Last Updated on 9 June 2026 by Dan Wilderness
Hello everyone! I’ve been a user of Hotels.com for many of my holiday bookings in the past few years and it’s been a strange period for users of their loyalty scheme. Initially Hotels.com Rewards, it was one of the best deals in travel and compelling reason to book with Hotels.com.
Then the original scheme was gutted to merge with Expedia One Key, and now Hotels.com Rewards is its own thing again, but slightly different.
So today I’m going to be reviewing if the new Hotels.com Rewards is worth it, and if it represents a compelling reason to start booking with Hotels.com again.
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Quick Verdict on Hotels.com Rewards
Hotels.com Rewards is worthwhile again at a simple 10 nights for £100. However we have to caveat that this simplicity creates an odd output that means that the rewards actually maximise if buying a cheaper hotel room, and the value of the scheme in return actually begins to scale downwards if spending more per night – an odd choice for a loyalty scheme.
How did we test Hotels.com Rewards?
I used to use the old Hotels.com Rewards prolifically as I thought it was one of the best deals in travel, even achieving Platinum tier status in a particularly heavy travel year.
As with many others I moved away from the scheme during the OneKey period and am now back to using the scheme where beneficial for cheaper stays.
How do I earn rewards with Hotels.com Rewards?
Hotels.com Rewards is a much simpler scheme than most hotel loyalty schemes. For every 10 nights you stay booked in a hotel using the platform you earn a stamp, and with 10 stamps you’ll receive a straight £100 credit in Hotels.com cash to use on a future booking.
There’s a few other benefits to using the platform as well – after several nights stays these can also get further discounts and perks at some hotels where it’s a VIP access. (More on Tier status further down).
An example of how stamps appear in the Hotels.com App below:
Is there a minimum spend to earn a Hotels.com Rewards stamp?
Yes, but it’s based on an average over your trip rather than individual nights – your trip must exceed an average cost of £75 a night.
Please note a night you’ve redeemed a reward against won’t count as a qualifying night and won’t give you a stamp.
Will I earn a stamp on flights, activities or car hire with Hotels.com Rewards?
No you won’t – only on hotel or guest house stays. If you’re planning on just booking a Hotel then Hotels.com Rewards is definitely the best scheme.
If you’re looking to book a wider package, you may do better going via sister site Expedia as their OneKey scheme (which we review here) does reward those bookings.
Does Hotels.com Rewards Cash expire?
Yes, any rewards you’ve already earned will expire if you have not made a new eligible booking or used some of your Hotels.com Cash within an 18 month period.
Any pending night stamps will not expire as long as you’ve made an eligible booking or redeemed Hotels.com cash within a 12 month period.
What is the return rate on Hotels.com Rewards?
So you might look at £100 for 10 night stay and assume it’s a 10% cashback rate, but that’s not the case.
The cashback rate will be highly variable depending on the price of the underlying room you’re booking, and ironically you’ll do worse for spending more. Let’s take some examples
- If you spend the minimum amount of £75 per night to qualify for the Hotels.com stamp, effectively spending £750 to get your free £100 your cashback rate is a really strong 13.3%.
- However if you spend £250 per night on a hotel the cashback rate, you’ve effectively spent £2,500 for your free £100 and it becomes a not bad but less appealing 4%.
It’s a slightly strange design choice and unless travelling in places hotel rooms are cheaper feels odd to be a little penalised for spending more.
Unless you’re going for a luxury hotel though, cashback rates are still good enough to make the scheme appealing.
What is a Hotels.com VIP Access Hotel?
A VIP Access Hotel has a higher level of partnership with the Expedia Group (which Hotels.com are part of) and you’ll find yourselves slightly encouraged towards these properties on their platforms.
If you’re Silver Tier or above (requiring staying more than 5 nights in a year) you’ll access additional perks at VIP access hotels.
VIP Access Hotels.com Member Perks
The rewards are specific to each hotel, and if eligible for VIP access benefits, you can see what’s available at a specific hotel by going to the property page for it and scrolling down to the “about my rewards” page. I’ve shown an example as to how these looks in the app below.
The specific rewards available range quite considerably, but I’ve seen three broad categories:
- Free breakfast (If breakfast isn’t included, this is one which really is worth having and can save quite a bit of money on longer stays as hotel breakfasts can be £30-40 a day as an add-on).
- A percentage discount on food and drinks at the Hotel. (I think the value of this very much depends on how much you’ll plan to use the hotel facilities).
- A discount on spa services at the hotel.
- A free bottle of sparkling wine. (A little extra but always a nice one – quality can vary!).
What is Hotels.com Tier Status?
The more qualifying nights you accumulate on Hotels.com, the higher your elite tier status climbs.
Higher status brings with it more rewards, which we’ve assessed below. We’ll start by talking about how you can earn tier status and then evaluate each level of the programme.
How do I earn a qualifying night for Hotels.com tier status?
