Hotels.com currently has the most compelling hotel rewards program for those who don’t want to be loyal to a specific hotel group. Major changes are coming to this, and it’s very bad news. For most people, rewards will be cut by around 80%, which is brutal.
In this post:
How the Hotels.com Rewards program works
Let’s start with some context. Hotels.com Rewards is the name of the popular online travel agency’s rewards program. Up until now, the program has been simple and extremely rewarding. Hotels.com Rewards essentially offers a reward of 10% for your hotel spending:
- For every 10 nights you stay, you get one night free; this comes in the form of each night getting you a “stamp,” and 10 stamps gets you a free night
- The value of your free night is equal to the average of your spending over those 10 nights
- You can choose which night you redeem for, so it doesn’t have to be your 11th night; if you redeem at a hotel costing less than the average amount you don’t get a refund, while if you redeem at a hotel costing more than the average amount, you’ll just have to pay the difference (so that’s the better option)
Hotels.com Rewards isn’t for everyone, in the sense that you’re giving up points with your preferred hotel loyalty program when you book this way. Personally I prefer booking that way, 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) is quite a solid opportunity.
Hotels.com Rewards transitions to One Key
As of July 6, 2023, Hotels.com, Expedia, and Vrbo, will be launching a new rewards program, called One Key. The new rewards currency will be 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 will 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 will earn a 50% bonus, Gold members will earn a 100% bonus, and Platinum members will earn a 200% bonus
When the new program is formed, the value of your “stamps” will transition to the new program. In other words, if you had $100 worth of rewards, you’ll still have that with the new program.
Suffice it to say that this represents a massive gutting of Hotels.com Rewards. Savvy travelers will 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 will be discontinued in favor of One Key, a new unified loyalty program being offered by Hotels.com, Expedia, and Vrbo. Hotels.com Rewards has been a favorite program among many travelers, given that it essentially offers a 10% reward on hotel stays. With the new program, that will be slashed to 2%.
This is a major loss, given that Hotels.com Rewards was quite a competitor to hotels’ own loyalty programs. That won’t be the case anymore as of July 6, 2023, unfortunately.
What do you make of Hotels.com Rewards transitioning to One Key?
(Tip of the hat to Russ)
Same - used hotel.com over bookings.com and Expedia solely because
Of the rewards program.
The purpose of a loyalty program - building loyalty - worked on me. Not feeling so loyal any more……bookings.com and Expedia - here i come!!!
The new logo for hotels.com sucks too.
They need to fire their new marketing team.
What I hate is you are forced to use it. I tried to book a month in the keys with a credit card. It would not let me until I joined .. I dont want to join. so screw you vrbo Ill go air b&b
I've used Hotels.com for decades for the great rewards program they offered. The new plan is totally lame and provides minimal incentive to continue to book through them.
Do stays booked before the changeover date, but not yet stayed, still get the 10%, or if you booked before they changed the rate on a webpage that said the old reward would apply, are you safe.
I fear I have to start moving my future bookings!
I wonder if they will bring it back after their sales crater?
Or will another competitor see this huge opportunity?
I book primarily through Hotel.com because of their rewards program too and hate that they are changing it. :(
My husband travels for his job and has always used hotels.com. With this new rewards program he will no longer be loyal to the company. Hilton rewards here we come!
I just read this. While we have been Hotels.com rewards members for years, and used free hotel nights, arguably the pricing WASN'T always the best deal, but about $20 or more per night than booking directly with hotel, so that over 10 nights you had actually already paid for that "free" night by paying slightly more.
I was loyal to Hotels.com out of habit and ease of booking, but sometimes the hotels I booked...
I just read this. While we have been Hotels.com rewards members for years, and used free hotel nights, arguably the pricing WASN'T always the best deal, but about $20 or more per night than booking directly with hotel, so that over 10 nights you had actually already paid for that "free" night by paying slightly more.
I was loyal to Hotels.com out of habit and ease of booking, but sometimes the hotels I booked had problems (misrepresentations of the hotel itself online, quality issues) and changing hotels, or getting adjustments, was always a problem as it was 3rd party booking and pre-paid.
Bottom line, no big deal to me that this program is going away. Now I don't feel compelled to book through Hotels.com as I get NOTHING of value in return.
I agree that this guts the Rewards Program. I have booked for years with Hotels.com, and spend easily 50-60 nights a year in hotels. Going from around a 10% reward to 2% will definitely have me looking for a new provider.
Booking consistently gets me 20% as level 3 genius.
And has a wider selection.
I have avoided such travel agencies after poor experience in the past. I think it is not difficult to maintain status with at least one hotel group so at least there are benefits when I stay in their properties. As long as I maintain the minimum number of nights, it's fine. It is no surprise this has happened because while good for the customers, it probably cost the company a lot of money.
@Ben small math correction. Stay 10 nights get 1 free is 9.09% back (ie 1/11) not 10% back (that would be stay 9 get 1 night free).
