How to Use Hotels.com to Save Money on Your Trip [Promo Codes Inside]
Hotels.com is one of my top resources when booking cheap vacations. See why I love their low prices and amazingly simple rewards program.
We all love a good vacation, but let’s be honest, the costs can add up quickly. But there’s an easy way to save money on your next trip without sacrificing quality: getting a great price on your accommodation.
When you book on Hotels.com, you get low prices and simple rewards program. This travel site is a game changer for budget-savvy travelers. Keep reading to learn all the tips and tricks for using Hotels.com to your advantage and snagging the best deals for your next adventure. Plus, I have some promo codes just for you!
Why Book Through Hotels.com?
There are two great reasons to book your hotel through Hotels.com: the low prices and the simple rewards program.
Hotels.com offers hotel prices that are often the same as or lower than booking directly with the hotel. On top of that, you can find tons of amazing deals and even Member-Only prices for additional discounts that will lower the cost of your booking.
Their rewards program, OneKey, is incredibly simple to use, and it’s shared between platforms Hotels.com, Expedia, and Vrbo so that you can earn and redeem rewards at three different sites.
Let’s break that down.
Member-Only Prices
Hotels.com offers Member-Only Prices to its rewards members, which depend on your reward tier and range from 10%-20% off or more. The discount depends on chosen dates, destination, and hotel selection.
These are also great because you can collect rewards on Member-Only Price bookings. You can also use your rewards to book Member-Only Price hotels. Member-Only Price bookings have the same change and cancellation policies as any other booking on the site, and they have no length-of-stay limit.
Price Guarantee
Hotels.com offers a Price Guarantee.
If you find a cheaper rate on another site after you’ve booked on Hotels.com, they will refund you the difference. They will honor best price guarantee requests made before midnight local time the day before your stay.
Keep in mind, though, that the price matching only applies to rates available to the general public (in other words, not member-only rates you may be able to get direct or using AAA rates).
OneKey Travel Rewards
The best part of using Hotels.com is the rewards program. It’s called OneKey, and the reward program is shared between parent company Expedia’s three booking platforms: Hotels.com, Expedia, and Vrbo.
With OneKey, you’ll save 10% or more with Member Prices, earn the OneKeyCash rewards currency to use on Hotels.com, Expedia, and Vrbo on both hotels and car rentals, and get member perks like free room upgrades, food and beverage discounts, and more.
You collect one “trip element” on Hotels.com for each hotel room night or car rental day (that is over $25). So a two-night stay earns two trip elements. As you earn trip elements, you move up the membership tiers.
When you first sign up to OneKey, you’ll start at the Blue tier. Once you collect 5 trip elements in a year, you’ll move up to the Silver tier. Once you collect 15 trip elements, you’ll move up to the Gold tier. And once you collect 30 trip elements, you’ll move up to the Platinum tier. Tier status is earned on a calendar year basis.
Here are the benefits you can get with each tier:
- Blue: Save 10% or more with Member Prices. Earn 2% in OneKeyCash for every $1 spent on eligible hotels, vacation rentals, activities, packages, car rentals, and cruises and 0.2% on eligible flights.
- Silver: Save 15% or more with Member Prices. Earn OneKeyCash on eligible bookings, and earn 3% in OneKeyCash on stays at VIP Access properties. Priority traveler support. Extra perk at select VIP Access properties, such as food and beverage extras.
- Gold: Save 20% or more with Member Prices. Earn OneKeyCash on eligible bookings, and earn 4% in OneKeyCash on stays at VIP Access properties. Priority traveler support. Extra perk at select VIP Access properties and room upgrade when available at VIP Access properties.
- Premium: Save 20% or more with Member Prices. Earn OneKeyCash on eligible bookings, and earn 6% in OneKeyCash on stays at VIP Access properties. Platinum VIP support. Extra perk at select VIP Access properties and room upgrade when available at VIP Access properties.
When Should You Use Hotels.com?
Hotels.com is really for those who don’t have a loyalty to a single hotel brand. If you like your hotel brand loyalty membership and you can get better deals from their points, then definitely stick with it! But if you’re jumping around between different hotel brands, then Hotels.com offers one of the simplest rewards methods.
This site is really great for those hotel properties that don’t have loyalty rewards, like boutique hotels, ski resorts, or vacation rentals. You can find all of these properties on Hotels.com for low prices and earn rewards on them as well.
Using Hotels.com gives you more freedom with your hotel choices knowing that you can earn rewards on each property. With over 500,000 different properties around the world, you’re pretty much covered with accommodation choices wherever you travel.
