Earning travel rewards just got a little sweeter thanks to Expedia’s new One Key loyalty program.
Expedia Group has launched One Key, a new loyalty program for travelers booking through Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. The program officially launched on July 6, making it easy for travelers to earn and redeem rewards within their network. As of July 17, the program has launched OneKeyCash. With this launch, Vrbo is now the first major vacation home rental platform to offer a rewards program, the brand claims. For travelers who prefer vacation rentals over hotels, this is revolutionary. Vrbo offers a variety of vacation rentals across the United States and abroad. At this time, One Key rewards are only available to U.S. members, but they can be earned on global bookings.
How Does One Key Work?
The One Key travel rewards program allows you to book member-only prices. Additionally, you will earn OneKeyCash for all eligible bookings. OneKeyCash is only the reward currency for Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo, redeemable for travel discounts on their websites. Here are some of the key highlights of the new program.
– You will receive 2% in OneKeyCash for every dollar spent on eligible hotels, vacation rentals, activities, packages, car rentals, and cruises. You will also get 0.2% in OneKeyCash for every dollar spent on eligible flights. The real perk here? You will earn OneKeyCash in addition to miles from your airline’s loyalty program and any rewards from credit cards.
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– If you are the account holder, you will earn OneKeyCash for all eligible elements of the entire trip. One account eliminates the need to create loyalty accounts for each family member. Considering families with one person that manages all aspects of travel, this will be a huge bonus.
– With each tier, your earnings increase. Once you reach Silver, your OneKeyCash earnings increase by 50%. You’ll earn 2x more when you reach the Gold tier and 3x more when you reach the Platinum tier.
– Trips booked using payment plans are still qualified purchases. If you choose the “Pay Now” option, your rewards will be in your OneKeyCash account within three days of trip completion. With the “Pay Later” option, your earned rewards will be in your OneKeyCash account within 45 days of trip completion. Any rewards earned from Vrbo vacation rentals will also be in your account within 45 days of trip completion.
What Are the One Key Membership Tiers?
One Key offers four membership tiers: Blue, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. With a focus on making it easier to earn rewards and status, members can go from Blue to Silver in just one trip based on the trip elements. But what are the trip elements? One Key has identified trip elements as:
– One airline ticket, either one-way or a round-trip
– One hotel room night. Every night counts as an element
– One night in a Vrbo vacation rental
– One night on a cruise
– One-day car rental. Every day counts as an element
– One round-trip ground transportation ticket like an airport shuttle or transfer
– One activity ticket like a private tour, a theme park ticket, or a show.
One of the downsides to most travel loyalty programs is that it takes several trips to reap benefits or earn any rewards. With 83% of travelers only taking a handful of trips each year and never reaching a status level, One Key set out to change that, creating a program for every kind of traveler. Upon joining One Key, you will be in the entry-level membership tier, Blue. To earn Silver, you will need five qualifying trip elements. Depending on your itinerary, a one-weekend adventure containing five trip elements could move you from Blue to Silver. Moving up is just that easy! You will need 15 qualifying trip elements to reach the Gold tier and 30 for Platinum. In a few adventures, you can unlock even more perks and savings.
How To Redeem OneKeyCash?
OneKeyCash redeems at a 1:1 dollar value. That means one dollar is equal to one dollar in Expedia’s currency. Earned OneKeyCash can be used to pay for vacation rentals, hotels, rental cars, or activities. While you can use OneKeyCash to pay for trip elements partially or in full, they can only be applied when using the “Pay Now” option. However, to use it for a flight, the total amount of the flight must be available in the reward currency. At this time, flight extras such as seat selection, early boarding, or prepaying for checked luggage will have to be purchased afterward, and OneKeyCash is not available for those flight features.
What Happens to Rewards From the Previous Loyalty Program?
You have nothing to do. According to the Expedia website, your earned points have already rolled over to OneKey. That means you can start enjoying the perks of your new status tier from any eligible trip elements from 2022 and thus far in 2023.
To earn rewards, you will need to sign into your OneKey account before completing a booking. If you are not a member of OneKey, you can join for free on any of Expedia Group’s websites or mobile apps.