One Key: Guide to Expedia’s Rewards Program

Between the best beginner travel credit cards and customer loyalty programs for just about every service you’re likely to use, you can easily rack up points and miles from multiple sources with a single trip.

Expedia, one of the largest online travel agencies (OTAs), has long had a popular rewards program called Expedia Rewards. Expedia Group has since changed its rewards program to encompass all of its travel brands. Its new rewards program, One Key, offers many of the same benefits Expedia Rewards offers and more.

Here’s a look at how One Key works, how to earn and spend your One Key points, and how to optimize your travel earnings with travel credit cards.

What is One Key?

One Key is the combined travel rewards program for the Expedia Group’s three brands: Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. It was introduced in 2023 and replaced the brands’ individual rewards programs, including Expedia Rewards.

This program allows you to earn rewards — known as OneKeyCash — for every dollar you spend on travel, including hotels, vacation rentals, flights, car rentals, and more. In exchange, you can redeem your rewards points for travel expenses.

In addition to rewards points, you may also earn other perks like 10% or more off on thousands of hotels, up to 30% off on Expedia when you add a hotel to a flight, free price tracking and Price Drop Protection, free room upgrades at VIP Access properties, and more.

One Key is currently only available in the United States, but it’s expected to expand to other countries in 2024. If you have rewards points from a previous Expedia Rewards or Hotels.com Rewards account from outside the U.S., you’ll be able to continue using the rewards in your original rewards program until One Key expands globally.

How to earn OneKeyCash

As a One Key member, you’ll earn OneKeyCash for your spending on eligible hotels, vacation rentals, car rentals, cruises, activities, and travel packages through Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. If you’re in the lowest membership tier, which is where everyone starts, you’ll earn 2% in OneKeyCash for every dollar you spend and 0.2% in OneKeyCash for every dollar you spend on flights.

Once you break into the higher membership tiers or book stays at VIP Access properties, you’ll earn even more for your spending. You can earn as much as 6% in OneKeyCash for every dollar spent on VIP Access properties as a Platinum member.

Once you earn your OneKeyCash, it will go into a pending status in your account, and after your trip, your points will officially be added.

You won’t earn OneKeyCash on the following purchases through Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo:

• Gift cards
• Bookings in the “Groups & Meetings” link
• Event tickets purchased at Expedia.com/event-tickets
• Insurance
• Flights booked directly through an airline
• Pricing products, including Price Drop Protection

How to spend OneKeyCash

Once you’ve earned OneKeyCash, you can spend it on qualifying travel purchases on Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo. OneKeyCash gives you a 1:1 dollar value, meaning each dollar of OneKeyCash you have is worth $1 when you’re booking travel.

For most travel bookings, you can combine OneKeyCash with another payment method. For example, if you’re booking a hotel room for $300 and have $150 in OneKeyCash, you can redeem that and pay the other $150 with a different payment method. The only exception is flights, where you’ll need enough OneKeyCash to cover the entire cost, including taxes and fees.

You can only use OneKeyCash for “Pay Now” bookings. You can’t use it if you’re using the “Pay Later” option or are using a buy now, pay later service. You can also use OneKeyCash to book travel in someone else’s name, but you can’t transfer your points to other One Key members.

One Key tiers, explained

One Key has four different tier levels, each with different benefits, perks, and requirements. If you earn a higher status, it’s good from the day it’s awarded to your account and for the following full calendar year. It will expire on the following February 28.

For example, if you earn a higher membership tier in September 2024, it will be good for the remainder of 2024, all of 2025, and through February 28, 2026.

Let’s take a look at what you’ll get in each of the One Key membership tiers:

To earn higher membership tiers, you’ll earn one trip element for each of the following:

• Hotel room night
• Vacation rental night
• Flight ticket
• Car rental day
• Cruise cabin night
• Activity ticket

To give you an idea of just how quickly these elements can add up, you could easily earn five trip elements for a weekend away by yourself (two nights in a hotel and three days of a rental car). And for a longer trip with your family, you could easily earn up to 30 trip elements, immediately earning you Platinum status.

Transferring your Expedia Rewards points

If you were a member of either Expedia Rewards or Hotels.com Rewards, you can transfer your points to your new One Key account. In fact, that should have been automatically converted when One Key launched (unless you have a non-U.S. rewards account).

For Expedia Rewards, points are transferred at a rate of $1 OneKeyCash for every 100 Expedia points. And for Hotels.com, you’ll get $100 OneKeyCash for every $100 reward night or 10% of the value of each stamp collected.

Additionally, when your Expedia Rewards or Hotels.com Rewards account was converted to a One Key account, you should have retained your membership tier status.

Maximizing One Key perks with a One Key credit card

If you want to earn even more OneKeyCash, consider signing up for one of the two One Key credit cards. You’ll automatically get a higher membership tier when you sign up and can earn OneKeyCash for your everyday spending, not just your travel spending on Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. Let’s look at what these cards look like:

Normally, the only way to earn OneKeyCash is by spending money on Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo. But if you have one of these credit cards, you can earn OneKeyCash far more quickly by also earning from your everyday spending.

How OneKeyCash can work with other credit card rewards

The One Key rewards program is a great one for stacking rewards if you have a travel rewards credit card or participate in travel loyalty programs. In addition to earning OneKeyCash, you can continue to earn points and miles with your existing frequent-flyer accounts and travel rewards credit cards.

Expedia gives you the option to enter membership numbers for airline loyalty programs, so you get credit for the flights you book through its site. And when you pay with a rewards credit card, you can also earn rewards from your credit card’s program, making this a win-win-win situation.

For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred pays 2X points on travel booked anywhere other than Chase Travel. So, if you use that card to pay for your travel on Expedia, you’ll simultaneously be earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points and OneKeyCash.

FAQs

Bottom line

The One Key rewards program may be worth it if you enjoy traveling and you like to book your travel through Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. The program offers impressive savings and the ability to get rewarded for travel purchases you’re already making.

Ultimately, this program is likely best for relatively infrequent travelers or those who prefer to stay at vacation rentals like those available on Vrbo since those typically aren’t included in credit card travel programs.

That being said, it may not make sense for frequent travelers who take advantage of travel credit cards or airline and hotel loyalty programs. First of all, unlike travel credit cards, One Key doesn’t allow you to transfer your points to any travel partners. You have to spend them on Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo.

And if you’re an avid travel credit card user, you may be better off booking your travel through your credit card’s travel platform. For example, One Key offers 2% per dollar in OneKeyCash on your travel spending but only 0.02% on flights. Meanwhile, the Chase Travel Preferred, which we’ve already mentioned, offers 5X points on travel you book through Chase Travel, and you’ll get a 25% higher redemption rate.

Each person’s travel style and preferences are different, so you’ll have to decide for yourself whether the One Key program is the best way to get rewarded for your travel spending.

Easy-to-Earn Unlimited Rewards

Bank of America^® Travel Rewards credit card

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Earn 25,000 online bonus points after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening - that can be a $250 statement credit toward travel purchases

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• The Bank of America^® Travel Rewards credit card is great for individuals who enjoy earning rewards and traveling.

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