Hotels.com Rewards (HK) review
The rewards program is for people that are not tied to a particular hotel brand and only expect one "free" night every 10 nights as a benefit. The higher tier benefits are of little value and of low likelihood as they only apply to "VIP properties".
Price Analysis
For the rewards program in Hong Kong, it's marketed as 1 stamp per night, and a reward night after 10 nights. The fine print is the "reward night" you can redeem is based on the average value of the 10 nights you paid for, excluding taxes and fees.
In simple terms, it sounds like getting 10% rewards cash back.
But the truth is not 10% rewards cash back because the rewards is based on hotel spend, excluding taxes and fee. Hotels.com also charges a markup on its room prices compared with direct prices. In my example below, it's $1.51 (0.52% more on hotels.com) for a 2-night stay, when compared to Hyatt, which also offers a spend-based rewards program.
Both prices below are member rates from each site respectively:
| Hotels.com | Hyatt.com | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $292.02 | $290.51 | $1.51 (+0.52%) |
$292.02/$290.02 = ~0.52% more on hotels.com than hyatt.com
In other words, if you spent $1000 on Hyatt.com, you'd pay $1005.20 at Hotels.com, but as taxes and fees don't count towards hotels.com rewards, in my example above, substracting the 10.2% in taxes, it's ~$90.27 (calculation is: 89.8% x $1005.2) counting towards your next reward night, excluding taxes and fees.
The ROI can be higher or lower, depending on the tax rates. In the example in this post it's 8.98% ($90.27/$1005.20) return on hotels.com. Compared with spending $1000 on Hyatt, which would earn you 5000 points (5 points per $ for members), which is good for one night at a Hyatt Category 1 hotel, including taxes. Hyatt redemptions are great if the cash price - including taxes - is higher than $100, which is what I value Hyatt at for member only status.
Ignoring the math, if it comes down to whether you want the flexibility in the choice of hotel via hotels.com (globally) or perhaps stay with one hotel brand such as Hyatt. If you live in the US, you don't have many Category 1 choices (8 by my last count), but if you visit Asia, there are literally 100s of Category 1 Hyatt hotels.
Rewards program benefits analysis
Here's a summary of the benefits by tier for Hong Kong, which is based on the number of nights booked via Hotels.com. The rewards program varies depending on which country you are in. The US rewards system has changed from the number of nights system to OneKey, which is now based on rewards cash.
| Benefit | Member | Silver | Gold | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nights ("Stamps") | 0 to 9 | 10 | 30 | |
| Price savings | Member Price | 15%+ | 20%+ | |
| Reward Nights | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Price Guarantee Plus | - | Yes | Yes | |
| Priority Customer Service | - | Yes | Yes | |
| At VIP properties only | - | Breakfast, Wifi, or spa voucher | Breakfast, Wifi, or spa voucher | |
| - | - | Free room upgrade |
Breaking down the benefits:
- Member: same as most loyalty programs, no immediate benefit until you hit the next tier.
- Silver: Useful only for the 1 free night after 10 nights.
- 15% off prices looks interesting, but you can probably get that from booking directly with the hotel.
- Price Guarantee Plus - this is just "price matching". It's just table stakes these days for most sites. The amount of evidence to file for the claim really isn't worth the time for most people. You're better off with sites that let you cancel and rebook at the lower price.
- At VIP properties only - you basically don't get these for 90%+ of hotels + select rooms listed at hotels.com in my own search experience.
- Breakfast - some value here, but again, only at some VIP properties.
- Wifi - this is table stakes, unless you're living in the 2000's. eSIMs are cheap. Who stays at a hotel that doesn't offer free Wifi? Who still pays for hotel Wifi?
- Spa - If you're a hotels.com target demographic, you're probably well aware you can just step outside the hotel and spas will be 2/3 less no matter have big a spa credit they offer you. Is a $100 off coupon really that great when it's still $300 after that?
- Gold: Basically a 5% additional discount and potential room upgrade
- 20% off prices - an additional 5% off Silver pricing. Again, you can probably get that from booking directly with the hotel.
- Free room upgrade - keep in mind this is only available at the VIP hotels, which are less than 10% of the hotels listed on the site, and depends on availability so it's not guaranteed.
The stamps counting toward a free night do not expire if there is at least one stamp every 12 months. That's very reasonable if you've already decided you are the target demographic described at the top of this post.