You'd normally be right, BUT he states: "You can choose which night you redeem for, so it doesn’t have to be your 11th night; if you redeem at a hotel costing less than the average amount you don’t get a refund, while if you redeem at a hotel costing more than the average amount, you’ll just have to pay the difference (so that’s the better option)."
It's a Certificate for the average of the following...
You'd normally be right, BUT he states: "You can choose which night you redeem for, so it doesn’t have to be your 11th night; if you redeem at a hotel costing less than the average amount you don’t get a refund, while if you redeem at a hotel costing more than the average amount, you’ll just have to pay the difference (so that’s the better option)."
It's a Certificate for the average of the following 10 nights. So it is 10%. You stay at a $1000 a night property for 10 nights, you get a $1000 refund or a $1000 a night voucher where you can pay the difference for a higher priced hotel.
Was definitely a full 10% here.
Benjamin I think you're missing his point. The timing of the 11th night doesn't matter, all that matters is you NEED to book an 11th night in order to secure the benefit. And you don't earn a credit towards a free stay when using the free stay certificate. That means that the base for the calculation is 11 nights, not 10, and it's effectively a 9.09% discount. It would only be a 10% discount if...
Benjamin I think you're missing his point. The timing of the 11th night doesn't matter, all that matters is you NEED to book an 11th night in order to secure the benefit. And you don't earn a credit towards a free stay when using the free stay certificate. That means that the base for the calculation is 11 nights, not 10, and it's effectively a 9.09% discount. It would only be a 10% discount if you could redeem that free night for cash without any requirement to book another night.
It *might* be more accurate to say a 10% return of value, if you value that credit at face value. But given that you don't earn a stamp towards another free night when redeeming a free night, it would be a little disingenuous to value that at face value. After all, if you didn't use the credit, you'd be earning the "discount." Hopefully this explanation is helpful in expressing why the 10% number is fallacy.
By the way I often see this error in all facets of these blogs and points & miles discussions. Another example is if a card gives you 5x points for something, and you value those points at 2 cents per point, someone might say you're getting a 10% "discount" effectively. But you're not really, because most of the time you're transferring to a partner and redeeming the miles that way, and then that trip doesn't earn you credit card points or miles from whatever airline program you're flying. So you have to discount that 10% some. But I digress.
Either way, it was a great program that I got a lot of value from and I'm sad to see it go.
Another thing is, you only get 10% back on the cost of the stay, and not the taxes and fees. Sometimes the taxes and fees could be 20% of your stay.
If you have 10 nights at a hypothetical $100 + $20 in fees each, the $1200 spend actually only nets a $100 free night.
All of these OTAs like hotels.com are slightly dodgy in the way they make charges. Ever wondered why you dont get tax receipts on bookings made by them?
I have stayed using hotels.com twice and they screwed me over both times. First time I had 2 stays at a hotel, cancelled one but sis the other stay. They withdrew the nights I guess confuisngbyhe stays. Second time they communicated the wrong date to the hotel. The hotel called me when I didn’t show and we fixed. Same deal hotels withdrew the night. Basically I consider them an incompetent scam artist.
Anyone who is upset over this is someone who is still using Hotels.com. And, anyone who is still using Hotels.com has not already figured out that one's "free" night is actually being paid via less than transparent fees paid to Hotels.com. In short, they've been duped. What is astonishing is that no travel expert has seemed to uncover these less than transparent fees and what's really going on.
This isn't universally true. I used hotels.com a lot, but I would always cross-check the price of a room (with all fees and taxes included) vs. the cost on the hotel's own website and other travel sites. Then I would only book if the price was the same (or maybe in some cases marginally higher if the 10% implied reward still justified booking there). Maybe others were duped into just blindly booking on hotels.com (probably...
This isn't universally true. I used hotels.com a lot, but I would always cross-check the price of a room (with all fees and taxes included) vs. the cost on the hotel's own website and other travel sites. Then I would only book if the price was the same (or maybe in some cases marginally higher if the 10% implied reward still justified booking there). Maybe others were duped into just blindly booking on hotels.com (probably the case for some people at least), but as with all things, if you paid attention there was good value to be had.
I understand exactly what you're saying. But, in your comment, you've missed something. A person cannot simply look at the price paid. Why would that be do you suppose?
Yep. The price per night through Hotels.com was always a bit higher than booking with hotel directly, so after 10 nights you'd essentially already bought that "free night" by paying more.
Since at the end of the day they are just a lodging wholesaler and at most they are earning a 20% commission on the nightly rate on each reservation. So they are losing closing to half of their revenue on customers who are efficient at cashing in their free nights.
-Additionally if each savvy customer is stacking with shopping portal at 3% (15% of hotels.com actual revenue).
-Then if hotels.com is also processing...
Since at the end of the day they are just a lodging wholesaler and at most they are earning a 20% commission on the nightly rate on each reservation. So they are losing closing to half of their revenue on customers who are efficient at cashing in their free nights.
-Additionally if each savvy customer is stacking with shopping portal at 3% (15% of hotels.com actual revenue).
