Online travel agency Hotels.com is launching a new feature, which claims to give travelers more flexibility. However, the intention with this seems pretty clear, as flagged by Head for Points.
In this post:
Hotels.com lets you defer hotel savings until later
One Key is the free loyalty and membership program of Expedia Group, including Hotels.com. Just for joining the program, you can receive access to “members only” rates at 100,000+ hotels worldwide. This is presumably intended to match how the major hotel groups also offer special pricing for members.
Hotels.com is now trialing a suspicious concept in the UK, with the plan to potentially expand it worldwide. It’s called “Save Your Way,” and the idea is that instead of getting the discount of that members only pricing immediately, you can instead pay the full rate, and bank the difference between the standard rate and members only rate as One Key Cash, to use toward future purchases.
In other words, a hotel might have a standard rate of £200 or a members rate of £180, so instead of paying £180, you could elect to pay the £200 amount, and then bank £20 in One Key Cash.
Let me be perfectly clear here — you’re turning down cash in your pocket now, which you could spend toward anything (or save for the future), for credits that can only be used on select travel purchases, and which expire after 18 months of inactivity.
Hotels.com explains that members may want to take advantage of this for the following reasons:
- Celebrate big later — bank your rewards for memorable milestones
- Earn now, rest later — build rewards through regular travel and use for leisure
- Share the joy — build rewards faster to book dream stays for loved ones
I don’t understand how any of those three points couldn’t similarly apply if you choose to get your savings now and just hold onto the cash, but…
This is literally designed to take advantage of others
Hotels.com isn’t even being secretive about the purpose of the new program. In the FAQs, the question is posed of “how can Save Your Way benefit my trips?” And the answer is as follows:
With Save Your Way, you’ll seamlessly collect more rewards on all your stays (work trips, friend trips) and spend them on any type of getaway, whenever it suits you.
Yeah, as you can see, Hotels.com explicitly calls out work trips and friend trips as being the cases where you might want to use Save Your Way. In other words, you can pass off the higher rate to your employer or to friends on a group trip, so that you can pocket all the rewards.
Save Your Way seems stupid at best (for people who prefer to have One Key Cash over cold hard cash), and highly unethical at worst (for people who want to screw over their employer and friends).
Look, admittedly there are already some schemes in the travel industry that may encourage travelers to not act that ethically. For example, you might see hotels have inflated rates that include a certain number of bonus points, or something. However, that’s still easier to make sense of, because there are some people who may wish to pick up those bonus points.
But to simply say “hey, we’ll let you defer your savings and make them less flexible” seems a step too far, in my opinion.
Bottom line
Hotels.com is trialing a new Save Your Way feature. The company offers special members only pricing for those who are part of the free One Key program. Rather than just giving those members the discounted rate upfront, you can now instead choose to bank those savings as One Key Cash, and it’s described as being great for work trips and friend trips.
If you ask me, anyone who uses the Save Your Way feature on a work or friends trip is neither a good employee, nor a good friend. 😉
What do you make of this Save Your Way feature?
Don't loyalty programs and frequent flyer programs do the same thing?
Hotels.com not too long ago was 1 free night for every 10 stays, or a 9% discount on top of their "special rates". Since switching to OneKey, this became like 2% back, and now employees who aren't even paying for the hotel are getting the reward while companies pay more. Why offer incentives to the less frequent customers in most cases? Business travel is more reliable.
Update on this. I got an e-mail, as I'm sure many others did, from Hotels.com announcing this feature for US customers. However, the wording was a little different. It said "routine" trips, rather than work/friend trips. The intent is still the same, but the wording no longer makes it blatant.
Oh my bring it to the UK, they love doing this kind of thing. It will be well used for sure.
Scheme employers, friends and even family members.
They can do all this, but my employer still requires a receipt from the hotel to expense this, and it will reflect the full rate, plus the high taxes and ridiculous fees. These also have to match up with my corporate credit card in our automated expense system.
Yeah, a rule I’ve had my whole career in offices: “there are very few things you can get fired for, so stay far away from those things” Expense reporting is one of them. I would totally NOT use this for business trips. It’s just not worth the risk.
