Your Guide To The One Key Expedia Rewards Program

The One Key Expedia Rewards Program is great for frequent travellers who don’t necessarily want to factor in brand loyalty when booking hotels or flights. The program allows travellers to earn and redeem points across brands and airlines.

This means you can book with any of Canada’s top travel credit cards, doubling up on rewards points by earning OneKeyCash alongside your card’s rewards.

Since the One Key Expedia Rewards Program spans across brands and categories—the program rewards travellers on everything from hotel bookings to car rentals—it’s easy to accumulate points and move up the membership ranking quickly.

Here’s everything you need to know about One Key and how to maximize your membership for optimal savings and reward redemption.

What is One Key Expedia rewards?

One Key is a travel-specific rewards program owned and operated by Expedia. The membership program allows you to earn points across all travel categories with Expedia, VRBO, and Hotels.com – including flights, hotels, rental cars, cruise bookings, and activities – without having to worry about brand loyalty or airline alliances.

The program also offers exclusive member prices that include a minimum of 10% off over a hundred thousand hotels worldwide and additional member-exclusive savings when combining a hotel and flight booking.

Sign-up is free, and members are granted immediate access to member-exclusive pricing, but the real benefits start once you move up the membership tiers. Perks like free room upgrades and price drop protection are just some of the advantages that come with One Key status.

Note: Expedia Rewards points have been converted into OneKeyCash.

One Key pros

• Instant savings on more than 100,000 properties worldwide
• Flexible redemption and point collection across Expedia, VRBO, and Hotels.com
• Simple point to dollar conversion
• Member-exclusive savings that grow as you move up the four tiers

One Key cons

• Points expire if unused within the span of 18 months
• Cannot combine points and alternative payment methods when booking flights
• Not all properties or bookings are eligible for redeeming or earning OneKeyCash

How much are One Key points worth?

Unlike a lot of other reward programs where point value can be hard to calculate or vary by reward type, One Key points – known as OneKeyCash – converts at a simple rate of $1 per point.

This means that $1 in OneKeyCash equals a flat $1 CAD to redeem on hotels, flights, car rentals, cruises, and more.

If you use OneKeyCash for a reward in a different currency than your account, your OneKeyCash will be converted to that currency using the exchange rate on the booking date.

How to redeem One Key rewards

Redeeming OneKeyCash for hotels, cars, or activities on Expedia is easy. When searching for properties, attractions, or vehicles, you should see a toggle at the top of your search that allows you to apply your OneKeyCash to your stay.

Hotels.com and VRBO don’t feature this toggle at this time, but we may see this appear as the transition to OneKeyCash continues to roll out in Canada.

Keep in mind that not all brands or properties participate in One Key, so you won’t be able to redeem your points for any trip. Also consider the following restrictions:

• OneKeyCash cannot be redeemed for Pay Later bookings
• In order to book a flight using OneKeyCash, you need enough to cover the entire flight.

Fortunately, there are lots of redemption options available on Expedia.

How do Expedia rewards work?

Expedia rewards – now known as OneKeyCash – has four different reward tiers with varying perks. New members start at the Blue Tier, which instantly offers member-exclusive pricing across 100,000 hotels worldwide.

Members can upgrade their status by booking "trip elements," which refer to individual parts of a trip.

For example, each night at a hotel booked on Expedia is considered one element. So booking a five-night stay automatically earns you five elements, getting you to Silver status. Each night on a cruise or accommodation rental also earns you one element, as does each day of a car rental.

Or, you can earn one element per activity ticket and per one-way or round-trip flight.

How to earn One Key rewards

Booking hotels, packages, cruises, car rentals, or activities will earn you OneKeyCash based on your tier.

Per $1 spent (excluding taxes and fees), here’s what you can earn on eligible hotels, accommodation rentals, cruises, cars, and vacation packages:

• Earn 1% in OneKeyCash as a Blue Member
• Earn 2% as Silver, Gold or Platinum Member per CA$1 spent

Expedia also offers 0.2% OneKeyCash per dollar spent on eligible flights.

Using a One Key-branded credit card

In the U.S., One Key also has two branded credit cards issued by Wells Fargo: the One Key™ Card and the One Key+™ Card. Credit card holders receive an additional 3% on all eligible bookings, 3% on gas stations, grocery stores, and dining out, and 1.5% on all other purchases. However, there are no branded credit cards available in Canada.

Best credit cards for travel with Expedia

Since you can earn OneKeyCash no matter which card you book with, you can use your favourite travel card to schedule your trip.

Look for a card with robust travel insurance and high travel rewards.

FAQ

Can you tell me how to use One Key rewards on Expedia?

Redeeming One Key rewards on Expedia is easy—simply select the OneKeyCash filter and book your reservations as normal. Before making a payment, you’ll be prompted to select the Apply OneKeyCash option at checkout.

What are the pros and cons of One Key?

The One Key program is great for travellers who don’t necessarily want to stick to a hotel brand or airline to earn loyalty points, it offers excellent flexibility. However, OneKeyCash will expire if points are not used within 18 months.

How much are 100 Expedia points worth?

Expedia points – now known as OneKeyCash – are currently worth $1 per point. If you have $100 in OneKeyCash, that’s equal to $100 in redeemable travel dollars.

How do I use my rewards on Expedia?

You can use your rewards on Expedia very easily. Simply search for reservations using the OneKeyCash toggle and select the Apply OneKeyCash option before you check out.

Are the One Key credit cards available in Canada?

There are two One Key-branded credit cards currently on the market in the U.S., but unfortunately, they are not available in Canada.