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Update: Expedia has paused the One Key loyalty program rollout beyond the United States and United Kingdom. Currently, it is unknown if or when the rollout will continue.
If you're a fan of using Hotels.com, Vrbo, or Expedia, One Key might be the rewards program for you. One Key is the combined, new loyalty program for these booking platforms, allowing you to earn OneKeyCash on your stays.
But how does it stack up against other rewards programs? And what is OneKeyCash worth? Here's a guide to One Key with everything you need to know about the program.
Page Contents
Introduction to the One Key Rewards Program
The launch of One Key comes on the heels of two changes to its participating websites. The first: Expedia Rewards program changes introduced trip elements back in 2022. The second: Until March 2023, Hotels.com users could stay 10 times to earn a free night. Sadly, that much-loved benefit is no longer.
In early 2023, a combined loyalty program was launched for Hotels.com, Vrbo, and Expedia: One Key. This unified program allows members to earn OneKeyCash — the program's rewards currency — for all stays, activities, packages, car rentals, and even flights.
Using an Online Travel Agency (OTA) like Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo has many pros and cons. Benefits include finding good deals, the convenience of having all your bookings on a single platform, and the ability to search across most airlines, hotel chains, etc.
Disadvantages include not earning hotel points and not getting the same benefits and guarantees as when booking directly through a hotel loyalty program. Plus, there are extra layers to sort through in the event of changes or cancellations.
One Key allows you to double dip, earning rewards with your credit card and the online booking platform. Unfortunately, you still might not come away with the best deal. However, each booking and traveler is different. Let's take a closer look at the Hotels.com, Vrbo, and Expedia One Key joint program to help you know if you should pursue its rewards.
Earning One Key Rewards
One Key members earn a base of 2% OneKeyCash on hotel stays, car rental reservations, and experiences. Furthermore, earn 0.2% OneKeyCash on eligible flights. These are the base rewards before any multipliers with One Key elite status. These numbers don't include additional miles or points you can earn with other loyalty programs or travel rewards credit cards.
OneKeyCash is valued at $1 each toward Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo bookings. You can use a combination of cash and OneKeyCash for any booking — except for flights. If you want to use OneKeyCash to book a flight on Expedia, you need to cover the full cost of the flight with rewards.
One Key limitations
One of One Key's biggest limitations is that the program is only available in the United States. Moreover, you can only make payments in U.S. Dollars if you want to earn OneKeyCash or collect trip elements. You won't earn rewards if you book with a currency that's not U.S. Dollars.
Maximizing Earnings With One Key
The Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo One Key unified program allows members to double dip on their rewards to a small degree. Hotel rewards programs won't award points when booking through a third-party online travel agency (OTA) site like Expedia or Orbitz. However, you can add a frequent flyer number to a flight booked on Expedia and still earn miles on the flight.
Thus, the One Key loyalty program might be useful when booking Expedia trip packages with different trip elements, like a flight and vacation rental. The simplicity of booking more than one trip element simultaneously is the main draw of online travel agencies.
Pros and cons when booking with One Key Rewards
Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo can have (but not always) better deals than you might find booking directly with an airline, hotel, or car rental agency.
Blue members can save 10% or more on over 100,000 hotels worldwide, while higher elite status members can save up to 20% on over 10,000 hotels (note that's only 10% of hotels giving a bigger discount). Furthermore, when booking a vacation package, you will save up to 30% on a hotel stay if you add a flight to the package. Knocking up to 30 cents off each dollar spent can lead to big savings.
The downside, however, is that your hotel elite status probably won't be honored if you book through Expedia Group or other online travel agencies. Hotel rewards programs say they won't give you points or elite night credits or even recognize your status if you don't book directly with the hotel. And the inability to earn elite status credits on these bookings is one reason people shy away from booking hotels through an online travel agency.
Redeeming One Key Rewards
OneKeyCash is good for booking a hotel stay or vacation rental on Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo, or car rentals and experiences on Expedia. OneKeyCash is equal to $1 off the stay, rental, or experience, and you can use as much or as little as you like to offset your payment.
For instance, if the Vrbo vacation rental is $500 for the night, you can use 100 OneKeyCash and pay the remaining $400 with your credit card.
The one exception is flights. OneKeyCash is still worth $1 each, but you must pay for the entire flight with OneKeyCash. There's no cash and points option. Thus, you might have to save your OneKeyCash for a while if you want to book a flight.
Related: How To Maximize Fixed-Value Points & Miles
Family pooling with One Key Rewards
One Key Rewards doesn't have a family pooling option for redeeming points. In other words, if multiple family members have individual One Key accounts, you can't transfer money between accounts.
On the other hand, an individual can accrue OneKeyCash on stays, car rentals, and Expedia experiences booked for family and friends. The member doesn't even need to be on the trip to earn rewards. So, there's no real reason to have multiple One Key Rewards accounts within the same family. In fact, it's better not to.
