Published: 10 August 2026
Hotels.com Rewards Review: Is £100 Back After 10 Nights Worth It?
Hotels.com has an interesting loyalty programme that can be particularly attractive if you stay in a mixture of hotel chains and independent properties.
Stay 10 eligible nights averaging at least £75 per night and you’ll receive £100 in Hotels.comCash towards future stays. Depending on how much you normally spend on hotels, that can effectively mean getting more than 10% of your money back.
But there’s a catch: booking through Hotels.com will usually mean giving up the points, status credits and benefits you’d receive by booking directly with a major hotel chain. So when does Hotels.com Rewards make sense?
Who are hotels.com?
Hotels.com is part of the Expedia Group (which also includes Expedia and Vrbo). In total, they have 350,000 worldwide hotels on their books.
Hotels.com Rewards – overview
It is a pretty straightforward scheme overall:
- Book a stay with Hotels.com
- Stay 10 nights (subject to the average cost per night being more than £75)
- Receive £100 in Hotels.comCash to spend against future hotel stay(s)
How do I spend Hotels.comCash?
- Hotels.comCash can be used in full or part-payment towards accommodation and does not have to be used all at once
- There are no blackout dates, stay whenever you like
Anything else to note?
- The 10 nights can be ten individual night stays, or a whole ten night stay, or anything in between
- The £75 average cost per night includes taxes & fees
- Nights where Hotels.comCash are used do not count towards one of the 10 qualifying nights
- The £100 of Hotels.comCash is only paid when the 10th night is completed
What are the expiry rules?
- Any night credits and Hotels.comCash that are pending do not expire as long as you make an eligible booking or redeem Hotels.comCash at least once every 12 months
- Any Hotels.comCash that has been earned does not expire as long as you make an eligible booking or redeem Hotels.comCash at least once every 18 months
Is Hotels.com good value compared to booking directly with the hotel?
- Yes it can be, although sometimes booking online with the hotel itself can be a better deal. Read our research on this very topic here.
Are there any downsides?
- If you book with an online Travel agent like Hotels.com (or Expedia, Booking.com etc), you will usually not be able to credit that stay to the chain’s loyalty scheme (such as Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy etc) so you will not be able to double-dip in terms of elite night credits or points. Having said that, you should still register your loyalty number at check-in as incidental spend will normally earn hotel points.
- If you are travelling for work and have booked with Hotels.com, you will not be able to get a VAT receipt from them (or from the hotel) so may struggle to provide something suitable to show your employer for your expense claim.
How does this programme stack up?
| Average nightly spend | Spend over 10 nights | Hotels.comCash | Effective rebate |
|---|---|---|---|
| £75 | £750 | £100 | 13.3% |
| £100 | £1,000 | £100 | 10.0% |
| £125 | £1,250 | £100 | 8.0% |
| £150 | £1,500 | £100 | 6.7% |
| £200 | £2,000 | £100 | 5.0% |
| £250 | £2,500 | £100 | 4.0% |
If you average exactly £75 a night on your hotel stays, this is an extremely attractive scheme and even at £100 it is decent.
However if you enjoy expensive hotels, it might be best to credit your stays to a traditional hotel loyalty programme which will probably deliver more in benefits.
When to use Hotels.com Rewards
- If you stay in a wide variety of hotel brands or stay away infrequently
- When you are staying in an independent hotel or a hotel chain where you do not collect points
- When your are spending around £100 or less a night per room
- If your employer does not require a VAT invoice (or you are paid on a per diem basis for your overnight trips)
When to consider other options
- When you are travelling with work and need a VAT receipt
- When you need to credit your hotel stay to a loyalty scheme to gain/retain status
- When you need to credit your hotel stay to a loyalty scheme to trigger a bonus point promotion
- If you spending £125+ a night on average on a hotel room
Our Take
Hotels.com Rewards is particularly attractive for travellers who don’t stay frequently enough with one hotel chain to make a traditional loyalty programme worthwhile. And unlike other hotel schemes, the generous expiry rules mean that infrequent travellers can also benefit from the scheme.
The sweet spot is clearly at the lower end of the qualifying spend. If your 10 nights average £75 each, the £100 reward can represent an impressive 13.3% return, while at £100 per night you’re still effectively getting 10% back. Combine this with Hotels.com Member Prices and the overall saving can be very competitive.
However, the value falls as your hotel spend increases. If you regularly stay with Hilton, Marriott, IHG or another major chain – particularly if you’re trying to earn or retain status – booking directly and collecting hotel points or Avios may be the better option.
For independent hotels, occasional travellers and anyone who tends to shop around rather than remain loyal to one chain, Hotels.com Rewards is definitely worth considering. As always, compare the final price elsewhere before booking – a £100 future reward isn’t much use if you’ve paid significantly more for the original stay.