Umm...all hotel and airline loyalty is built on this concept. You mention the bonus points rates, but that's not it entirely. The whole idea of providing a rebate in terms of points is to incentivize a business traveler to be brand loyal rather than find the lowest price. They get the rebate for personal use. And we incentivize more expensive tickets for this purpose.
I guess the gross part is that One Key is saying the quiet part out loud.
As an employer, I only see this as a way to skim on the expense report. The now vs later argument is not a factor. If it is your money, now is always better. If it is your employer's money later works fine since you are stealing it anyway.
Regarding getting points for business use of credit cards, the only time I've ever gotten booked a hotel, car or airline ticket for business on my own card was as a business owner. While I understand that there are a handful of employers who don't issue corporate cards, every employer I've ever worked for issued me a corporate card. @Glidescope specifically called out OPM, presumably the office Personnel Management. Government employees in particular MUST book...
Regarding getting points for business use of credit cards, the only time I've ever gotten booked a hotel, car or airline ticket for business on my own card was as a business owner. While I understand that there are a handful of employers who don't issue corporate cards, every employer I've ever worked for issued me a corporate card. @Glidescope specifically called out OPM, presumably the office Personnel Management. Government employees in particular MUST book through the government channel and MUST use the government credit card for all expenses. They will tolerate Uber and Lyft on a personal card because you also get in trouble for using your gov card for personal stuff and it's really easy to get uber/lyft wrong if that gov card is in there. But, really, who doesn't spend at least spend $20 of their own to trigger the credit? And your employer knows you're getting miles on your flights and hotels. As long as you book through them and don't inflate the cost or steer towards your favorite vendor, it's all above board.
And to Ben's point - no way this new benefit isn't designed to let you steal money from other people.
I believe that "OPM" in this context was meant to be "Other People's Money", although your points about the Office of Personnel Management are valid.
That's correct. OPM is "other people's money", and my remarks were not related to government spending. I always assume that there are way to many rules to allow you to really max out on credit card and other offers when on government travel.
And while this is getting in to the weeds, I can't control when these credits trigger. So if I have a work trip on October 1 and use Lyft, that credit is...
That's correct. OPM is "other people's money", and my remarks were not related to government spending. I always assume that there are way to many rules to allow you to really max out on credit card and other offers when on government travel.
And while this is getting in to the weeds, I can't control when these credits trigger. So if I have a work trip on October 1 and use Lyft, that credit is going to be applied towards that. Then if I use Lyft again on October 1 for personal trips, I won't get a credit. Should I refund my employer for that first trip, since it applied toward the trip that just so happened to be first in the cycle?
If you are forced to use a work provided card or book travel through Concur, then you are not really able to maximize the points game anyway.
It's a bit buried but for Lyft you can select not to use a credit for a ride.
People can use a Bonvoy Brilliant for business and get $25 back each month, plus the reward points.
Certainly, this can be exploited on a bigger scale but it seems to be the same principle.
what company is going to let you use hotels.com lol
Ben, how would you compare this scheme to other "benefits" that credit cards offer? Amex or Chase offers will give you a statement credit for using them. The CSR has a monthly $10 credit for Lyft and $300 travel credit, Amex Aspire has quarterly $50 airline credits, and United Quest/Club has rental car rebates through Avis/Budget. The list goes on. Point is, the entire CC and loyalty racket lives off of the backs of OPM.
...Ben, how would you compare this scheme to other "benefits" that credit cards offer? Amex or Chase offers will give you a statement credit for using them. The CSR has a monthly $10 credit for Lyft and $300 travel credit, Amex Aspire has quarterly $50 airline credits, and United Quest/Club has rental car rebates through Avis/Budget. The list goes on. Point is, the entire CC and loyalty racket lives off of the backs of OPM.
I get that there is a cost to buy in to these, but still, the cardholder is getting these benefits and other benefits of the cards.
And what about hotels that charge substantially more under the government rate than the regular room rate in order to maximize whatever the per diem currently is? That's stealing from taxpayers by the hotel. It also incentivizes gov employees to book the higher gov rate to get more points. Really, it should be the law that a hotel's government rate cannot be higher than any other advertised rate.
