Expedia Launches New One Key Loyalty Program
Expedia Group today officially launched the previously announced One Key loyalty program. The new program unifies the company’s three flagship travel brands of Expedia®, Hotels.com® and Vrbo®. One Key is live in the U.S. only for now and will roll out globally starting in 2024.
Expedia says that “the program is designed to benefit every traveler, and One Key members instantly save with access to compelling Member Prices on select flights, hotels, cruises, car rentals and activities”.
Members can also reach status quickly with One Key, with the ability to qualify for Silver with just one trip. As travelers progress to higher membership tiers, they unlock more discounts and can enjoy great in-stay perks at VIP Access properties. Gold and Platinum members can also take advantage of Price Drop Protection at no extra cost for eligible flight bookings made on the Expedia app.
The One Key program uses a single rewards currency called OneKeyCash, which members earn when they travel and can use on future bookings. For every U.S. dollar spent (excluding taxes and fees) they will earn 2% in OneKeyCash on eligible hotels, car rentals, cruises and more. Members will earn 0.2% on flights, but if they book flights as part of a package they earn 2% on the total price which also includes the flight.
Existing Rewards
Expedia Rewards points earned through the US site will be automatically transferred to the new One Key program. Every 100 points are worth $1 in OneKeyCash.
For Hotels.com Rewards accounts created on the US Hotels.com site, confirmed Hotels.com Rewards stamps or reward nights will also be automatically converted to OneKeyCash. So if you earned a $100 reward night, it will be converted into OneKeyCash at the same value, and 10% of the stamp value will also be converted.
The latest expiration date between your Expedia Rewards and Hotels.com Rewards will be retained as they are converted to OneKeyCash.
Membership Tiers
One Key members move up One Key tiers by collecting trip elements. Trip elements are the different parts of a trip that can be booked through Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. One Key takes every trip element and rewards members for it.
Trip elements include the following: an eligible flight, hotel room night, vacation rental night, cruise night, one-day car rental, one round-trip ground transportation ticket (airport shuttles, transfers, etc.), or one activity ticket (a private tour, a theme park ticket, etc.). Trip elements must be worth $25 or more in USD, excluding taxes and fees, to qualify.
Here’s the criteria to qualify for each tier:
- Blue – Sign up for free
- Silver – 5 trip elements within a year (50% bonus earning)
- Gold – 15 trip elements within a year (100% bonus earning)
- Platinum – 30 trip elements within a year (200% bonus earning)
So, for example, if a member books two nights in a hotel and a three-day car rental, they would earn 5 trip elements, enough to reach Silver in one trip.
You can find out more details about the program here.
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This sounds like an easy trademark infringement case for United, with its 1K loyalty tier. One Key sounds very much like 1K.
I suspect Expedia will rename this program shortly.