United States
Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo Unite as a Single Loyalty Program Driving Earn and Spend of OneKeyCash Across All Three Travel Apps
Vrbo First Major Vacation Rental Platform With Loyalty Program
New AI-powered Features Revolutionize How Travelers Plan and Shop a Trip
Expedia Group™ continues to innovate and lead the travel industry with the launch of One Key™. This groundbreaking new loyalty program unifies the company’s three flagship travel brands of Expedia®, Hotels.com® and Vrbo®, and marks the first time a major online vacation rental platform will have a loyalty program.
One Key combines the three industry-leading travel brands into one simple, flexible program, enabling travelers to earn and use rewards across Expedia Group’s vast marketplace of eligible flights, hotels, vacation homes, car rentals, cruises and activities. The ability to earn rewards on a Vrbo vacation rental and use them on a flight on Expedia or a hotel on Hotels.com creates endless travel possibilities for members and is a game changer for travel rewards programs. One Key is now live in the U.S. and will roll out globally, starting in 2024.
The company’s combined loyalty programs have more than 168 million members and have provided more than $10 billion in travel savings to date. With the launch of One Key, Expedia Group plans to give millions more travelers access to savings, rewards and perks. The program is designed to benefit every traveler, and One Key members instantly save with access to compelling Member Prices on select flights, hotels, cruises, car rentals and activities. Members can also reach status quickly with One Key, with the ability to qualify for Silver with just one trip.* As travelers progress to higher membership tiers, they unlock deeper discounts and can enjoy great in-stay perks at VIP Access properties.** Gold and Platinum members can also take advantage of Price Drop Protection*** at no extra cost for eligible flight bookings made on the Expedia app. Lastly, the One Key program has a single rewards currency called OneKeyCash™, which members earn when they travel and can use on future bookings in addition to all the savings and perks the program offers.
“We’ve significantly increased the pace of innovation at Expedia Group over the past few years, allowing us to push the boundaries in tech, loyalty, and service. From our industry-leading advancements in AI and machine learning to our flexible new loyalty program, One Key, no company is doing more to put the traveler experience front and center in everything we do,” said Peter Kern, Vice Chairman and CEO, Expedia Group.
“We designed One Key to reward every traveler — the road warriors, the frequent flyers, and the 83% of travelers who only take a few trips a year and never really benefit from other loyalty programs,” said Jon Gieselman, president of Expedia Brands. “By bringing together our three biggest travel brands into one program, travelers can easily earn rewards across our family of brands. So whether you fly, rent a car, stay at a hotel, or relax in a private vacation home, more travelers will have OneKeyCash in their ‘wallets’ to spend on their very next trip. It’s about making travel rewards simple for everyone, not just because it’s sunny, a Tuesday, and the planets are miraculously in alignment.”
Leading the way in using advanced technologies to drive big traveler-first transformations and deliver high-value customers to partners, Expedia Group continues to build with AI to take the complexity out of planning and shopping for a trip with some new product features:
Conversational planning built with generative AI: Giving Expedia members a more intuitive way to start planning their next big trip, earlier this year the company launched conversational trip planning powered by ChatGPT in the Expedia iOS app. Early next month, it’ll also be available on the Expedia Android app, and some exciting new features have been added:
- Building on more intelligent shopping, activities recommended in the conversation will automatically save to Trip Planner alongside hotels, making it easier for members to stay organized, add more trip items, and start looking into other aspects like availability.
- Helping travelers to visualize their trip, later this summer hotels recommended during a conversation will also feature images and more accurate details such as price ranges and reviews from travelers.
- Enriching the conversational experience, later this summer Expedia members will be able to go back and continue the same conversation at any time, start a new conversation by choosing one of the suggested prompts, and even respond throughout a conversation by simply choosing a suggested response, bringing them one step closer to booking their dream trip.
Smart shopping: This AI-powered technology helps travelers take the stress out of finding their perfect stay with the launch of smart shopping for hotels on the Hotels.com app. This innovative solution helps travelers more easily compare and narrow down their hotel options when shopping in the app through features like:
- A new hotel comparison tool that travelers can use to compare prices, ratings, amenities and more, side by side for up to five properties.
- AI-powered recommendations that suggest the best room type for travelers based on 40 factors such as who’s traveling, where they’re going, and for how long.
- An intuitive new way for travelers to personalize their stay with compelling extras like breakfast, parking and refundability, with a clear understanding of how much more each costs.
Air credit redemption: Making it easier for travelers to shop and book a flight using their air credits, travelers can now simply log into their Expedia account to apply their air credit to an eligible flight in just a few clicks.
One Key is now available to Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo customers in the U.S. Learn more about One Key and sign up here. Travelers can start using conversational trip planning powered by ChatGPT, smart shopping for hotels and Air Credit Redemption now. Download the Expedia and Hotels.com apps today.
Assets are available for download here.
*Membership Tiers and Trip Elements: One Key members move up One Key tiers by collecting trip elements. Trip elements are the different parts of a trip that can be booked through Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. One Key takes every trip element and rewards members for it.
Trip elements include the following: an eligible flight, hotel room night, vacation rental night, cruise night, one-day car rental, one round-trip ground transportation ticket (airport shuttles, transfers, etc.), or one activity ticket (a private tour, a theme park ticket, etc.). Trip elements must be worth $25 or more in USD, excluding taxes and fees, to qualify.
It’s fast and easy to move up One Key tiers. The criteria to qualify for each tier:
- Blue – Sign up for free
- Silver – 5 trip elements within a year
- Gold – 15 trip elements within a year
- Platinum – 30 trip elements within a year
So, for example, if a member books two nights in a hotel and a three-day car rental, they would earn 5 trip elements, enough to reach Silver in one trip.
**VIP Access properties: VIP Access is a collection of properties offering stays that consistently receive the highest guest reviews on Expedia Group and meet stringent standards of quality. The collection of properties includes hotels, apartments and condos that offer a unique experience in locations around the world.
***Price Drop Protection: Price Drop Protection allows travelers to lock in the ideal flight and take advantage of cost savings should the price of their flight drop before their trip starts. It takes the guesswork out of finding the perfect time to book a flight on the Expedia app. When travelers book an eligible flight with Price Drop Protection, Expedia tracks prices for their flight daily until the traveler’s departure date. If there is a lower price for the flight on Expedia before takeoff, the traveler is automatically refunded the difference in OneKeyCash after the trip ends.