@Kevin, the number of times I've seen a refundable rate lower then the government rate... is... zero. Not saying they don't exist, but they are unicorns. When I worked for the government, I booked the best rate I could get which was always the gov rate if it was available. Frequently it's just not available. Pre-pandemic, it was available most of the time, often at high end hotels. No longer. Try finding a gov rate...
@Kevin, the number of times I've seen a refundable rate lower then the government rate... is... zero. Not saying they don't exist, but they are unicorns. When I worked for the government, I booked the best rate I could get which was always the gov rate if it was available. Frequently it's just not available. Pre-pandemic, it was available most of the time, often at high end hotels. No longer. Try finding a gov rate in NY or the bay area less then two months out. You'll be at the no tell motel.
On my last trip, the gov rate was $20 higher per night than the regular, refundable rate that I booked directly. The gov rate matched the per diem rate. That was a Marriott.
This reminds me of a friend of my wife's who sells "saving plans" and "wealth" products for a large bank, husband runs a private kitchen.
For their friends trip of 12 people, she "recommended" a place and everyone split the cost and paid her. When they got there, my wife told me afterwards the who place was only half finished and food was bad, they did get a villa with enough space but felt...
This reminds me of a friend of my wife's who sells "saving plans" and "wealth" products for a large bank, husband runs a private kitchen.
For their friends trip of 12 people, she "recommended" a place and everyone split the cost and paid her. When they got there, my wife told me afterwards the who place was only half finished and food was bad, they did get a villa with enough space but felt like a cheap version even by south east asia standards.
She also funnels a lot of her clients, staff and colleagues to her husband for events and they end up being the bulk of his customers (even her friends have stopped going). I helped at his kitchen once since we were visiting from overseas (to HK) and I wouldn't visit again as he was using effectively off veggie and insisted to me it was fine to use even when I questioned him.
We do not allow any of our employees to book using hotels.com
If we tweak that the other way round, you have:
- Airline and Hotels making you pay a full fare and earning Points towards for later private travel
- Hotels.com letting you do the above (just that their Points is called "One Cash Key") or letting you take the discount
I literally just received a mail from German taxi app Freenow: „get 5% cashback on business transfers which you can use for private travel“
But does it charge your employer more so you can get the cash back? If not, that’s the same as buying anything on a personal points earning credit card that your employer reimburses you for later.
You are correctl. It is different than hotels.com as my employer doesn’t have a disadvantage if I use the app. It’s still the same rate.
Business owners may now be tempted to evade income taxes this way: Book the standard room rates, then deduct the paid standard rate from gross income as a travel expense (lowering the taxable net income) while quietly pocketing the rewards (which amounts to a risky money laundering scheme, right)?
Can definitely see small business owners being tempted to do this to increase their deductible expenses when traveling, though it’s probably too inefficient to do at scale — the “member discount” advertised by Hotels / Expedia is usually in the single digit %, at most 20% or so (unless that changes in the future). And you do need to book legitimate hotel nights (whose cost will dwarf the rebate amount and tax savings). It’s also...
Can definitely see small business owners being tempted to do this to increase their deductible expenses when traveling, though it’s probably too inefficient to do at scale — the “member discount” advertised by Hotels / Expedia is usually in the single digit %, at most 20% or so (unless that changes in the future). And you do need to book legitimate hotel nights (whose cost will dwarf the rebate amount and tax savings). It’s also not a 1:1 cash equivalent when it comes to redeeming, as Hotels / Expedia often charges more than competing OTAs or booking direct.
Not any more than you getting a ton of miles for the most expensive tickets and using them on personal trips.
This isn’t really anything new. Raddison allows you to choose between earning more points or a lower room rate through their “Discount Booster” feature. Accor’s rate is consistently higher on ALL.com compared to OTAs (so essentially you’re paying extra to be eligible to earn points and avail elite benefits). Lufthansa’s “Green Fare” allows you to earn more miles by paying a higher fare.
All of these programs allow you to “scam” your employer and...