-Then if hotels.com is also processing the transactions they are on the hook for another 2-3% expense for cc fees.
-Lastly these OTA's are built on top of massive ad spending.
The program works great for guest that are not booking random brands to have a strong rewards program to tap, but as a business this is a very expensive way to maintain a customer base in a high interest rate environment.
That is in assumption that everyone accumulates and uses their rewards (requires 10 nights with the current program). I am guessing very significant percentage of their users never accumulate 10 nights or forget about it and let the free night expire
Hotels can also be booked through Expedia.With the same One Key reward
Expedia clearly doesn't want Hotels.com to survive.
Same company
I used hotels.com exactly for this reward. It is gone, so no point in using it. Way to destroy a brand.
I've used hotels.com for many years, solely for their loyalty reward program. NO MORE!!!.
Kind of weird that Hotels.com still says you'll receive stamps for stays after 7/6.
I have bookings out to January, that still say "You'll collect 1 stamp by Jan 5, 2024 after your stay in _____"
I doubt it, but can you just not become a One Key Member? The terms all make mention to "on or after the date you become a One Key member". I'm guessing they'll do an automatic force change. But...
Kind of weird that Hotels.com still says you'll receive stamps for stays after 7/6.
I have bookings out to January, that still say "You'll collect 1 stamp by Jan 5, 2024 after your stay in _____"
I doubt it, but can you just not become a One Key Member? The terms all make mention to "on or after the date you become a One Key member". I'm guessing they'll do an automatic force change. But just odd that Hotels.com is still saying on the site that you'll receive stamps for stays that are after 7/6.
My guess is they haven't changed over the wording in all the relevant parts of the website/app. Since they've stated that any stays after the changeover will be at the new rate, regardless of when the stay was booked, I'm proceeding with the assumption that is true by being less-preferential to using Hotels.com for stays in July and beyond. If they change their mind or their changeover doesn't work properly, that's just icing on the cake.
Hotels.com was my default site for hotels. No longer. I can use the Capital One travel portal and the Venture X card to get 10x points. Even the Citi Travel portal and Citi Premier card is offering 10x points. I do like to look of the Hotels.com website more than Capital One. I plan to shop on Hotels.com but book on Cap One or Citi.
Hotels.com basically will lose my business based on this. That was their major benefit.
Going to another program. By
Not sure why people like getting 10 nights just to earn a free night, with One key it clearly says we can redeem out free night anytime we want. I hated getting 10 nights, i guess if i had alot of money like it seem like everyone here has lol, i wouldn't mind it. But being on a budget and only booking for a few nights every few months, i would want to use my...
Not sure why people like getting 10 nights just to earn a free night, with One key it clearly says we can redeem out free night anytime we want. I hated getting 10 nights, i guess if i had alot of money like it seem like everyone here has lol, i wouldn't mind it. But being on a budget and only booking for a few nights every few months, i would want to use my free night value when i want too to help save on money when i want to book for 2 or 4 nights.
Also the current reward system sucks. I'm a gold member and membership features , where? Only with the expensive hotels over 1,000 a night do you see being a gold member have its benefits , but only in early checkins . I would assume being a silver or gold member will give you like 30% or 70% hotel prices, but i barely see any discounts. Worthless program right now.
Maybe one key will be the answer I'm looking forward and they will improved on it.
You do have the possibility of freely redeeming.But the reward has changed from 10% to 2%. This should be pretty obvious if it's good or bad.
I will no longer use Hotels.com there is no incentive to use this site. I really enjoyed being their customer always had a pleasant experience with their customer service. I never use VRBO they charge way to many fees and not a good value. So sas Hotels.com has done this.
I have been using Hotels.com for many years and a gold member. Have been for about 7 years. That means I book a lot through hotels.com. The only reason use the service is precisely because of the rewards program. Take that away and I'll be better off going back to hotel specific loyalty programs. It was the Hotels.com rewards program of one free night after 10 stays that switched me from hotel specific loyalty programs...
I have been using Hotels.com for many years and a gold member. Have been for about 7 years. That means I book a lot through hotels.com. The only reason use the service is precisely because of the rewards program. Take that away and I'll be better off going back to hotel specific loyalty programs. It was the Hotels.com rewards program of one free night after 10 stays that switched me from hotel specific loyalty programs in the first place. This new offering does not appear it will be sufficient enough to keep me loyal.
Bye bye Hotels.com moving to a different platform.
They lost my business - 50 nights per year
Maybe they someone there will wake up
I’ve been a Gold status member for at least 5 years in a row, meaning I book at least 30 nights a year through hotels.com. This is a huge downgrade and I will not use them anymore when I can earn 5x through my cap one venture and amex cards. Massive disappointment. They’re killing their loyal business.
I stayed in hotels 229 nights last year. I booked enough rooms for myself and employees to have 65 nights that are worth an average of $200 a night. I redeemed at least another 40 nights over the last year. Needless to say we spend a lot of money with Hotels.com and have since 2014. This is disappointing to say the least. The only silver lining is I hope to be able to take the...
