How to Use Expedia Points

There are plenty of reward programs in place to complement your travels. Expedia Rewards is no exception, brought to you by a travel company that takes care of flights, hotel stays, car rentals and more.

All you have to do is create an Expedia Account, book trips, and collect points applicable towards future getaways.

In this blog post, we’ll explain everything there is to know about Expedia points – from how they’re earned to how they can be redeemed.

The Expedia Rewards Program Explained

According to the Expedia experts themselves, the Expedia Rewards program is just that, rewarding.

The program allows customers to book discounted travel arrangements, accumulate points, and redeem those points towards eligible trips.

To keep things organized, Expedia Rewards breaks up its perks into tiered memberships. These memberships are built to help different types of travellers optimize their travel habits, collecting different quantities of points along the way. The best part? Signing up is completely free.

Before we move on, let’s take a closer look at those membership tiers now:

Blue Status

The most basic membership tier allows travellers to gain access to savings instantaneously – saving them an extra 10% or more on eligible hotel stays. Blue-status-holders will also earn points on every eligible booking, racking up double the points when they book through the mobile app.

To progress to the next two tiers (Silver and Gold), members need to collect a certain amount of Trip Elements within a calendar year. Trip Elements include eligible travel expenses that are valued at $30 or more. Eligible elements must also be booked through your account. 

Alternatively, travellers may be able to reach Silver or Gold status through partnered programs – as long as they meet the corresponding criteria outlined by the partner in question.

Silver Status

To boost your Expedia membership from Blue status to Silver status, you’ll need to book at least 10 eligible Trip Elements in a calendar year.

As a Silver-status-member, you’ll receive 2 points per dollar spent on eligible bookings. If that's not enough, you can also enjoy perks like complimentary breakfast, spa, and parking credits at participating VIP Access properties (subject to availability). 

Gold Status

Once you tack on 25 Trip Elements to your Expedia travel bill in a calendar year, you can unlock top-tier benefits.

With Gold status, you’ll earn 3 points on every dollar spent on eligible bookings, plus perks like late checkout and free room upgrades at participating VIP Access properties.

How Do You Earn Expedia Points?

Now that you have a better understanding of how the Expedia Rewards program operates, let’s break down how you earn Expedia points even further.

Standard (Blue) members will receive points on the following bookings made through the Expedia Site while signed into their Expedia Account:

• Eligible Flights: 1 Base Point for every $5 spent
• Eligible Hotels: 1 Base Point per $1 spent (applicable for “Pay Now” and “Pay Later” booking options, excludes ancillary fees not booked through the Expedia Site)
• Eligible Accommodation Rental: 1 Base Point per $1 spent
• Eligible Activities: 1 Base Point per $1 spent
• Eligible Packages: 1 Base Point per $1 spent
• Eligible Cars: 1 Base Point per $1 spent (applicable only towards rental car booking, excludes insurance, prepaid gratuities and other additional fees)
• Eligible Cruises: 1 Base Point per $1 spent (includes eligible cruise bookings only, excludes additional charges like insurance and prepaid gratuities)

Keep in mind that when it comes to eligible stays, car rentals, activities, cruises and packages, Silver members will receive an additional point per dollar spent on these bookings, while Gold members will receive two bonus points per dollar spent on these categories.

But wait, there’s more…

Book eligible elements through the Expedia mobile app to earn double the points, or take it one step further and book a VIP Access stay and collect triple the points!

Another helpful aspect of the Expedia points program is that you can earn points on any eligible travel booking, no matter how many travel companions you’re taking with you.

When Won’t You Receive Expedia Points?

Unfortunately, there are certain scenarios where Expedia points won’t apply.

Here’s a quick breakdown of those non-eligible bookings:

• Insurance expenses
• Flight + Activity packages
• Hotel + Activity packages
• Car + Activity packages
• Hotel + Flight + Activity packages
• Any flights booked through an airline’s website, even if you were led there originally by the Expedia Site

Where Can I Find My Expedia Points?

To locate your points balance, plus any redemption activity on your account, head over to your Expedia Rewards Activity page. Understand that points are non-transferable or redeemable as cash.

How to Use Expedia Points

The same way you can earn Expedia points on hotel stays, flights, rental cars, and activities, you can also redeem your points towards these same categories.

Here’s a general step-by-step guide for using points:

1. Sign in to your Expedia account.
2. Sift through eligible hotels, cars, packages, or activities and pick a travel element that speaks to you.
3. Select the “Pay Now” option before or at checkout.
4. As you’re finalizing your purchase, choose the “Use my points” option under “Payment”.
5. If you’re not interested in draining all of your points on your purchase, simply enter the amount of points you’d like to use.

Now let’s take a closer look the terms and conditions of various redemption categories:

Flight Redemptions

With Expedia, flight redemptions work a little differently than other redemption categories.

To book a flight through Expedia using points, you need to make sure you have enough points to cover the entire cost of the air travel. Unlike other redemption categories, points cannot be used to partially cover your flight expenses.

Hotel Redemptions

Pay off an eligible hotel stay either partially or in-full using your Expedia points. Points can be applied to the “Pay Now” feature and will include the cost of any associated taxes and fees.

Your points won’t cover any cancellation, modification, or extra excluded expenses. You also won’t be able to redeem points on a “Pay Later” property or properties provided by Vrbo.

Flight + Hotel Package Redemptions

You can also use your points towards Expedia coupons that can be applied towards “Pay Now” hotel + flight packages booked through the Expedia Site. Keep in mind, however, that a Reward Coupon will only apply up to a value of $300. Once you redeem your points for the Reward Coupon, you’ll receive a coupon code to apply to your package. The discount will first be applied to the hotel portion of the package, followed by the flight portion, after which the amount applied to the flight will be refunded to your credit card.

Car Redemptions

If your trip calls for a rental car, you can redeem your points towards a full or partial rental car payment, as long the booking was placed through Expedia under the “Pay Now” option.

Activity Redemptions

When you book your eligible vacation activities through Expedia, you can also use your Expedia points to cover the full or partial payment of the expense. As always, just make sure the booking is made through Expedia.

Conclusion

Expedia points can save you plenty of money on hotel stays, flights, rental cars, and activities. To pocket these points, all you need to do is book eligible hotel stays, flights, rental cars, packages, cruises and so on. This program sets you up for an endless cycle of earning points on travel, only to turn around and redeem points on travel – the perfect solution for budget-conscious frequent travellers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I do if I didn’t receive the correct amount of Expedia points?

If you suspect that you did not receive the proper amount of points on your eligible Expedia booking, you can always contact Expedia’s Customer Service Centre within 180 days from the date of completed travel to sort out the issue.

Do Expedia points expire?

As long as you keep your Expedia Account active – meaning you are either earning points on eligible bookings or redeeming points through the Expedia Site – your points don't expire. That said, if your account remains inactive for 18 months, your points will expire and you won't be able to get them back.