I also really like it for international hotels. When you’re booking in a destination where you don’t speak the language, it can be hard to navigate a hotel’s direct booking site. You can book more confidently on Hotels.com where you can read all the hotel details.
As always, though, be sure to compare prices using a few different sites (like TripAdvisor, Booking.com, and Vrbo) to make sure you’re getting the best deal possible.
How to Search on Hotels.com
1. Go to Hotels.com and sign in to your account. This ensures you’ll be able to see the Secret Prices and discounts when you search.
2. In the search box at the top of the page, fill out your destination, travel dates, number of rooms, and number of travelers. Click Search.
3. This will bring up a search result page. At the top of the page, you can sort by recommended, price, distance, guest rating, and star rating. On the left sidebar, you can view properties on a map, search by property name, filter by price, property types, neighborhood, popular locations, star rating, guest rating, amenities, and more.
4. Click on the property listing to see more. Keep an eye on the prices on the right to find any Member-Only Prices.
5. This will bring up details about the specific hotel. This page contains photos, a map, hotel information, and nearby attractions as well as your room choices.
6. Scroll down to choose your room. You can filter by all rooms or number of beds. Rooms are listed with popular and upgrades first, and then in ascending order of price, and sold out rooms last. Important room details will be listed beneath each selection. You can click on More details to get a pop-up with the full room listing.
7. When you’ve decided on a room, click Reserve. Fill out your information, book your room, and get ready for a vacation!
Top Deals on Hotels.com
- Get incredible discounts on the best last-minute deals for the coming 2 weeks.
- Unlock instant savings with Member Prices and earn and use OneKeyCash rewards on hotel bookings.
- Find the latest Hotels.com deals here.
Hotels.com FAQ
How do I find the best deals on Hotels.com?
Sign in to your account to unlock Member-Only Prices, filter results by price or rating, and keep an eye on seasonal promotions. Compare prices across other platforms like TripAdvisor and Booking.com for the best deal.
Are boutique hotels and vacation rentals included on Hotels.com?
Absolutely! Hotels.com offers over 500,000 properties worldwide, including boutique hotels, ski resorts, and vacation rentals, making it a great option for unique stays that don’t typically offer loyalty rewards.
How does the OneKey rewards program work?
The OneKey program allows you to earn rewards across Hotels.com, Expedia, and Vrbo. You earn OneKeyCash for eligible bookings, which can be used like cash on future bookings. The more you book, the higher your membership tier, unlocking bigger discounts and perks like free room upgrades.
Is Hotels.com easy to use?
Hotels.com is very easy to use! It just takes a few clicks to find your perfect stay and book. Plus, your reservation is instantly confirmed, and most bookings can be canceled for free if you ever need to change your stay.
Is it safe to book using Hotels.com?
Hotels.com is generally safe to use. If anything goes wrong with your booking, you can contact Customer Service through their official channels.
More Budget Travel Tips
Save big on your next vacation with these helpful budget travel tips.
- Tips for Finding Cheap Accommodation For Your Next Vacation
- How to Use Tripadvisor to Find Cheap Hotel Stays
- How to Use VRBO to Save Money on Vacation Rentals
- How to Use Booking.com to Save Money on Hotels
- Tips for Finding Cheap Flights for Your Next Vacation
- How to Use Skyscanner to Find Cheap Flights
- How to Use WayAway to Find Cheap Flights
- How to Save Money on Your Next Road Trip
- Why You Should Use Viator to Book Tours for Your Next Vacation
- How to Use GetYourGuide to Book Tours for Your Next Vacation
- How to Get a New Passport Photo Without Leaving Home
- How the Atlanta CityPASS Can Save You Lots of Money
Ready to take a vacation? Plan your trip with these tips.
- Find cheap accommodation: Use my tips for finding cheap accommodation for travel every time.
- Book your flight: Find the cheapest flights using Skyscanner, my favorite flight search engine.
- Pack for your vacation: Make sure you’ve packed everything you need by checking out my packing list resources.
Cheers!
Paige
Do you use Hotels.com to book your accommodation? Let me know in the comments!
We use Hotels.com as well and it’s been really good to us so far! If you do it through ibotta you get 1% cash back as well. Every little bit counts 🙂
It sure does! Thanks for the tip!
Great idea! I’ve never used Hotels.com but this is great advice!
Hopefully it will help you save some money on trips in the future!
Thanks for sharing this! I use hotels.com for all of my trips and I definitely learned some things I didn’t know from your post
Glad you learned something new!