I stayed in hotels 229 nights last year. I booked enough rooms for myself and employees to have 65 nights that are worth an average of $200 a night. I redeemed at least another 40 nights over the last year. Needless to say we spend a lot of money with Hotels.com and have since 2014. This is disappointing to say the least. The only silver lining is I hope to be able to take the new one key cash and book a Disney Cruise for my family. I don't think this will have a major impact on most people but for those of us who travel for work and count on these rewards for vacations or to offset job costs it's a major change. It is going to be a large enough change that I will probably just book direct with the hotel brand going forward.
This is a total bust. The 2% reward is not comparable to stay 10, get one night free. If the average price of your stay was $200, you would earn $200 as a free night stay. With the new program you will earn $40!!. To earn a free night you will need to stay 25 nights to earn a free night! It’s not a reward program anymore. I will not use hotels.com/Expedia/ Vrbo anymore starting now.
I live in hotels...you read that right...and have booked the past 8 months continuously through Hotels.com.
This completely removes the incentive for me to book through Hotels.com, and just book through the hotels directly. Will be using up my 20 accumulated room nights in the next few months for sure!!! Then abandoning Hotels.com.
Side note...my company (a touring production company, where employees are on the road 8 months a year) allows employees to book their...
I live in hotels...you read that right...and have booked the past 8 months continuously through Hotels.com.
This completely removes the incentive for me to book through Hotels.com, and just book through the hotels directly. Will be using up my 20 accumulated room nights in the next few months for sure!!! Then abandoning Hotels.com.
Side note...my company (a touring production company, where employees are on the road 8 months a year) allows employees to book their own hotels, and 90% of them use Hotels.com due to getting a free room every 10 nights. Brought this up at the office this morning and everyone was talking about dropping Hotels.com. I don't really know if Expedia has thought this one through....
Gold member here says its pure BS. Totally pissed. Will move our companies booking of our out of town crews to some other platform. Book as many as 20 nights in one week on one crew alone. Multiply that by at least 2 more out of town crews. Guess we will go somewhere else. Even if it costs a little more. 2%. Not worth trouble.
I'm totally shocked that they are killing their business this way. They seem to only want a handful of customers who might take a cruise once a year and totally throwing away the business traveller who might book 70 hotel nights a year in the 100-150 dollar range. It's laughable to think anyone would stay loyal for this program.
Previously everyone received $10 per 100 spent.
With this you will receive $2 per 100.
I'm totally shocked that they are killing their business this way. They seem to only want a handful of customers who might take a cruise once a year and totally throwing away the business traveller who might book 70 hotel nights a year in the 100-150 dollar range. It's laughable to think anyone would stay loyal for this program.
Previously everyone received $10 per 100 spent.
With this you will receive $2 per 100.
IF you are platinum (30 segments or whatever they are going to call it per year), then you will get $4 per 100 spent ....for VIP properties only.
My usual practice is to go to Hotels.com and find a hotel that fits my criteria, location and budget. Then I double check with booking.com and the hotel website to make sure the rates are close enough. Then I go back to hotels.com and book with them in order to get the stamps and the level. It was also an easy way to keep track of all my bookings since it is all in one place.
Now I will probably use hotels.com and booking.com equally to find properties that fit my criteria and then book wherever it is the cheapest - including directly with the hotel. I'll just write down a list on google docs to keep track of everything.
damn. i got an invite to Hopper's beta test for 10% cashback on hotels though so all gooooood
I want an invite!
Hotels.com has been a rare example of brand loyalty in my shopping for about 10 years. Without their 10-night rewards program, that loyalty is gone.
Hotels.com rewards nights were/are a huge differentiator in the market. I’ve used it for 10 years for all my hotel bookings. Now it’s just another booking site. I don’t see any reason to continue booking hotels there. I’ll probably just book hotels on the same site as my flights. Very disappointing.
We solely booked for many years with Hotels.com and many bookings because of the program. They will now lose our business. So for us they still made money but now will make zero as we go elsewhere.
That's it for me booking through hotels.com then. Many, many years and easily booking over 200 nights through there in the last few years. Now I'll just use it to compare hotels and then book directly from now on.
Unfortunately this is bad news and will make me switch to another booking platform for sure , hope my 44 reward nights will transition well to the new OneKeyCash program ...
I've only booked with Hotels.com to get the reward night, so I will be booking directly with the hotels now or via booking.com.
I used hotels.com for hotels outside of loyalty programs I use because of the 10% rebate. However, I have heard from some of the smaller operators that they take a real hit when dealing with hotel.com/Expedia/etc so you might get the poorest room they have available. Going forward, I might use the search engines to find properties but then book with the hotels directly. I think the possibility of making the proprietors happier and knowing...
I used hotels.com for hotels outside of loyalty programs I use because of the 10% rebate. However, I have heard from some of the smaller operators that they take a real hit when dealing with hotel.com/Expedia/etc so you might get the poorest room they have available. Going forward, I might use the search engines to find properties but then book with the hotels directly. I think the possibility of making the proprietors happier and knowing they make more money easily offsets the 2% "benefit" of OneKey.
