We have become big fans of Hotels.com during our travels around the world. At this point, it is easily our favorite platform for booking accommodation, as it allows us to earn free nights and complimentary upgrades/benefits at eligible resorts. Here are our secrets for maximizing rewards on Hotels.com:
1. Book Regularly Using Hotels.com
Like most loyalty programs, the key to maximizing rewards on Hotels.com is to book the majority of your stays using the platform. Hotels.com offers a complimentary night for every 10 nights you book on the platform, so if you can consolidate your booking, you will amass rewards more quickly. The complimentary night is valued at the average price of the 10 nights you collect. While we were in Asia, our free nights were usually valued between $15-20. Following a trip to New York City, we had a free night worth $327.
Hotels.com lets you cash in your free night on any room at or below the value of the free night. If you are booking at a property more expensive than the value of your free night, you can alternatively elect to to receive the dollar value of your free night as a discount. The only limitation is that you can only use one free night for each night that you say on any given booking. For example, you can’t cash in more than three free nights on a three night stay.
2. Take Advantage of Hotels.com Rewards Tiers
Hotels.com has 3 rewards tiers that depend on the number of nights you have booked on the platform.
- Hotels.comRewards (0-9 nights)
- Hotels.comSilver (10-29 nights)
- Hotels.comGold (30+ nights)
As you move up the tiers, the benefits increase. After traveling for 7 months in Asia, we were easily able to accumulate enough nights to become Gold Members. With a Gold Membership, we were able to unlock cheaper prices at most resorts, early check-in and late check-out, and complimentary room upgrades and benefits at VIP Access Properties. These benefits range anywhere from a complimentary bottle of wine, to a $100 voucher at the property.
The added benefits with a Gold Membership were in addition to everything that comes with a Silver or Standard membership (free nights, discounts, etc.), so we found it to be a great value.
Read more about the different membership tiers on Hotels.com here.
3. Find An Unaffiliated Travel Credit Card
If you plan to book through Hotels.com, it’s important to have a credit card that works with this strategy. In most cases, it won’t do you much good to have a card affiliated with Marriott, Hilton or another major hotel line if you plan to book on Hotels.com. These cards usually provide incentives based on booking directly via resort websites. By booking with Hotels.com, you would be missing out on these incentives and losing some of the value in those affiliated cards.
Therefore, if you’re looking to maximize rewards on Hotels.com, you should find a credit card that compliments your strategy. While in Asia, we used the Capital One – Venture One card for booking with Hotels.com. At the time, Venture One cardholders were entitled to 10x miles/dollar spent on Hotels.com. Not only were we racking up rewards nights on Hotels.com, but we were also quickly accumulating credit card miles.
There are numerous travel credit cards that let you earn miles for booking with Hotels.com. Do your research, and find one that works best for you and your travel style. For more info, see our post on How to Choose a Travel Credit Card.
