Loyalty schemes: get hotel discounts and travel rewards via Booking.com, Expedia & more

Holiday loyalty schemes are a great way to bag extra perks and discounts for your getaways. We run through the most popular schemes and explain how each works.

Why join a travel or hotel loyalty scheme?

If you regularly book holidays through the same site or frequently stay at a particular hotel chain, you could be missing out on a host of great freebies and discounts if you aren't signed up for a holiday loyalty scheme. 

From 20% off room rates to reward points towards your next flight, you can rack up loads of great perks.

We’ll now run through some of the most popular travel and hotel loyalty schemes available to you.

How to save money on holidays, including cheap flights, hotels and more

Booking.com Genius loyalty scheme

You can get discounted stays at over 390,000 properties worldwide via Booking.com’s loyalty scheme Genius.

It’s free to sign up for and includes three levels that offer different rewards.

When you sign up, you automatically reach Genius Level 1, which offers a 10% discount at participating properties around the world.

If you complete five stays in two years, you’ll reach Genius Level 2 where you’ll enjoy discounts of between 10% and 15% and free breakfast and room upgrades on select stays.

You can reach the final level (Genius Level 3) by completing 15 stays in two years. You get the same benefits as the previous level but the discount on stays is up to 20% and you get priority support on all bookings.

Once you’ve met the requirements for any level, the benefits are unlocked for life, but discounts are applied to the price of your stay before any taxes and charges.

It’s worth stressing that discounts and rewards are not available on every booking as they are only available via those who participate in the scheme (as shown by the blue Genius logo).

Booking.com says that only well-reviewed properties can join the Genius programme.

easyHotel ClubBedzzz loyalty scheme

With the free ClubBedzzz loyalty scheme, you can get a special discount of at least 10% off all your bookings.

You’ll also get exclusive access to sales, free Wi-Fi and free late check-out on Sundays (up until 1pm).

Sadly, you don’t receive additional rewards for repeat bookings with easyHotel.

Find the latest travel deals at lastminute.com

Expedia Rewards loyalty scheme

Expedia’s Rewards loyalty scheme allows you to save an extra 10% or more on select hotels, as well as earn points on eligible bookings when you first sign up.

Similar to Booking.com, Expedia offers different levels that you can unlock to get more benefits.

The above benefits are available under the ‘Blue’ tier, where you can earn one point for every £1 spent on eligible stays, hire cars, activities and packages. Points can help you save money on your next eligible trip.

To reach, the ‘Silver’ tier, you need to collect 10 Trip Elements each year.

You can earn one Trip Element when you book and complete an eligible flight, car reservation or activity, as well as for hotel and accommodation rental stays (per room/per night), as well as on packages.

You can earn two points for every £1 you spend on eligible bookings and will receive perks like free breakfast or spa credits at participating VIP Access properties (marked with a VIP logo).

The ‘Gold’ tier is only available to those who collect 25 Trip Elements in a year and allows you to earn three points for every £1 spent on eligible bookings.

You’ll also get a guaranteed two-hour late check-out and free room upgrades where available at VIP Access Properties.

You can earn double points when you book via the app and one point for every £5 spent on eligible flights that aren’t booked directly through the airline.

It’s worth warning that you’ll be ineligible for points for booked flights even if your original flight search was conducted on Expedia.co.uk.

If you book a VIP Access property, you’ll earn triple points, plus you may be able to earn credit card and airline rewards points as well, regardless of what tier you’re on.

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Hotels.com Rewards loyalty scheme

When you sign up for the free Hotels.com Rewards loyalty scheme, you automatically get discounts via ‘Secret Prices’ that are available on eligible properties.

You can also collect one stamp for every night you stay at a hotel – when you get to 10, you get a free night’s stay at a property of your choice.

The free night’s stay is worth the average value of the 10 stamps you have collected.

So, for example, if you spent £85 per night on average for 10 nights (this can be all at once or booked at different times), your free night reward would be worth around £85.

It’s worth stressing that you’ll have to pay taxes and fees on your reward night and if you choose a hotel that costs more, you’ll have to pay the difference.

When you reach 10 stamps, you’ll be bumped up to Rewards Silver and get benefits such as free breakfast, Wi-Fi or even spa vouchers at participating VIP Access properties and Price Guarantee Plus.

With Price Guarantee Plus, if you find the same stay at a better price, Hotels.com will match this and refund the difference – up until you check in. You’ll also get priority customer service.

If you manage to get 30 stamps, you’ll join the Rewards Gold tier, which offers complimentary room upgrades and early check-in, as well as guaranteed late check-out at select VIP Access properties.

You’ll also be able to get a free upgrade to Avis Preferred Plus membership.

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