Hotels.com loyalty transfer going to OneKey

[qc]

Does anyone know how to link a Hotels.com One Key account to VRBO. I want to book an apartment through them.

[t0m]

phantomchickenz wrote:

Who says it’s incorrect? I was Gold in hotels.com and I’ve been moved to OneKey blue, but haven’t read anything about maintaining status.

I wrote to them and got a garbled response which looks like it was produced by a bot. I asked again!

[Nomad312]

Bill 202 posts
Do you know if it’s 18 months from today when my account switched. Or is it 18 months from my last hotels.com stay ?

I read somewhere on the site that your one key cash has the same expiry as your reward nights, ie A year since your last
completed stay booked on the site. I’mworking on the assumption that theyll expire your one key cash if you leave it more than a year since your last stay Until you make your first completed stay under the new system This may well be a pessimistic take but the guidance is not clear so I’m erring on the side of caution.

[davefl]

qc wrote:

Does anyone know how to link a Hotels.com One Key account to VRBO. I want to book an apartment through them.

Just log in to Vrbo with the same credentials you use for Hotels.com.

[Dom]

TJ wrote:

OneKey Cash doesn’t expire if you have account activity at least once every 18 months.

I’d be careful on that one, if you search google there are plenty of complaints in reddit etc from people who found that is not the case for OneKey cash converted from hotels.com and have lost their balance (US users who were migrated some time ago). There doesn’t seem to be a clear answer on it, hopefully it will indicate in the account at some point what the expiry is as there is no indication currently unlike with the old reward nights.

[Dom]

Has anyone else made new bookings since being migrated to Onekey?

My account was migrated on 23rd July and fortunately it calculated the credit value correctly based on my reward nights and stamps. Since then I have made two further bookings, a one night on 13th August and two nights, 19th/20th August. When searching for properties it showed me a OneKey credit value I would earn from the booking as expected but then when booking it talked about earning stamps still, even in the confirmation email it says “You’ll collect stamps after your stay.”

These were prepaid bookings and according to the Onekey terms these should credit 3 days after the stay, so the 13th August stay should have credited by now. I don’t however see anything in my reward activity other than the initial hotels.com conversion back in July. When I made the second booking it even said “You will earn 2 stamps for this stay to add to the 1 you already have”! So it looks like it credited me an old style stamp for that stay.

I haven’t tried raising it with support yet as I figured I may as well wait until the 3 days have passed on the second booking first and see if that also fails to credit in the same way.

It seems my account is in a limbo between the old and new schemes, it has been converted and credited but new stays still think they are earning under the old scheme. Curious if anyone else is seeing the same?

[qc]

davefl wrote:

qc wrote:

Does anyone know how to link a Hotels.com One Key account to VRBO. I want to book an apartment through them.

Just log in to Vrbo with the same credentials you use for Hotels.com.

Thanks – I did try to just log in to VRBO but it didn’t recognise the details. Do you mean I should open a VRBO account with the same details?

[louie]

Should anyone be wondering about their status moving over from hotels.com to OneKey, I found this on their FAQs:

” We will make sure that any eligible activity¹ across your accounts count towards your tier status. (*Note: the email address across your accounts must match for your activity to count.)

Existing Hotels.com Rewards and Expedia Rewards members will have their eligible activity counted towards their One Key tier status. To calculate this, we will either take your calendar year 2023 activity OR your activity from 1 January 2024 to the date you join One Key, whichever is higher.

If you are already a member of One Key elsewhere, any eligible trip elements from that region will be added into your account, which can get you even closer to reaching the next tier.

For 2025, any trip elements collected in 2024 will count towards your 2025 status. This includes any trip elements collected in 2024 before the date you become a One Key member from eligible activity on Expedia and Hotels.com.

Tier status will be earned on a calendar year basis, from 1 Jan to 31 Dec. Your status for the upcoming year will be determined according to the number of trip elements you have collected by 31 Dec and your progress will reset as of 1 Jan.

1‘Eligible activity’ means: a booking made from an Expedia Rewards UK and Hotels.com Rewards UK, while signed in, account that: a) For Expedia Rewards, a booking that would have qualified for a trip element in accordance with the Expedia Rewards UK terms in place before the launch of One Key, and b) For Hotels.com Rewards , an eligible activity is a completed stay at a property of more than £20 (excluding taxes and fees and any discounts or reward nights applied) per night stayed.” and

“The more trip elements you book, the more status you earn. Trip elements are the different parts of a trip—One Key takes every trip element (worth £20 or more, excluding taxes and fees) into account and rewards you for it. Trip elements include:

Trip elements include:

1 air ticket (one-way or return flights)

1 hotel room night (each night counts as an element)

1 night in a holiday rental

1-day car hire

1 return-trip ground transportation ticket (airport shuttles, transfers, etc.)

