One Key Card Review: Earn and Redeem Rewards on Expedia Sites
The Bottom Line
3.8
Travelers who often use these sites can benefit, but first compare it with the more upscale version of the card, which does have an annual fee.
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1.5%-3%
Bonus offer
Earn $400 in OneKeyCash™ after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. OneKeyCash is not redeemable for cash and can only be used on Expedia®, Hotels.com® and Vrbo®.
Ongoing APR
APR: 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% Variable APR
Cash Advance APR: Refer to Important Credit Terms
Balance transfer fee
up to 5%, min: $5, no max
Foreign transaction fee
0%
- Select “Apply Now” to take advantage of this specific offer and learn more about product features, terms and conditions.
- Earn $400 in OneKeyCash™ after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. OneKeyCash is not redeemable for cash and can only be used on Expedia®, Hotels.com® and Vrbo®. To learn more, please refer to the One Key Terms and Conditions at www.expedia.com/one-key-terms.
- Earn 3% in OneKeyCash on Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo, 3% in OneKeyCash at gas stations, grocery stores, and on dining and 1.5% in OneKeyCash on other purchases.
- $0 annual fee.
- Get Automatic Silver tier in the One Key rewards program with savings of 15% or more with Silver Member Prices on over 10,000 hotels worldwide. Unlock Gold when you spend $15,000 per calendar year.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Up to $1,000 of cell phone protection against damage or theft. Subject to a $25 deductible.
Pros and Cons
Pros
No annual fee
Bonus categories
Automatic status
New cardholder bonus offer
Cons
No luxury perks
Limited redemptions
Requires good/excellent credit
Detailed Review
The One Key™ Card, issued by Wells Fargo, earns rewards on purchases within the One Key Rewards program, which includes three online travel booking websites: Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. Those rewards, in the form of OneKeyCash, can be redeemed across all three brands, giving the card a fair amount of flexibility.
The card also offers a sign-up bonus, travel protections and automatic status within the One Key program — all welcome perks, especially for a card with a $0 fee. If you tend to chase travel deals on these sites, it can be a fit.
But if you tend to book travel elsewhere, including through airlines or hotels directly, other travel rewards credit cards may be more appealing options. And if you're willing to pay an annual fee, you can snag even more value from any number of competitors, including perhaps a different version of this card.
Holders of the Hotels.com® Rewards Visa® Credit Card, which is closed to new applicants, were to have received a new One Key™ Card in September 2024.
One Key™ Card: Basics
Card type: Travel.
Annual fee: $0.
Sign-up bonus: Earn $400 in OneKeyCash™ after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. OneKeyCash is not redeemable for cash and can only be used on Expedia®, Hotels.com® and Vrbo®.
Rewards:
Earn 3% in OneKeyCash on Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
Earn 3% in OneKeyCash at gas stations, grocery stores and on dining (including takeout, delivery and food trucks).
Earn 1.5% in OneKeyCash on all other purchases.
APR: The ongoing APR is 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% Variable APR.
Foreign transaction fee: $0.
Other benefits:
Automatic Silver tier. Move to Gold tier if you spend $15,000 per year. (See below to learn what these tiers get you.)
Trip protections including coverage for rental cars, trip cancellation and interruption.
One Key™ Card vs. One Key+™ Card
The One Key™ Card has a more expensive cousin, the $99-annual-fee One Key+™ Card. (Note the plus sign in the second card's name.) The two cards have similar reward structures, but the Plus version comes with more perks, plus a richer sign-up bonus.
Here's what to know if you're evaluating the two cards.
Empty Table Header | One Key™ Card | One Key+™ Card |
|---|---|---|
Annual fee | $0 | $99 |
APR | The ongoing APR is 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% Variable APR | The ongoing APR is 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% Variable APR |
Welcome offer | Earn $400 in OneKeyCash™ after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. OneKeyCash is not redeemable for cash and can only be used on Expedia®, Hotels.com® and Vrbo®. | Earn $600 in OneKeyCash™ after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. OneKeyCash is not redeemable for cash and can only be used on Expedia®, Hotels.com® and Vrbo®. |
Ongoing rewards |
|
|
Foreign transaction fees | None. | None. |
Other benefits |
|
|
Compare to Other Cards
Benefits and Perks
No annual fee
Many travel rewards cards charge annual fees — some in the triple digits. While you get more for those higher price tags, an annual fee can be a dealbreaker for many, especially those who are seeking a deal on online booking sites.