I always booked thru Hotels.com never received a poor room.
So what happens to all your free nights you have still? Do we lose them?
Use them!
This is truly terrible. Have given them thousands $ every year and will guaranteed take my business elsewhere.
This is a bummer. I used this a lot, especially when traveling abroad I enjoyed staying a little independent boutique hotels, and this was a great way to still be earning something.
Are there any other similar sites that let you book any hotel and offer better rewards, or are we just out of luck now?
Like you, Ben, I only use hotels.com in countries where my loyalty hotels do not exist. Just returned from Argentina where 40% of our stays were in small towns/cities with no major brands. Unfortunately did not use my cash balance so have 3 rewards in the bank. The new program sucks and I'm done. Hotels.com was always a little more expensive than competitors in some markets (Agoda?) but the 10% usually made up for it....
Like you, Ben, I only use hotels.com in countries where my loyalty hotels do not exist. Just returned from Argentina where 40% of our stays were in small towns/cities with no major brands. Unfortunately did not use my cash balance so have 3 rewards in the bank. The new program sucks and I'm done. Hotels.com was always a little more expensive than competitors in some markets (Agoda?) but the 10% usually made up for it. Best reward was when we stayed a month in an apartment in Madeira and was rewarded with 30 nights @ $59 (average rate). Quickly Gold. Sad day in travel rewards.
I"m not going to use hotels.com anymore. I'm going to go back to my preferred hotels loyalty programs.
Since the Expedia family of companies includes Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Travelocity, Hotwire.com, Orbitz, Ebookers, CheapTickets, CarRentals.com, Expedia Cruises, Wotif, and Trivago, they have a lock on the online search engine reservation market. I wonder when they will start to close down/consolidate some of these options for corporate cost savings. Any small differences in booking prices seemed related to the fees the "individual" companies charged. You can use the search engines to book directly with the...
Since the Expedia family of companies includes Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Travelocity, Hotwire.com, Orbitz, Ebookers, CheapTickets, CarRentals.com, Expedia Cruises, Wotif, and Trivago, they have a lock on the online search engine reservation market. I wonder when they will start to close down/consolidate some of these options for corporate cost savings. Any small differences in booking prices seemed related to the fees the "individual" companies charged. You can use the search engines to book directly with the hotels, airlines, car rental companies, etc?
USe Booking.com instead - usually cheaper. Agoda offered a hotel room in the Philippines at half the price of Hotels.com
I just called Hotels.com to express my displeasure at the decision to change their reward program. I was told there will be an option to "opt out" of the One Key program. Perhaps the author can check this out with Hotels.com?
According to the FAQ on the Hotels.com web site, you "opt out" by deleting your account altogether. So it sounds like the new program or nothing.
Does Hotels.com only offer a 2% rewards system for all clients? Otherwise, the amount spent will be divided, and rewards will be determined based on that. Because Earning rewards at 10% is always a terrific approach to attract potential customers.
I have been using Hotels.com for the past 10 years. Their prices are usually the same or very slightly higher than other websites. I liked the search engine although they have less hotels than Booking.com.
As of now I have 8 nights to redeem and I already redeemed 3 nights some times back.
My situation is a little different than most. My company pays the expenses and the rewards are mine. Sometimes the...
I have been using Hotels.com for the past 10 years. Their prices are usually the same or very slightly higher than other websites. I liked the search engine although they have less hotels than Booking.com.
As of now I have 8 nights to redeem and I already redeemed 3 nights some times back.
My situation is a little different than most. My company pays the expenses and the rewards are mine. Sometimes the host books the hotel so no reward. I use the rewards for private vacations.
Now I will have to look elsewhere.
Well, that makes an easy decision for me: no value in using hotels.com anymore.
So it's just becoming another Agoda.com platform? Oh wait...!
The prior program was better and easy to understand. It was similar to the former coffee cards where after a certain number of coffees you would get one free.
What will happen to the free night rewards that is already in your account . Will it be there when the new transition happens and one will be able to take advantage of what you already free nights to have left in you account now.
don't forget, you can get additional 2% or so going through Rakuten
Question to you Ben, but also to the forum.
With Hotels.com (and all affiliates) becoming so much less attractive, what would be the best platform to book hotel nights?
There are a lot of very dubious platforms out there. Very interested in the views of the forum. I know that for many the hotel loyalty programs are a big attraction, but based on where I live and where I normally travel, Hyatt/Marriott/etc don't...
Question to you Ben, but also to the forum.
With Hotels.com (and all affiliates) becoming so much less attractive, what would be the best platform to book hotel nights?
There are a lot of very dubious platforms out there. Very interested in the views of the forum. I know that for many the hotel loyalty programs are a big attraction, but based on where I live and where I normally travel, Hyatt/Marriott/etc don't have a great offering, and is definitely not cost-effective.