1 activity ticket (a private tour, a theme park ticket, etc.)

Here’s what you need to book to qualify for each tier:

Blue – just sign up, it’s 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 you booked 2 nights in a hotel and a 3-day car hire, you’d earn 5 trip elements—enough to reach Silver tier status in one trip”

I’ve been demoted from Gold to Silver….

[Jamz]

It’s because they’re recalculating the status based on actual activity rather than Avis president’s club matches to gold

[louie]

Jamz wrote:

It’s because they’re recalculating the status based on actual activity rather than Avis president’s club matches to gold

I understand why (in my case, just the way the dates of previous stays fell, no status match), I just posted as there had previously been queries about why people’s statuses had changed – up and down – and this was the first place I had seen the criteria detailed.

[Nomad312]

Hi all,

Can anyone give me the email address of a specialist team or individual at hotels.com or Expedia that I can email about my issue?

I’ve been emailing Hotels.com customer service this week and last about the fact that a booking made earlier in the year (well before the UK OneKey rollout was announced) is now a due a OneKey cash amount far lower in value than the amount the reward stamps originally due from the booking would have been worth. I would cancel the booking but it’s non-refundable, so I’ve asked for the OneKey amount to be increased.

Customer service has been very poor, apparently misunderstanding consistently the points I’ve tried to make and repeating the same info about OneKey. I’ve repeatedly tried asking for the matter to be escalated to a different team but the request has been ignored every time, so any suggestions about where to email now would be appreciated.

[t0m]

louie wrote:

Jamz wrote:

It’s because they’re recalculating the status based on actual activity rather than Avis president’s club matches to gold

I understand why (in my case, just the way the dates of previous stays fell, no status match), I just posted as there had previously been queries about why people’s statuses had changed – up and down – and this was the first place I had seen the criteria detailed.

It’s useful – thank you. Hotels.com used to be my favourite hotel booking platform. Chances of me using it again now? Zero. Until they improve the scheme. I’d rather book direct with hotels than take the paltry rewards under OneKey.

[Dubious]

I had my Hotels.com account transfer over recently. The existing ‘Reward Nights” went across fine, but the value of the 7 stamps I had built up were not calculated correctly.

It seems they are taking 10% of the value of each night and then summing these.
Whereas in Hotels.com they took the Average Value of the accumulated nights.

I was able to get through the Chat Bot and reach a humanbeing and after some explanation (as well a screenshot) they credited my account with the missing difference. It wasn’t much money so it was probably within their discretionary limits. Not sure the outcome would be the same if it was in the hundreds.

[louie]

@Dubious – I’m struggling to work out the difference. Just out of interest, could you give us a rough idea of the figures?

[meta]

@Nomad312 This was well communicated in advance via emails from hotels.com and here. Anything you booked and “stayed” before the transfer would cross over normally (although the calculations for some seem to be off).

Any bookings that have not been completed whether refundable or non-refundable would earn under new OneKey rates. You have no recurse here and there were plenty of warning here on the forum and in the main articles on HfP since at least February to not book for stays after June.

[meta]

@Dubious I seem to have got £10 or so extra than average, so a bit of a win.

[marks7389]

@meta I disagree. Discussion on HFP about the move to Onekey likely happening at some point is irrelevant. What is relevant is notification from hotels.com.

Checking back on my emails, the first reference relating to anything about rewards being earned at the new OneKey rate “in a few months” was on the 2nd May, in the small print at the bottom of a reward night earned email.

I then received notification on 4th June of the switch happening between 8th July and 16th September.

I’m in a similar position to @Nomad312. I think a formal complaint by email in the first instance – the address I have on various emails is supportUK@chat.hotels.com.

They will almost certainly point to a clause in their terms and conditions:

“We may change our Hotels.com Rewards terms and conditions at any time, with or without notice, including the rules for collecting Stamps, the different membership tiers and their qualification requirements and associated benefits, the rules for redeeming your Reward Night, the list of eligible Hotels.com Rewards properties, and the maximum value of a Reward Night.”

