Expedia One Key Rewards: What to Know - NerdWallet (2024)

The Expedia Group revamped its loyalty program in 2023 to allow members to earn and redeem rewards across its three most popular brands. Members can now earn rewards and elite status by booking travel through Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.

This simplified loyalty program rewards members 2% OneKeyCash for every dollar they spend and elite status based on every travel segment they book. Learn how the One Key loyalty program works, how to earn and redeem rewards and how to earn elite status.

One Key is the unified loyalty program for three brands under the Expedia Group umbrella. It launched in the U.S. in July 2023, and it will expand to other markets in 2024.

This travel loyalty program allows members to earn elite status and OneKeyCash across multiple platforms and redeem at any participating website. Membership is free, and you can sign up for One Key at any time.

Existing Expedia and Hotels.com rewards members are automatically converted to One Key rewards. Vrbo customers must accept the program's terms and conditions before they can start earning OneKeyCash.

This program is designed to compete with airline and hotel loyalty programs by making it easy for members to earn and redeem points, no matter where they're booking a reservation. It also eliminates the problem of having rewards spread across multiple programs yet not having enough to actually book an award reservation.

Elite status is earned based on the number of trip elements, rather than the number of miles flown, nights stayed or dollars spent. This simplified qualification process also makes it easy for the occasional traveler to earn elite status.

With One Key, they can capture all of their reservations under one umbrella rather than being spread across various airline, hotel, rental car and other travel programs.

Which websites participate in One Key rewards?

Previously, rewards programs for Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo operated independently of one another. Combining these three brands into one loyalty program allows travelers to quickly earn elite status and OneKeyCash that they can redeem at any of these three websites.

“By bringing together our three biggest travel brands into one program, travelers can easily earn rewards across our family of brands," Jon Gieselman, president of Expedia Brands, said in a press release. "So whether you fly, rent a car, stay at a hotel, or relax in a private vacation home, more travelers will have OneKeyCash in their ‘wallets’ to spend on their very next trip. It’s about making travel rewards simple for everyone."

Under One Key, there are four levels of elite status, each with different types of benefits. All members qualify for One Key Blue status just for signing up. The remaining three elite status levels are earned based on the number of trip elements booked within a calendar year.

Trip elements are different parts of a trip that members book through participating websites. Qualifying trip elements can include flights, hotel room nights, vacation rental nights, one-day car rentals, round-trip ground transportation or an activity ticket. Trip elements must be at least $25 (excluding taxes and fees) to qualify for elite status.

For example, if you booked a three-day car rental and two nights in a hotel, that would be five trip elements. That single trip would qualify you for One Key Silver elite status.

Elite status qualification is based on calendar-year activity, and it resets on Jan. 1 each year.

“We designed One Key to reward every traveler — the road warriors, the frequent flyers, and the 83% of travelers who only take a few trips a year and never really benefit from other loyalty programs,” Gieselman said.

One Key Blue benefits

Everyone who joins One Key starts out with Blue status. These members receive the following benefits on eligible reservations:

One Key Silver benefits

Silver is the first level of elite status you can earn based on your trip elements. With One Key Silver status, you'll receive all of the benefits of One Key Blue plus these additional perks:

One Key Gold benefits

Travelers who take longer trips or who book multiple vacations per year through One Key can reach Gold status rather easily. At this level, you'll receive the following benefits on top of your Silver status perks:

One Key Platinum benefits

Platinum is the top level of the One Key loyalty program, so it offers the highest level of benefits. You'll receive all of the benefits of Gold status plus these perks:

All One Key members earn 2% rewards on every dollar they spend (excluding taxes and fees) on eligible bookings through Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. Eligible bookings include hotels, vacation rentals, activities, packages, car rentals and cruises. Flights earn 0.2% OneKeyCash per dollar spent.

Unlike other loyalty programs, the person making the booking earns the OneKeyCash. Airline loyalty programs generally award miles to each traveler, while hotels often limit the number of rooms you can earn rewards on at a time. This allows you to earn free travel more quickly and prevents rewards from being orphaned into numerous accounts. Plus, you don't have to set up and monitor multiple loyalty programs for every member of your family.

You can earn OneKeyCash when using coupons or promotions to book your reservations. However, you won't earn rewards for portions paid with OneKeyCash or coupons.

Based on your One Key elite status, you can earn up to 3x the OneKeyCash rewards on every reservation. For hotel, rental car and other eligible reservations, members can earn up to 6% rewards.

OneKeyCash from "Pay Now" reservations are typically deposited within three days of completing your trip. Rewards from "Pay Later" and Vrbo reservations are usually confirmed 45 days after completion. However, in some instances, they may take up to 90 days.

To use your OneKeyCash to book travel, follow these simple steps.

OneKeyCash cannot be redeemed for "Pay Later" reservations, packages or some vacation rentals.

Members can pay for some or all of their eligible hotel, vacation rental, car rentals and activities using OneKeyCash. However, to book a flight using OneKeyCash, you must have enough rewards to pay for the entire flight, including all taxes and fees.

Expedia launched the One Key loyalty program to allow travelers to earn and redeem rewards at three popular brands. Members can now earn elite status and rewards by booking trip elements at Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.

All members earn 2% rewards on hotels, vacation rentals, cruises, rental cars and activities. With elite status, they can earn up to 6% rewards that don't expire as long as they book travel or redeem rewards every 18 months.

This loyalty program makes it simple for travelers to earn rewards and elite status benefits no matter which airline, hotel or other travel reservation they use.