10x miles with Capital One Travel. Their Premier Collection is comparable to Amex's Hotel Collection, minus the minimum two night stay. I even got a price match guarantee from a rate I found on Hotels.com. The phone call took about five minutes, and the credit appeared within 24 hours. The portal still has its issues, but it's been steadily improving.
CapOne portal doesn't have guesthouses and apts, which is 80% of what I use hotels.com and booking.com for.
Hi Mike,
From what I gather Ben probably books through the hotel websites and doesn't stay at many independent hotels. I suggest looking at trip advisor it Google which will show multiple properties.
Hotels.com WAS my go-to as I liked their simple and generous rewards program but sometimes a property would be 10% less on booking.com or another OTA. My suggestion is don't be loyal unless you have great incentive.
Cheers,
Ivan
Ivan,
Where are you going to go now the hotels.com was gutted? Is there any other general websites that let you book any hotel (not only a certain brand) and offer decent rewards, or was hotels.com the only option?
Our preferred bookings sites are CapitalOne and directly with a hotel or chain. Have booked some with Chase. We prefer Booking.com, Google, and Tripadvisor for research.
Well that's sad. I always use hotels.com when not in one of the main brands. Just decided to cancel anything beyond June, 3 stays
As is always true, there's nothing constant but change. We'll just have to see what it actually looks like, when it happens. I may just switch exclusively to hotel chain loyalty programs. Thanks, Ben, for the 'heads up'.
This is a real bummer to be honest. Don't know what the equivalent sites are called in the U.S. but here in the UK we have cashback sites such as Quidco or TopCashBack. They let you earn 3% to 5% cash back on booking.com etc. so I don't really see why I should continue to use hotels.com. Sure, it takes ages for the cashback to post and sometimes you have to chase, but you can...
This is a real bummer to be honest. Don't know what the equivalent sites are called in the U.S. but here in the UK we have cashback sites such as Quidco or TopCashBack. They let you earn 3% to 5% cash back on booking.com etc. so I don't really see why I should continue to use hotels.com. Sure, it takes ages for the cashback to post and sometimes you have to chase, but you can then increase the payout if you opt for a Starbucks gift card or similar instead of a pure money transfer. Sorry, don't mean this as an ad.
This is exactly my take (I have not lived in the UK for a few years but still manage to book a lot of my hotel bookings worldwide through those exact sites). Between cashback from them and the limited rewards via Booking/Expedia etc. it's often over 10% pure cash return with minimal headache (and sometimes cheaper headline prices than booking with hotel chains directly, though this can go either way).
Relative to the headaches I...
This is exactly my take (I have not lived in the UK for a few years but still manage to book a lot of my hotel bookings worldwide through those exact sites). Between cashback from them and the limited rewards via Booking/Expedia etc. it's often over 10% pure cash return with minimal headache (and sometimes cheaper headline prices than booking with hotel chains directly, though this can go either way).
Relative to the headaches I personally have with the big chain loyalty programs it's a no brainer.
(Ironic to be posting this on a site with a points focus, but eh :) ).
Hotels.com is the absolute worst. Non-existent customer service, consistently horrible experience. Their only saving grace (a very big one) was this 10% reward. Without that, there's truly no reason to ever use them.
Their chat is worthless, but I just tweeted @hotelscomhelp and got the fastest response ever - within one minute, and the agent stands by for a few minutes in live chat fashion.
It also seems that they're not honoring bookings already made but which occur after OneKey starts at the same conversion rate. That sucks. In most cases I chose Hotels.com because with the 10% (or 9.09% haha) discount the price was slightly better than booking directly. But without that, the price would be better booking directly -- but of course by now prices have gone up, so canceling and rebooking is not a good option. This...
It also seems that they're not honoring bookings already made but which occur after OneKey starts at the same conversion rate. That sucks. In most cases I chose Hotels.com because with the 10% (or 9.09% haha) discount the price was slightly better than booking directly. But without that, the price would be better booking directly -- but of course by now prices have gone up, so canceling and rebooking is not a good option. This part sucks. I wish they would have honored bookings made before the announcement at least at the same conversion right -- they're effectively changing the price on us.
Hotels.com is owned by Expedia, which is known for super high elevated prices and fees. What else did you expect?
Well that sucks. They were my go to program. Though I did wonder how the economics could work.
It totally works. For hotels.com ;) Instead of 10% cashback, they give 2-6%. I can totally see the MBA PowerPoint: SAVING UP TO 500%!!!!!!!!!!!!
It worked. The most common industry standard commission for regular travel agencies for lodging is 10%, but there are many instances of 15 and even 20%. Being the huge monster that expedia group is, I could only imagine the massive volume of business they get to hotels, it's safe to say that the minimum commission they are collecting is 15%.
My understanding is that current unused reward nights will be added to the OneKey account at their full value. I have 10 or so unused reward nights so I freaked out when I first read this post. Do others agree that unused reward nights will be safe and just transferred to OneKey? Perhaps this is a good thing with regards to multiple unused reward nights because after OneKey you can effectively use more than one...
