels.com Rewards was a favorite program among many travelers, given that it essentially offered a 10% reward on hotel stays. With the new program, that has been slashed to 2%.
This is a major loss, given that Hotels.com Rewards was quite a competitor to hotels’ own loyalty programs.
What do you make of Hotels.com Rewards transitioning to One Key?
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