About the One Key Loyalty Program

Expedia announced this week that it will launch a brand-new One Key loyalty program. It will replace the loyalty programs across several of its other websites, and some sites that previously did not have a loyalty program will also join. It will likely take effect in mid-2023. Participating websites include:

  • Expedia Rewards,
  • Hotels.com Rewards
  • Orbitz Rewards
  • eBookers Bonus+
  • Vrbo
  • Travelocity
  • The full list has not yet been announced

For part of the program overview, you can see Hotels.com’s introduction here:

Status Tiers and Benefits

Based on the information released so far, One Key has four membership tiers:

  • Blue: Access to Expedia price tracking and 10%+ hotel booking discounts
  • Silver: All Blue benefits, plus 15%+ hotel discounts. At select VIP hotels, you can earn an extra 50% in OneKeyCash rewards, along with dining and snack discounts.
  • Gold: All Silver benefits, plus 20%+ hotel discounts. At select VIP hotels, you can earn an extra 100% in OneKeyCash rewards. There may also be benefits such as early check-in and room upgrades. It also includes flight price protection on Expedia.
  • Platinum: All Gold benefits. At select VIP hotels, you can earn an extra 200% in OneKeyCash rewards. Upgrades can receive $100 off. When the program officially launches, members will also get 10% off on Expedia.

Overall, these benefits are fairly standard and there is not a huge sweet spot here. Hotel discounts like these will almost certainly apply only to select properties, and much depends on how aggressively they are implemented, since the original price can be set however they want. There is also no list yet for the VIP hotel group, so it may simply be a set of hotels where they offer elevated rewards. Things like room upgrades could be quite valuable if they include brands such as Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton, although upgrade priority would probably still fall behind the hotel chain’s own elite members. Unfortunately, these upper-tier statuses do not appear to offer practical perks such as free breakfast or food credits.

Rewards and Redemption

Regular members earn 2% back on spending. With elite status, the bonus can go as high as 200%, which means up to 6% back total. Rewards can be used across all websites participating in this program. If you prepay for a booking, you will receive the rewards 3 days later; if you pay after the stay, the rewards will be received 45 days after the stay.

  • As long as you’re a member, and sign in before you make any bookings, you’ll earn rewards and collect trip elements across all eligible, global travel bookings made on the US points of sale on Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo.
  • Here’s what you earn:Members will receive 2% in OneKeyCash for every dollar spent
  • The account holder who makes the booking earns the OneKeyCash, no matter which travelers are named in the booking. Planning a family trip? All OneKeyCash, including those from roundtrip flights for all family members, will be deposited in your One Key account. No need to set up accounts for your family members or children to collect rewards.
  • Your rewards get bigger when you book stays at VIP Access properties. In One Key’s Silver tier, your OneKeyCash earnings go up by 50%. It’s 100% more when you reach the Gold tier and 200% more when you reach the Platinum tier.
  • When you make most ‘Pay Now’ bookings, your OneKeyCash will arrive in your account just three days after you complete your trip. For ‘Pay Later’ and all Vrbo bookings, your OneKeyCash will generally be confirmed 45 days after you complete your trip, but in certain instances it may take up to 90 days.

There appear to be some restrictions on redemption. For hotel bookings, rewards can only be used on Pay Now reservations. For flights, your reward balance must be enough to cover the full ticket price before you can use it. You cannot cash out the rewards or transfer them to someone else, though you can use them to book travel for someone else.

  • OneKeyCash can be used on ‘Pay Now’ bookings only and participating vacation rentals in US dollars.
  • To use OneKeyCash on a flight, you will need enough OneKeyCash to cover the entire cost of your eligible flight, including taxes and fees, and may not add any optional extras like checked bags or seat assignments. You can purchase those extras after booking your ticket.
  • OneKeyCash cannot be redeemed for cash and is not transferable to other members, but you can redeem OneKeyCash on eligible bookings in someone else's name.

Comparison With Existing Loyalty Programs

Hotels.com and Expedia previously had their own separate loyalty programs, and the company has also provided comparison charts.

Hotels.com

The biggest complaint from readers will likely be the changes to the Hotels.com loyalty program. Previously, the program gave you 1 free night worth up to $150 after staying 10 nights. If you assume an average price of $100 per night, that is equivalent to a 10% return. Since some of the paid nights may cost less than $100 while the free night could be used at a better hotel, the real value could actually be well above 10%. After the change, however, the return drops to just 2%, and even top-tier members can only get up to 6% back at select hotels. That is a major devaluation.

Expedia

On the Expedia side, this appears to be an improvement. Hotel rewards used to be 1%-3%, and now they become 2%-6%. Flights used to earn 0.2%, and that remains unchanged at 0.2%.

My Take

I have previously booked both hotels and flights through Expedia and Orbitz. Compared with booking directly through hotel chains, these platforms offer more choices and often have extra discounts. However, if you already have elite status with certain hotel brands, or hold a related co-branded credit card, I believe the benefits offered by hotel chains can easily outweigh saving $20-$30 on the room rate. Perks such as free breakfast and suite upgrades can be very valuable.

That said, if you usually book cheaper hotels and do not like being tied to major hotel chains, then the One Key program may still be worth considering. Hopefully they introduce some kind of status match in the future, letting travelers match hotel elite status to One Key status. If that happens, getting complimentary elite status could be pretty nice.