That makes the $0 annual fee for the One Key™ Card a major benefit.
Sign-up bonus
The One Key™ Card offers a generous bonus to new cardholders: Earn $400 in OneKeyCash™ after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. OneKeyCash is not redeemable for cash and can only be used on Expedia®, Hotels.com® and Vrbo®.
Elevated rewards
The One Key™ Card earns a respectable rewards rate not just on travel bookings, but also on useful everyday purchases. Plus, the base rewards rate for any other purchases is slightly higher than the typical 1% back:
Earn 3% in OneKeyCash on Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
Earn 3% in OneKeyCash at gas stations, grocery stores and on dining (including takeout, delivery and food trucks).
Earn 1.5% in OneKeyCash on all other purchases.
Automatic status
With the One Key™ Card, you’ll get automatic Silver tier status, which ordinarily requires booking five trip elements in a year (Trip element examples include one night in a hotel, a one-day car rental, or a one-way or round-trip flight.). The Silver tier gets you:
Discounts of 15% or more on over 10,000 hotels worldwide.
Earn 50% more OneKeyCash on stays at VIP Access Properties on Expedia and Hotels.com. The base earning is 2% back, so that bumps you to 3%. And it stacks on top of the 3% back you earn with the One Key™ Card, so eligible bookings would earn 6% back.
More perks during your stay at VIP Access Properties, such as parking credits or free breakfast.
Priority traveler support.
If you spend $15,000 in a calendar year, you’ll be upgraded to the Gold tier, which offers priority traveler support and perks at VIP Access Properties, plus:
Discounts of 20% or more on over 10,000 hotels worldwide.
Earn two times the OneKeyCash on stays at VIP Access Properties — so that’s the 2% base earning rate, plus another 2%, plus the 3% back you get when you use the One Key™ Card, for a total of 7% back.
Room upgrades at VIP Access Properties.
Price drop protection on select flights booked through the Expedia app. Per the terms, that means that if you book a flight on Expedia and the price drops afterward, you'll be awarded OneKeyCash in the amount of the difference.
Travel and cell phone protections
If your trip is canceled or interrupted for a covered reason, you can get a reimbursement of up to $5,000 per covered traveler per trip, up to a maximum of $20,000 per year. The card also offers rental car coverage.
In addition, you get cell phone insurance if you pay your wireless bill with the One Key™ Card. You can claim up to $2,000 per year (with a maximum of up to two $1,000 claims).
Drawbacks and Considerations
Lacks premium perks
Travel cards with annual fees are more likely to pile on the extras. If you’re open to the fee, the One Key+™ Card — the spendier sibling of the One Key™ Card — offers a larger sign-up bonus, a credit toward TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, $100 in OneKeyCash each cardholder anniversary, automatic Gold tier status and more. The annual fee is $99.
Less flexibility if you’re not loyal
The ability to earn and use rewards across three travel sites is a major benefit. But if you mainly use other travel booking sites, or prefer booking directly with airlines and hotels, you’re not going to get as much value out of this card.
That's especially true when it comes to hotels. While it's typically possible to earn miles with an airline that you book via an online travel website like Expedia (as long as you enter your airline loyalty number), you generally won't earn points, elite night credits or status perks for hotels that you book that way.
Consider a general travel rewards credit card, or an airline or hotel card if you’re loyal to specific brands.
How To Decide If It's Right For You
For anyone fully enmeshed in the One Key Rewards ecosystem, the One Key™ Card provides a way to accelerate your rewards and get some additional perks, all for a $0 annual fee. The pricier One Key+™ Card is also worth a glance, especially since the $100 anniversary bonus effectively wipes out that card's $99 annual fee.
But if you don’t use Expedia, Hotels.com or Vrbo that often (or ever), other travel cards’ perks will have more appeal.
If annual fees aren't deal-breakers, this card offers a larger sign-up bonus, a credit toward TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, $100 in OneKeyCash each cardholder anniversary, automatic Gold tier status and more.
Looking For Something Else?
Methodology
NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.
Frequently asked questions
The One Key Rewards program allows you to earn and redeem rewards on three travel booking sites: Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
You can redeem OneKeyCash on travel bookings on Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. This includes flights, rental cars, hotels, vacation rentals and more.
For the purposes of redeeming rewards, $1 of OneKeyCash is equal to $1.
OneKeyCash doesn’t expire if you’ve made an eligible booking or redeemed rewards within the past 18 months.
No, you are unable to transfer OneKeyCash to other members of the rewards program.