This isn’t really anything new. Raddison allows you to choose between earning more points or a lower room rate through their “Discount Booster” feature. Accor’s rate is consistently higher on ALL.com compared to OTAs (so essentially you’re paying extra to be eligible to earn points and avail elite benefits). Lufthansa’s “Green Fare” allows you to earn more miles by paying a higher fare.
All of these programs allow you to “scam” your employer and earn points or benefits for personal travel later on. Though admittedly, this one is especially blatant / explicit.
I can see why people would be happy to do this if they can stay within their travel policy (especially if they work for a large faceless corporation), though it’s frustrating when mainstream travel sites blatantly advertise features like these.
If this spreads, can imagine more companies forcing their employees to use corporate travel portals or have their travel arranged for them, at the detriment to those who can responsibly arrange their own travel…
But with Radisson, it's usually better to use your corporate code rather than to use the discount booster even at VIP Reward level on the cheapest fare.... You save money of the company, gets more points and a better cancellation policy.
Same thing with Accor, pretty much all companies have a decent corporate discounts....i don't think anyone pays full fare.
When kids aren’t educated with the right moral character, they grow up to be product managers who think stuff like this is an appropriate “growth hack.”
Thanks, Arps, but not everyone can be a "BigLaw partner" while in reality making tens of dollars per year like you do.
I'm not sure which is lower: your skill as an attorney or your skill as a comedian.
The kid with upwards of 50 sock puppets on one frequent flier site's comments section, who was banned briefly for wishing death on strangers, doesn't get to judge moral character.
Looking forward to seeing what new screen names you come up with as you spend this weekend alone, again.
I get to judge or wish however I see fit, Santos, and I wish you’d pass away, the sooner the better, and that your grave is peed on by millions of people. The world does not need you.
Revenue based mileage accrual may encourages one to book on short notice.
This one is easy for employers to get ahead of. Require booking 14+ days out or a written business justification as to why that was not possible.
No thank you. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone. I'll take the discount right now if you please.
You should change friends to frenemies
@ben Well on BA I can choose to use my mostly work acquired points for discounts on any flights (work or personal) so it's similar in some ways but most airlines don't work like that I agree. I also can't get the discount immediately too so, yes it's gone one step further - especially with the marketing.
I don't see this as too different from air miles to be honest. I gain a lot of my status and points from work and then use them for private travel. The only real difference seems to be the very short expiry time of 18 months. I do know that some countries they actually tax you on your air miles that you earn!
@ imcdnzl -- With airline miles, it's not like you typically have the choice of booking a lower rate that doesn't include miles. There's a difference between a reward that everyone gets vs. one where you specifically choose to pay a higher rate in order to earn rewards.
Lufthansa Green fare probably comes closest, but they made that a bit more sophisticated.
@Ben but it is similar to those instant Y-up fares where you're instantly guaranteed a business class seat on an "economy" fare that's often higher priced than a discount business class seat. It was nothing more than a way for people to get around their work policy of only paying for economy class seats.
But if you earned enough miles from business flying to get an award ticket, do you think it’s unethical to redeem that for personal travel rather than telling your company “don’t worry, I’ve got the next one”?
It feels functionally the same to me. The difference is just whether the *default* is redeeming your rewards instantly or banking them.
Yes, Airlines and Hotels hide the incentive structure. Honestly, it isn't different. It is like Miles & More selling "bundles" to get around mile selling regulations. Southwest offers 2points per dollar on basic fares, then for for each increase in fare type. They bundle it with some other benefits to make it look like less of a naked cash grab targeting price insensitive business travelers. Another good example is AA charging $80 more to refund...
Yes, Airlines and Hotels hide the incentive structure. Honestly, it isn't different. It is like Miles & More selling "bundles" to get around mile selling regulations. Southwest offers 2points per dollar on basic fares, then for for each increase in fare type. They bundle it with some other benefits to make it look like less of a naked cash grab targeting price insensitive business travelers. Another good example is AA charging $80 more to refund a set in cash rather than airline credit. If I'm booking a spec trip for work, I want the cash refund. So my employer pays mare, and I earn more miles. But I can justify it because I want my cash back. For my own travel, I take the credit and save the $80.
And yet ff miles aren't taxed?
The whole thing with rewards are scams trying to get you to do something for a little bit of payback