Hotels.com Loyalty Rewards

 

I stayed at the Grand Prince Hotel in Kyoto using my hotels.com loyalty points, which would have otherwise cost me $330... and since there are almost no major US-branded hotels in Kyoto, I would have been out of luck!

I stayed at the Grand Prince Hotel in Kyoto using my hotels.com loyalty points, which would have otherwise cost me $330... and since there are almost no major US-branded hotels in Kyoto, I would have been out of luck!

When you're staying somewhat off the grid and no major hotel chains are available, it can pay to have a loyalty account with hotels.com. The booking service is owned by Expedia, the world's largest travel provider, and basically sits overtop any individual hotel's online booking service. Basically, stay ten times with a hotel.com hotel and you can then stay one night for free at the average price you paid for those ten previous stays. 

 

 

 

A few other important facts to know:

THE BAD

  • If you have any "overage" in redemption value versus the price of the hotel you wish to stay in, that credit is lost. For example, if the average value of your ten hotel stays leading up to the award is $200, and you stay in a hotel that only costs $150, you lose that $50 value upon redemption. 

THE GOOD

  • Hotels.com rewards are flexible to redeem, meaning that you can redeem for a $500/night hotel even if your free stay is only worth $200, and then pay the difference
  • You can accrue points at more than 100,000 hotels
  • You can redeem a free night anytime (no blackout dates)
  • Members get access to special pricing on hotels

GO MAKE THIS HAPPEN FOR YOURSELF

STEP 1

Sign up for a loyalty account at hotels.com's loyalty page

STEP 2

Complete 10 stays 

STEP 3

Book your hotel as normal on hotels.com, then on the Reservation Summary page, select  redeem Hotels.com™  rewards. Simple as that!