It’s exactly the same as building a stamp towards the £100 reward – each night you stay with an average cost of greater than £75 will give you a qualifying night.
Please note a night you’ve redeemed a reward against won’t count as a qualifying night and won’t give you a stamp.
Hotels.com Rewards Tiers Explained (Blue vs Silver vs Gold vs Platinum)
Let’s take a look at the Tiers themselves to see what’s worth it. I’m starting with a quick comparison table to show all the differences in levels then have described them in greater detail and assessed if they’re worth it below.
| Tier Level | Nights Required / Year | Average Nightly Spend | Core Benefits & VIP Perks |
| Blue | 0 to 4 Nights | £75 minimum average | Earn reward stamps toward £100 credit |
| Silver | 5 to 14 Nights | £75 minimum average | 15% member discounts, VIP Access property perks (free breakfast or spa discounts) |
| Gold | 15 to 29 Nights | £75 minimum average | 20% member discounts, Free room upgrades at VIP Access hotels (where available) |
| Platinum | 30+ Nights | £75 minimum average | All Gold tier perks (No additional significant rewards) |
Hotels.com Rewards Blue Tier
Hotels.com Blue is the basic tier which you’ll be on until you’ve earned 5 qualifying nights in a year.
There’s no real benefits at this level beyond the ability to start earning your qualifying nights, so let’s move on quickly.
Hotels.com Rewards Silver Tier
Between 5 and 14 qualifying nights you’ll be at Hotels.com Silver Tier.
At this level, you’ll qualify for a member price discount at some hotels of 15%.
You’ll also start to qualify for perks if the hotels is a VIP Access hotel at this level.
Hotels.com Rewards Gold Tier
Between 15 and 29 qualifying nights you’ll be on the Hotels.com Gold Tier.
Here, the member price discount (at some hotels only) increases further to 20%.
You’ll also get a free room upgrade, with the caveat that this is “where available”.
In fairness, whilst I have had a little bit of inconsistency upgrades generally have happened for me. The extent of this has varied – in some cases a marginally better view, in some cases a significant upgrade to a suite.
I would say that I’ve noticed more attention being given to upgrades when travelling in Asia, with variability in Europe and America.
Hotels.com Rewards Platinum Tier
There’s actually very little additional benefit to Platinum tier, with all meaningful benefits having occurred at Gold status (so we wouldn’t recommend chasing the high 30 night requirements).
Is Hotels.com Tier Status worth it?
There’s clearly additional benefits with each Tier, but we’d say the Gold level is really where you get the peak of the benefits.
As mentioned in the section we’ve had quite a few upgrades – but you never know if it’s specifically because of the Gold status or if you’ve just been a bit lucky!
Is Hotels.com Rewards free?
Yes, it’s completely free to sign up for Hotels.com Rewards!
How can I sign up for Hotels.com Rewards?
You can sign up for Hotels.com Rewards on the Hotels.com Website here.
Are there any disadvantages to Hotels.com Rewards?
There’s only really one.
Hotels.com is considered a third party booking platform. As a result if you’re staying at a Hotel group with its own loyalty scheme, such as IHG One, Accor Live Limitless or Marriott Bonvoy Rewards you won’t also get credit within these schemes.
If you’re regularly staying at one of these groups it may be more beneficial to book direct – if you want flexibility and also often stay at a range of groups rather than wanting to give your loyalty to one then the Hotels.com flexibility is better.
Is Hotels.com Rewards worth it? Our review
Verdict: Hotels.com Rewards is at least a step back towards what was lost with the old Hotels.com scheme. If you’re booking Hotel rooms at the cheaper end we think it’s a scheme that is an absolute must, but if you’re booking expensive luxury rooms you may want to look at other options.
This is because of the odd quirk that the reward doesn’t scale with price, limiting the benefit of more expensive spends. However, the scheme is simple and £100 back in travel credit is something people will generally happily take.
Tier status offers some additional benefits which we’ve generally found worthwhile if sometimes inconsistent.
Overall though, Hotels.com is well worth using if you’re a relatively frequent traveller that doesn’t want to be tied to a specific hotel brand.
Advantages
- Simple scheme cashback amongst travel loyalty schemes.
- Good cashback rate (when used for cheaper properties)
- Good member discounts on initial bookings.
- VIP Access benefits offer some extra perks
- Doesn’t tie you to a single hotel brand
Disadvantages
- Odd scaling means not sensible for expensive rooms.
- Single-chain users may find chain loyalty schemes better.
Other UK Loyalty Schemes
If you’re interested in our pick of the other best loyalty schemes out there, why not look at our guide to the best UK Loyalty Cards and Apps?
Any questions?
Have you any questions about Hotels.com Rewards or have questions for us on the scheme? Just leave us a note in the comments below.
We’d also love to hear about your travel adventures if you’ve done well out of the programme!
And that’s it!
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