Expedia's new loyalty program will have fans and critics

The consolidation of Expedia Group’s various loyalty schemes into one is part of its overall push to simplify the company’s far-flung operations

The formerly separate and disparate Expedia Rewards and Hotels.com Rewards programs, the latter of which offered “1 reward night for every 10 nights you stay,” will be consolidated into One Key and extended to Vrbo, which didn’t have a loyalty scheme. The 168 million members of the Expedia Group rewards programs would be able to earn and burn OneKeyCash on all three brands while previously there was no such cross-brand utility.

Key takeaways

• Travelers with a One Key account will be able to pile up OneKeyCash and use it on eligible bookings through Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo - the Group’s recently anointed three core brands;
• One Key members who book a four-night hotel stay and a roundtrip flight would advance from the lowest Blue status to the Silver tier, where they would save 15 percent at participating hotels instead of 10 percent at the lower rung, the company said;
• Savvy travelers will go from earning the equivalent of a 10% reward on their stays, to earning the equivalent of 2% back on their stays. While you can earn up to 6% on some stays, this requires being Platinum, and only applies at ‘eligible VIP Access properties.

Get the full story at Yahoo! Finance (Skift)