My understanding is that current unused reward nights will be added to the OneKey account at their full value. I have 10 or so unused reward nights so I freaked out when I first read this post. Do others agree that unused reward nights will be safe and just transferred to OneKey? Perhaps this is a good thing with regards to multiple unused reward nights because after OneKey you can effectively use more than one reward night on a single booking, no? Am I incorrect with any of this?
Thanks so much!
That is my understanding as well. One Key is just a cash amount you can use to book travel on the Expedia family of sites, so whatever the value of your nights is now, say you have 5 free nights at $100 each, when it transfers to One Key you'll just have a bank of $500 to use.
That's how I understand it too. I also think it's not necessarily a bad thing for unused rewards. Say you have a $100 reward, a $200 reward and a $500 reward. Under the current system you need to find three hotel rooms with different prices and the prices of these rooms are often misaligned with your rewards. Under the new system all you have to do is find a hotel room for about $800.
Ben,
Thanks for the valuable bad sad news. I noticed Orbitz wasn't listed. I assume you don't know more than what Expedia shared but if you do it l please share with your readers.
Cheers,
Ivan
@RCB
You are absolutely correct but I think it's worth mentioning the discount is/was ~9% and you are still on the hook for taxes when redeeming an award night unlike traditional loyalty programs.
Guess it's a moot point now.
My booking strategy has been pretty straightforward, I'll book for the best price (from a reasonable booking system, direct or one of the major) and in case of hotels.com, take into account the 10th night free reward system (up to 5% value).
I don't see why I would continue this after the change. I don't stay enough in specific chains to have top tier and the tiers through credit cards etc are more in the...
My booking strategy has been pretty straightforward, I'll book for the best price (from a reasonable booking system, direct or one of the major) and in case of hotels.com, take into account the 10th night free reward system (up to 5% value).
I don't see why I would continue this after the change. I don't stay enough in specific chains to have top tier and the tiers through credit cards etc are more in the category "free water bottle". Nor I accrue enough points to really matter.
So pure price comparison continues and hotels.com lost it's only edge. I guess direct bookings will be the long term winner.
I agree with Peter, although, for the last year+ I have noticed that practically all booking sites (with the occasional exception of the very dubious ones) offer practically the exact same prices. So comparing prices across sites has become almost pointless. As such I am currently preferring hotels.com for their award nights, despite the fact that its search is the weakest and leans heavily towards sponsoring properties.
Not terribly surprising - that was to...
I agree with Peter, although, for the last year+ I have noticed that practically all booking sites (with the occasional exception of the very dubious ones) offer practically the exact same prices. So comparing prices across sites has become almost pointless. As such I am currently preferring hotels.com for their award nights, despite the fact that its search is the weakest and leans heavily towards sponsoring properties.
Not terribly surprising - that was to be expected with the massive consolidation that has happened in the market. Another failure of regulators to preserve even a semblance of competition.
I hope someone sees the opportunity this opens and comes up with a new booking product.
You never got 10%. You got 11 nights for the price of 10, which is ~9% savings.
You never got 11 nights for the price of 10. You basically got 10% cash back (equivalent) that can used towards a future night. If you had 10 nights at $100 each, you'd have a $100 credit to apply to the future night. If that future night was $200 it was not free. Rather you could apply your 10% cash back value of $100 and then only pay the remaining $100 + taxes & fees.
I just got started with hotels.com. I wonder what the value will be with a few stars in your account?
I used my last 2 Hotels.com free night credits towards stopovers at the Oryx Airport Hotel in Doha, coming up next month. Glad I was able to redeem them for this. Looks like that may be a wrap on my usage of their site for independent hotels.
They should have made it so Platinum members could achieve the 10% rate that we have now… a 40% reduction in benefits as one of their best customers has me bailing on hotels.com unfortunately. At least all my nights that I haven’t used yet will essentially convert into cash, so they at least didn’t devalue what we all have banked… otherwise this is absolutely terrible…
Even before this devaluation . . . for those who use Hotels.com, have you ever examined the fees in the Tax&Fees section during check-out? Have you ever wondered what the fees were? You've been duped. If you really understood what was going on, you wouldn't be using Hotels.com. Learn.
They are taxes required by the government. In Colombia the hotel tax rate is 0% for tourists. Exactly what hotels charges. Occasionally properties will have additional "resort" fees which get passed to the consumer. I think you are the one who needs to learn
Terrible news. I consistently use Hotels.com for at least >50-60 nights per year, year after year after year, due to their straightforward rewards program and the ability to pre-pay for a flexible stay (which is my preferred way of paying, in order to lock in the price in my local currency). I put enough nights on Hilton to earn Diamond (which comes in handy when I stay at a semi-nice hotel with a lounge and...