Related: Rewards Programs That Let You Combine Points & Miles for Free
OneKeyCash expiration
OneKeyCash expires after 18 months of inactivity. To keep your rewards from expiring, you need to earn or redeem OneKeyCash within 18 months after your last activity. Using or redeeming points in any fashion, including transferring points, will keep them from expiring.
Track your points and miles expiration for 630+ loyalty programs and get email alerts before your miles expire by signing up for a free AwardWallet account.
One Key Elite Status Benefits
Like other loyalty programs, the One Key has elite status tiers you can earn based on each trip element you book. New members start at Blue status and can attain higher elite status when hitting a certain number of trip elements in a calendar year:
- Silver status after 5 trip elements
- Gold status after 15 trip elements
- Platinum status after 30 trip elements
Members collect trip elements from eligible hotels, vacation rentals, flights, and more, earned as follows:
- Each hotel room night booked through Expedia Group brands.
- Each night of Vrbo vacation rentals.
- Eligible flight bookings.
- Each day of a car rental.
- Each cruise cabin night.
- A round-trip ground transportation ticket (airport shuttles, transfers, etc.).
- An activity ticket.
One Key trip elements
Only trip elements valued at $25 or above, excluding taxes and fees, count toward moving up the elite status tiers. Luckily, your entire booking does not have to pass a certain price to earn One Key rewards.
In other words, you can move up to One Key Silver status after staying just five nights — or after booking a flight, staying two nights, and renting a car for two days. Eligible bookings count equally, even if one is more expensive. Trip elements aren't based on earning Expedia rewards points per dollar spent. Moreover, when booking flights, they don't need to be round-trip. Trip elements reset every calendar year.
Increasing your One Key elite status allows you to earn bonus OneKeyCash on stays, but only at VIP Access properties. Silver status gets 50% more cash (3%), Gold status gets 2X cash (4%), and Platinum status gets 3X cash (6% total).
Again, the OneKeyCash multiplier only applies to stays at VIP Access properties, not any other stays, car rentals, flights, cruise nights, or activity tickets. This is a major downside to the program.
Drawbacks of the One Key Program
There's no way to sugarcoat this. While the above rewards might sound decent, they are nothing compared to what travelers used to earn with Hotels.com Rewards. After completing ten nights, members earned a free night through the old program — a 10% return on spending. The unified Hotels.com–Vrbo–Expedia One Key program only gives 2% rewards back, which you can boost up to 6% after completing 30 trip elements (only getting 2%–4% rewards on the first 30 elements).
As we saw in the comments when we announced the end of Hotels.com Rewards, many customers were disappointed and immediately began looking for alternative booking methods. As such, One Key might only appeal to someone who never knew about its predecessor.
Comparing One Key to Other Loyalty Programs
If you use Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo to book stays at hotels that have their own loyalty program, offering points and elite qualifying nights, you're going to be disappointed. The OneKeyCash you earn on a hotel stay is a pittance compared to what you could earn with the hotel's own rewards program. And it goes beyond hotel stays, as programs like Marriott Bonvoy and Wyndham Rewards offer points on activities, cruises, car rentals, and more.
We track the average redemption values AwardWallet users get from numerous rewards programs. Many of these provide a higher return on spending than One Key.
Is the One Key Rewards Program Worth It?
Many travelers have preferred hotel and airline loyalty programs. Many of these programs don't let travelers earn points when booking through third-party sites like Expedia. However, some travelers prefer booking through these sites for convenience, selection, or the ability to book multiple trip elements concurrently.
Earning only 2% back on stays and a measly 0.2% back on flights is a paltry reward — especially compared to other programs. A $2,000 flight only gives $8 of OneKeyCash. Of course, you can look at that as $8 in points on top of the miles you'll earn on your flight (when you actually travel) and on top of the rewards earned from the card you pay with. Similarly, booking a hotel stay for $500 will give you $10 worth of OneKeyCash, which you can boost to $30 through Diamond status if the stay is at a VIP Access property.
That said, the One Key loyalty program might still appeal to some travelers who use Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo out of familiarity. Discounted hotel rooms are enticing, even though hotel promotions also offer plenty of discounts and bonus points. Ultimately, it will come down to your personal preferences — or how upset you were when this program launched.
FAQ
What can you redeem your points for?
Members can redeem OneKeyCash on any U.S.-based hotel stay, vacation rental, car rental, activity, or flight available on Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. When redeeming for a flight, you must cover the entire cost with OneKeyCash. With all other bookings, members can pay with cash and points.
What costs are associated with membership?
One Key Rewards is free to join. No fees are directly associated with joining or maintaining membership in the program.
Does One Key Cash expire?
Yes, OneKeyCash expires after 18 months of inactivity. To keep your account active, earn or redeem OneKeyCash through any possible method, including transferring points into or out of your One Key Rewards account.
How does One Key Rewards work with Vrbo?
One Key is the loyalty program for Vrbo just as much as for Expedia and Hotels.com. Of course, Vrbo only offers vacation rentals, not experiences, car rentals, etc. Earn OneKeyCash on Vrbo vacation rentals at the same rate as stays with Expedia and Hotels.com — 2% on vacation rentals before any elite status bonus.
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