Wouldn’t you prefer to stay at a hotel if you had the choice? After all, not everyone is a fan of or might be in the mood to encounter the hustle and bustle of hostels. Plus, hotels offer conveniences and perks that are hard to let go of! If comfort and convenience are a priority, then Hotels.com might be just the thing for you. While there are many rental booking sites, you have many choices when booking your stay on Hotels.com. Not only does it make hotel bookings rewarding and easy, but it also boasts listings of multinational and independent hotel chains. This Expedia Group subsidiary, which was founded in 1991, also has scores of other accommodation options, such as self-catering properties.
Additionally, they also have a mobile app that you can use to search for hotels while traveling. This app also makes it easy to access secret prices and other perks and manage reservations. The best bit? It supports both iOS and Android devices. So, what are you waiting for? Pick the next destination on your bucket list and book your stay on Hotels.com with this helpful guide that’ll tell you all that you need to know.
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How To Book Your Stay On Hotels.com?
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The first thing to know, obviously, is the process of booking your stay on Hotels.com. The travel website is renowned for offering many filters, which help users narrow down search results and find exactly what they’re looking for.
Firstly, you need to visit the Hotels.com website and enter your destination, check-in and check-out dates, and the number of rooms and travelers. In fact, if you have a specific hotel in mind, then you can even search for it by name. Furthermore, you can apply filters such as amenities you need, areas, type of property, property class, guest rating, and budget.
An important factor is the type of payment, especially if you have a Hotels.com gift card. If you intend to use the card and it’s eligible to be used, then you need to use the pay now option or pre-pay in order to use it. Read up all about Hotels.com Gift Cards in detail to know.
Finally, we especially like the “Traveler Experience” filter. It allows you to find LGBTQ-friendly, business-friendly, and family-friendly properties for those looking for them. After reviewing and selecting the properties, it’s on to the reservation policies and, finally, the payment.
Loyalty Program
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Hotels.com has an excellent loyalty program that treats loyal customers with perks such as free stays, discounts, and more. What’s more, members also get access to “Secret Prices,” i.e., rentals at a discounted rate offered at selected hotels. Furthermore, you can even combine it with other offers and deals and enjoy higher discounts.
While the membership is free, you begin as a basic member and will be rewarded with a stamp per night that you spend at a hotel booked via the site. Once you’ve accumulated 10 stamps in a calendar year, you become eligible for the next level, which is the Silver membership. If you accumulate 30 more stamps in a calendar year, you’re also eligible for a gold membership. The best bit? These memberships offer a ton of extra perks, such as late check-out, spa vouchers, complimentary breakfast, etc.
Rewards Program
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The Hotels.com program has a rewards program that offers stamps (yes, “stamps” stamps!), which you can earn in two ways. One is on bookings made through Hotels.com, and the other is a booking made using the Hotels.com Rewards Visa Credit Card. Basically, you need to earn 10 stamps to redeem a reward night. So, how to use the rewards program to book your stay on Hotels.com?
Anyone can join the rewards program for free by signing up at Hotels.com. Once you’ve registered, you can begin earning rewards on rooms booked via the website. For every night that you book via Hotels.com, you earn one stamp. The value of each stamp equals the cost of the night at the hotel, and your 10 stamps are averaged together to determine the total value of your reward night. All you need to do is sign into your Hotels.com account before reserving a room and book from the roster of more than a million eligible properties worldwide. Finally, stamps are credited to the account within 72 hours of checkout.
The other way to earn stamps is via a co-branded credit card. You’ll earn 1 stamp for every eligible property booked on Hotels.com or every 500 USD spent on the card purchases. Collect 10 stamps and get a reward night worth up to 110 USD.
While these rewards are largely unrestricted, you aren’t eligible to earn stamps in the following situations:
- Award nights won’t earn stamps.
- Some bookings made using discount codes, vouchers, and coupons may not earn stamps.
- Package deals offered by Hotels.com do not earn stamps.
Caveats On Free Nights With Hotels.com
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Since no rewards program can ever be caveat-free, here are some caveats you need to know about earning and redeeming Hotels.com free nights. Most importantly, you can’t redeem multiple free nights to make it a single, expensive night. You must necessarily redeem one single free night per night of your stay. Also, you can’t earn night credits toward free nights on select bookings, including if you:
- Don’t check in or cancel your bookings.
- Book packages, including flights, activities, etc.
- Book via an affiliate Hotels.com website.
- Book before you join the Hotels.com rewards program.
- Book using select discount codes, vouchers, or coupons.
- Book via group travel services.
Additionally, please note that Hotels.com usually charges a 5 USD redemption fee per reward night while booking through the website. But this fee isn’t charged when you book via the Rewards Visa Credit Card or the app.
Cancellation Policy
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One of Hotels.com’s bestselling points is that you can book to lock in low prices and cancel later, if need be, for free on most reservations. To cancel your hotel reservations, head to your bookings by signing in. If you haven’t signed it to book your hotel, find your booking using the last name on the reservation and the confirmation number. Choose “Cancel Booking” and follow the instructions that follow.
Did you book a vacation rental? You need to reach out to the property manager, whose information you’ll find in the booking details, to cancel your reservation. The refund amount and how long it takes to get back to you depends on how you paid and the type of booking. Finally, you can reach customer service in two ways: chatting with a virtual assistant and calling the toll-free number to speak with a representative. See the Contact Us tab at the page’s top right for more.
When To Use Hotels.com?
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Booking via Hotels.com is perfect for travelers who’re looking for a luxury or unique property and aren’t already or don’t want to be loyal to any of the major hotel chains. When combined with gift cards, rewards, etc., you can earn a return of up to as much as 20%, which makes a lot of financial sense. What’s also nice about Hotels.com Rewards is that you can use free nights at properties that usually offer no avenue for getting free stays. These include everything from ski resorts and boutique hotels to on-property Disney Resorts and Four Seasons properties. Likewise, booking via this brand is also excellent if you have a one-off stay at a chain you’ll rarely or never utilize again.
What We Liked About Hotels.com:
Many useful filters
One of the best things about Hotels.com is that it has lots of filters that help you refine your list and find near-exact choices that you’re looking for. After all, you don’t want to want your time browsing hundreds of options that don’t fit your requirements. These filters make the booking platform time-saving, easy to use, and robust. You can specify your priorities, pick from the options available, and book much faster.
More options
Hotels.com has more than 1 million listings worldwide. What’s more, the properties aren’t limited to hotels, and the choices are extensive. So, you can find resorts, condos, B&Bs, guesthouses, and many more. There are also many self-catering properties if flexibility and privacy are a priority for you.
Discounted offers
There are tons of secret price offers, last-minute deals, and other discounted listings on Hotels.com. If you’re traveling during the off-season, there are high chances of bagging a good discount. The rewards program also offers other perks which help you, especially frequent travelers, get the most out of the stay. This Forbes review of the Hotels.com rewards program is very useful.