Terrible news. I consistently use Hotels.com for at least >50-60 nights per year, year after year after year, due to their straightforward rewards program and the ability to pre-pay for a flexible stay (which is my preferred way of paying, in order to lock in the price in my local currency). I put enough nights on Hilton to earn Diamond (which comes in handy when I stay at a semi-nice hotel with a lounge and lots of suites), but am otherwise disloyal to the chains since I usually book whatever highly-rated chain hotel that's cheapest wherever I'm going. I also prefer to "mix it up" with the chains so that not every place looks the same. Anyway, for that purpose, Hotels.com have worked great for me, and I currently have 72 upcoming reservations (as well as nine free nights), but with this extreme devaluation I will seriously have to reconsider and find a new strategy. 2-6% is just not worth it. Damn it.
That sucks, I have 44 nights through hotels since May 22 and have redeemed over 35 nights lifetime.
I expect I won't have more than 10 nights a year in the future. Great opportunity for booking.com to decimate their competition.
If I worked in strategy for booking I'd suggest five percent rewards for a couple years or at least until Expedia/hotels.com was on its knees.
No more business for hotels.com then. No brainer.
Luckily I just used my last "free night" award and have nothing in the kitty. Fun while it lasted.
Ben, thanks for the post. I wonder what would happen to the remaining stamps after they launch the new program. Do I have to reach 10stays and convert them to a coupon? Do you have any idea?
"You don't have to stay 10 nights anymore." So if you spend $4000 for a 5 night stay, you might get enough rewards points to pay for a stay at Motel-6! That's winning bigly!
Unless you are platinum. Then you might get enough points for a red roof inn
I was finally going to ditch booking.com for hotels.com for non chain hotels. No need to now!
The only reason I booked through Hotels.com is the rewards. 10% was a great reward and I had access to all hotels, rather than just one brand, so it was perfect for me. This completely destroys the value proposition, why would I continue to use hotels.com now, especially when I can get great rewards (5x, I believe) booking through my Chase portals and other options.
I do like that it's going to be just one...
The only reason I booked through Hotels.com is the rewards. 10% was a great reward and I had access to all hotels, rather than just one brand, so it was perfect for me. This completely destroys the value proposition, why would I continue to use hotels.com now, especially when I can get great rewards (5x, I believe) booking through my Chase portals and other options.
I do like that it's going to be just one cash balance you can pull from for your bookings instead of a set amount voucher, but aside from that this is a massive devaluation.
Booking.com has Genius level 3 discounts of 10-20% and perks that rival and exceed hotel elite perks at overpriced crappy chain hotels. And there are constant promos.
And 4 miles/$ via AA shopping portal.
And price match is super simple
And a much wider assortment of hotels
Truly horrible news. My algo to book hotels up until now was:
Is there a Hyatt?
--> If yes, book direct w/ Hyatt credit card and globalist status.
--> If no, book with hotels.com and Prestige card (5X) + 10% reward
Very sad indeed
Properties eligible for this scheme would consistently cost about 10% more on Hotels.com vs booking.com. This was a kind of kick-back scheme for business travellers using hotels.com. Several companies have travel policies against using it to book your stay.
that is not at all true. It was the same price on hotels.com and booking.com and expedia.com - after all, hotels charge >15% as fees to these hotel search engine. So for hotels.com it was a good way to get clients. Especially considering that not everyone is using the award...I am sure my mother lost her account credentials before she even collected 10 stamps
Price match guarantee.
Absolutely not true at all. I booked 100+ rooms a night on hotels.com and often compared them to booking directly and rarely did I find a price difference except for maybe once or twice a year.
Bsbsbsbsbs. Sometimes rooms are cheaper on booking others on Expedia. Guess you don't get out much
This is certainly true in Europe. Rooms are almost always cheaper on booking.
Previous reward was 9.09%.
If you pay 10 nights for USD100 each and 11th free, then in the end you paid USD1000 for 11 nights.
That means you paid USD90.90 per night…which is equivalent to a discount of 9.09%.
It would be 10% if every tenth night is free (and not every 11th night)
@ Klaus -- Good point, thanks. Fixing post now...
Don't fix anything Ben, his math is not correct, it is a 10% reward right now, Klaus is doing some weird average night calculation that doesn't mirror what we are discussing here.
You are absolutely correct but I think it's worth mentioning the discount is/was ~9% and you are still on the hook for taxes when redeeming an award night unlike traditional loyalty programs.
Guess it's a moot point now.
You never even got 9% savings. The stamp value is after fees and taxes, so if you paid $100 for a room with $20 in fees and taxes 10 times, you ended up with an $80 credit. When you eventually used your free night, you'd still have to pay full taxes on it.
We shouldn't confuse the rate of discount vs a reward. The discount on all the nights stayed is 9.09% but the reward is still 10%. A reward is a thing given in recognition of one's service, effort, or achievement. Therefore your reward is 10% of the total of the first 10 nights stayed, the price of the 11th night is irrelevant.
No point of using hotels.com or any of these programs. The hotel loyalty programs come out ahead now.
It was inevitable given the amount of abuse that the current program has seen from those who knew how to exploit their IT glitches. They must have lost millions over the last few months.
So instead of fixing their IT defects, they screw all their customers?
Not sure that makes a lot of sense.
Oooh sounds interesting! I'm curious--how exactly were people exploiting IT glitches?