However, I would argue that is not a fair contract term under UK law where applied to existing bookings especially where they are non-refundable.

[Jamz]

Do let me know if it works out for you @marks7389

[Nomad312]

@marks7389 I completely agree with you. At the time of booking I had received no email regarding OneKey and there was nothing on the hotels.com site indicating an imminent change to the rewards system. Moreover, a reward stamp per night stayed was advertised as the benefit before and after booking. Rumours (even if I had been aware of them, which sadly I wasn’t) of a change posted on a completely different website do not represent sufficient notice.

That supportUK email address is the one I’ve been using. I’ve made similar arguments to those you’ve expressed above and after about a dozen emails each way I’ve finally received one saying that my enquiry has been escalated, so I’ll wait and see what they come back with.

[meta]

It was well publicised how it will work since the introduction of OneKey started last year in the US. I also have emails from hotels.com in February related to OneKey (though hidden in the generic marketing email) with full announcement email sent on 15 April.

Please also read the following original T&C for hotels.com Rewards which you agreed to when you signed up.

We may change our Hotels.com Rewards terms and conditions at any time, with or without notice, including the rules for collecting Stamps, the different membership tiers and their qualification requirements and associated benefits, the rules for redeeming your Reward Night, the list of eligible Hotels.com Rewards properties, and the maximum value of a Reward Night. We may communicate these changes to you by email or on our Hotels.com website so please make sure you check your account regularly.
 
Hotels.com Rewards has no end date and will continue until we close it, which could happen at any time. If we do close the Program, you will have 30 days from when we announce its closure to redeem any Reward Nights you have in your account. After that date, you will lose your Reward Nights and you will not be compensated.
 
By continuing to collect Stamps and redeem Reward Nights with Hotels.com Rewards, you accept any changes to these terms and conditions. You are responsible for keeping up to date on any changes that we may make. The most current version will always be available on our website.

[Nomad312]

@meta I am a user of the Hotels.com UK site. It was not “Well publicised” there.The first email I received about the OneKey rollout was in April, several weeks after I had made my booking. Even that email did not refer to a specific date for the rollout OneKey and you had to click through to the site for info on existing bookings.

I have already read those terms and conditions. While they do reserve the right to change the rewards terms and conditions at any time, Hotels.com have no right to do so retrospectively. The terms of the booking were set at the time of payment, they cannot be varied unilaterally later on.

[marks7389]

@meta, that was what I partially quoted in my post above. However, my argument would be that those clauses are unfair and therefore unenforceable in these circumstances.

A standard term is unfair ‘if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer’– Regulation 5(1) of The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999

In this case, the customer cannot vary the terms of the deal as it is non-changeable and non-refundable. The vendor has, however, unilaterally changed the terms of the deal offered at the time it was agreed by withdrawing the “free night” stamps promised at the time and replacing them with something of substantially lower value, i.e. to the detriment of the customer.

I was expecting to find an email around 15th April. I don’t seem to have it for some reason but regardless of that for those who booked prior to that date, I think there is a strong case under UK law for hotels.com to make good on the value of the stamps originally offered.

Of course, enforcing it may well require action via MCOL and there is no guarantee of success.

@Nomad312, I’m currently on the trip for which I made the bookings so won’t progress my complaint until I get back. Let us know if you get any response in the meantime.

[JDB]

@Nomad312 – what authority do you have for the proposition that the rewards terms can’t be changed retrospectively? The terms of any reward programme that runs alongside your actual hotel booking aren’t one and the same. Another poster above refers to unfair contract terms. Ultimately, you won’t really resolve this issue in a court but more by goodwill. If I were in your situation, I would be adopting a more conciliatory tone which might yield a better result.

[JDB]

@marks7389 – as above, getting all legalistic with them probably won’t cut much ice and they will know that you are most unlikely to pursue them at MCOL as winning a case on an unfair contract term would take a lot of work and research, is a subjective decision and all for what must be a very small sum. Suing on a principle is never advised. I think there is a question about the hotel reservation contract and whether the rewards is part of that same contract or separate.

If you want a good example of a detrimental and effectively retrospective change, note Amex’s change of terms on the BAPP CV spend mid-cycle for many.

[marks7389]

No I don’t plan to in making the complaint.

More the many, many years of putting a lot of money their way.

Thanks for the pointer re the BAPP.