OneKey+ Card: Savings and Perks, If You Book Via Expedia Sites
The Bottom Line
4.3
The card’s solid sign-up bonus and annual travel credit will appeal to a broad audience — but don’t get it unless you’re willing to book travel through Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
Annual fee
$99
Rewards rate
2%-3%
Bonus offer
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 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 $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®. 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 2% in OneKeyCash on other purchases.
- $99 annual fee.
- Get Automatic Gold tier in the One Key rewards program with savings of 20% or more with Gold Member Prices on over 10,000 hotels worldwide. Unlock Platinum when you spend $30,000 per calendar year.
- Get $100 in OneKeyCash each year upon your cardholder anniversary.
- Receive a statement credit of up to $100 for Global Entry® or TSA PreCheck®
- No foreign transaction fees.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Bonus categories
Automatic status
New cardholder bonus offer
Travel credits
Cons
Has annual fee
Limited redemptions
Requires good/excellent credit
Detailed Review
When you’re not wedded to a particular hotel or airline, you’re free to search general online booking sites for the best price, whether that’s from a last-minute Delta flight or shoulder-season deal at a Marriott resort. The drawback of that travel booking strategy: potentially missing out on earning rewards, status or perks within a specific hotel or airline loyalty program.
The One Key Rewards program launched in 2023 with an eye on solving that problem, allowing its loyalty members to earn rewards across three online travel booking platforms: Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. About a year later, One Key debuted two credit cards to supercharge rewards earned from those three travel sites. The more expensive card, the One Key+™ Card, has an annual fee of $99, but it also has some attractive benefits for certain travelers.
Ultimately, though, the card has the same limitations of other co-branded travel cards: It’s useful only if you’re loyal to certain brands, namely the three in the One Key family.
If you prefer Expedia to Travelocity, Vrbo to Airbnb, Hotels.com to Trivago, then the One Key+™ Card may be for you. For anyone outside of that fairly narrow consumer cohort, another travel card is probably a better fit.
Existing Hotels.com® Rewards Visa® Credit Card holders were to have been transitioned to the $0- annual-fee One Key™ Card starting in September 2024.
One Key+™ Card: Basics
Card type: Travel.
Annual fee: $99.
Sign-up bonus: 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®.
Rewards:
Earn 3% in OneKeyCash on Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
Earn 3% in OneKeyCash at gas stations and EV stations, grocery stores and dining.
Earn 2% in OneKeyCash on other purchases.
APR: The ongoing APR is 20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99% Variable APR.
Foreign transaction fee: $0.
Other benefits:
Get Automatic Gold tier in the One Key rewards program, with savings of 20% or more with Gold Member Prices on over 10,000 hotels worldwide. (See below for more on what Gold status gets you.)
Get $100 in OneKeyCash on every cardholder anniversary.
Receive a statement credit of up to $100 for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
One Key+™ Card vs. One Key™ Card
The One Key+™ Card carries an annual fee, and it’s worth noting that there’s a $0-annual-fee One Key™ Card (no "plus" in the name) with a similar rewards structure as its more expensive sibling. The non-plus One Key™ Card also has cell phone insurance worth up to $1,000, a great perk for a $0-annual-fee card. But as you might expect, its sign-up bonus is less lucrative, and it features fewer side benefits overall.
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
Solid rewards
With a high rewards rate in everyday categories, the One Key+™ Card aims to be top of wallet for its cardholders. In addition to 3% back on Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo, the One Key+™ Card earns 3% on groceries, gas stations and dining. Note that superstores and wholesale clubs are excluded from the grocery category.
All other purchases earn 2%. Many cards with a tiered rewards structure earn a mere 1.5% base rate, or lower.
There’s no cap on rewards, but they will expire if you haven’t made an eligible booking or redeemed rewards in the past 18 months.
Statement credits
One Key+™ Card holders get two statement credits that more than make up for the card’s $99 annual fee. Every account anniversary, cardholders get $100 in OneKeyCash. And every four years, the card offers a $100 statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
Valuable sign-up bonus
The generous sign-up bonus on the One Key+™ Card may be enough to pay for a good chunk of your next vacation: 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®.
Automatic Gold status within One Key
The One Key rewards program has four levels; One Key+™ Card holders are automatically elevated to the second-highest tier, One Key Gold. Gold status perks include a 20% discount on over 10,000 hotels; free price drop protection on eligible flight bookings made on the Expedia app (more on that below); and 2x OneKeyCash on stays at VIP Access properties on Expedia and Hotels.com. Better yet, that rewards rate on VIP properties stacks several times, up to 7% back. Here's how:
You'll earn the base rate of 2% in OneKeyCash.
You'll get an additional 2% back (the 2x multiplier) for being a Gold tier member.
Plus you'll earn 3% back for booking with the One Key+™ Card.
Price drop protection means that if you book an eligible flight on the Expedia app and the price drops after the fact, you'll be awarded OneKeyCash in the amount of the difference.
Insurance
The One Key+™ Card offers several types of insurance including rental car insurance, trip cancellation and cell phone insurance up to $1,000.
Drawbacks and Considerations
Annual fee
If you're already using sites like Expedia to hunt for bargains, you might not be too keen on paying an annual fee for a travel credit card. In that case, you could consider this card's $0-annual-fee sibling, the aforementioned One Key™ Card.
Or you could investigate a card like the $0-annual-fee Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card. It earns 3 points per $1 spent across a wide variety of spending categories, including restaurants, travel, gas stations, popular streaming services and select phone plans. All non-bonus-category purchases earn 1 point per $1 spent. Those points are flexible, too. Redeem them for travel or statement credits, or even transfer them to a limited number of eligible travel partners. It also comes with a solid bonus: Earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months - that's a $200 cash redemption value.
Inflexible redemptions
Both One Key cards earn rewards in the proprietary currency, OneKeyCash, whose redemption options are limited to future travel purchases from Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. Furthermore, OneKeyCash can’t be used on buy now, pay later bookings or to cover common fees, including resort fees.
If you prefer booking directly with airlines and hotels, you're not likely to get as much value out of this card, particularly when it comes to hotel bookings. When you use an online travel website like Expedia to book a hotel room, you typically won't earn points, elite night credits or status perks with that hotel chain. (It's generally possible to earn airline miles when you use an online travel booking site, but you'll need to enter your airline loyalty number. Your mileage may vary when it comes to airline perks.)
How To Decide If It's Right For You
The majority of the benefits of the One Key+™ Card incentivize you to book travel through Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. If you’re already a consistent user of those booking platforms or are willing to become one, then the One Key+™ Card could be a worthwhile pick.
For those who want more choice in their travel planning, a general travel card is likely a superior option.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns versatile rewards that can be redeemed for cash, gift cards and travel. Transferring those rewards to one of Chase’s many travel partners can deliver even bigger redemption values.
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Methodology
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