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Hotels.com is a booking website that has a wide selection of hotels ranging from international brands like Hilton to local North Carolina brands like WoodSpring Suites. Additionally, travelers can earn elite status through its Hotels.com Rewards program which offers various discounts and travel amenities.
The Hotels Rewards Program may not be as famous as Wyndham Rewards or IHG Rewards but it’s a simple yet lucrative program that’s perfect for travelers who aren’t particularly loyal to one hotel brand. Today, we’ll be discussing what this program is and the benefits it offers.
Read More: Is Hotel Or Airline Status Worth It?
Hotels.com Rewards FAQS
As mentioned, Hotels.com Rewards doesn’t have complicated rules and policies when it comes to reward redemptions. Members will get 1 Hotels.com free night for every 10 nights booked (or every 10 stamps collected) through the Hotels.com website or app, whether it’s a single-booking or accumulated bookings.
It has a simple rewards structure, however, here are some answers to some frequently asked questions about Hotels.com Rewards.
How Much Is The Free Night?
The free night has a value that is equivalent to the average price of the 10 nights you booked so booking expensive rooms means a higher value for your free night. Taxes and fees are not covered but they’re very minimal especially when you book hotels abroad.
How Many Free Nights Can You Earn?
There’s no limit as to how many free nights you can earn. You’ll always get a free night for every 10 nights you book on Hhotels.com.
Can You Use Both Your Free Night And Cash To Book A Stay?
If the value of your free night is lesser than your chosen hotel room, you can still book the room by paying the difference of the value of your free night and the cost of your room.
For those who have multiple free nights at hand, you can also combine your free nights with your paid nights. For example, if you want to book 5 nights at a hotel and you only have 2 free nights, you can use your 2 free nights and just pay the remaining 3 nights in cash.
What Nights Are Counted Towards The 10 Required Nights?
Nights that were paid in full using Hotels.com gift cards will count towards the 10 required nights. Additionally, multiple rooms that were booked on the same day will each count as an eligible night. For example, if you booked 10 rooms in a single day, they will automatically count as 10 nights.
Nights that do not count towards the 10 required nights are as follows:
- Nights that were booked using a coupon code
- Nights booked using the Free Night award
- Nights booked as a part of a special promotion
- Bookings made as a guest
Can You Combine Your Free Nights To Purchase An Expensive Room?
No, you cannot use multiple free nights to cover the cost of a single expensive night. One free night must be redeemed towards a single night.
Is There A Redemption Fee?
Yes, there’s a $5 fee for every redemption you make on the Hotels.com website. However, redeeming your free nights on the Hotels.com app does not incur fees.
Does Your Free Nights Expire?
Reward nights are valid for 12 months starting from the last date that you earned an eligible night credit or the last date that you redeemed a reward night (for those who have multiple reward nights).
As of this writing, Hotels.com is extending the expiry date of reward stamps to 12 more months and all you need to do is to complete one stay by June 2022. The validity will be extended starting from the date of checkout.
Read More: Can You Book Hyatt Residence Club Properties With Points?
What Are The Hotels.Com Rewards Elite Status?
The Hotels Rewards program has three status tiers: Basic, Silver, and Gold. You’re instantly granted a basic membership upon joining the program and in order to move up one tier higher, you need to earn 10-29 stamps (or 10-29 stays) to get Silver status and earn 30+ stamps (or 30+ stays) to get Gold status.
Here are the benefits of each status:
Basic Members will get:
- Discounted prices
Silver Members will get:
- Dedicated customer services
- Free breakfast
- Free Wi-Fi
- Airport transfers
- Spa vouchers
- Room price guarantee (If you found a cheaper price for the same accommodation on the same date but on another website, Hotels.com will match the price and refund you the difference)
- Minimal hotel charges and cancellation fees through Hotel.com’s Hassle-free travel guarantee.
Gold Members will get all the Silver benefits, plus:
- Complimentary room upgrades
- Late check-in and check-out
- Free upgrade to Avis preferred plus membership
Should You Sign Up To The Hotels.com Rewards Program?
One of the main advantages of this rewards program is its Hotels.com free night benefit where you can book free nights at small hotel brands that don’t have loyalty programs.
Plus, earning the free night is very simple because you just need to book 10 nights to get your 11th night for free. It’s less complicated than big hotel chains where you need to earn points through hotel stays or co-branded credit card spend, and then use them to redeem award stays.
But with all that being said, the decision to sign up for the Hotels Rewards program all depends on how you travel. If you like staying at popular hotel brands like Wyndham, Hilton, or IHG then signing up for their respective loyalty programs would be the better choice for you.
Hotels.com is for people who love to book hotels at remote destinations and are not loyal to one hotel brand.
Earn More Free Nights With The Hotels.com Rewards Card
Signing up for the Hotels.com Rewards Visa Credit Card (see full review here) comes with a complimentary silver membership. This means that you don’t have to start from scratch and earn 10 stamps just to get Silver membership.
On top of that, the card comes with an array of travel benefits that are specifically offered to Hotels.com Rewards cardholders. Here are the benefits:
- A welcome bonus of 2 reward nights after spending $1,000 (excluding taxes and fees) on purchases within the first 3 months of card membership. Reward nights are valued up to $125 per night.
- Earn 1 Hotels.com reward stamp for every night you stay and for every $500 spent on purchases. Getting a total of 10 stamps will get you a free night award at Hotels.com.
- Get a $600 protection against damage or theft to your cell phone when you pay your monthly bill using the Hotels.com Rewards Visa Credit Card (subject to a $25 deductible)
- Receive trip interruption and cancellation insurance when you purchase your ticket with your card.
What’s great about this card is that it doesn’t have any annual fees or foreign transaction fees. It’s the perfect travel card when you’re traveling abroad since most foreign transaction fees cost around 3%.
Earning Avios Through Hotels.com
If you’re a member of the British Airways Executive Club program, you can actually earn up to 6 Avios per £1 spent (6 Avios per $1.33) on stays. Not only are you earning night credits towards your free night but you’re also earning points which you can use to book flights or hotel stays.
There are two ways on how you can earn Avios:
- Book a night on the Hotels.com portal on the BA Executive Club website as a guest and earn 6 Avious per per £1 spent.
- Book a night on the Hotels.com portal on the the BA Exeutive Club website but as a Hotels.com Rewards member and earn 3 Aviod per £1 spent. The advantage of this option is you’re earning night credits and points at the same time.
The best way to maximize earning Avios is to use your British Airways Visa Credit Card to make the purchases above. You’ll earn additional points by using your card and travel benefits like the famous Travel Together Ticket.
Bottom line
A Hotels.com rewards membership might not be for you if you already have elite status at a different hotel loyalty program.
But is it worth signing up for? Yes, of course! Hotels.com also offers luxurious stays and exclusive boutique resorts which are comparable to hotels from big brands.
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