Expedia is a popular website for booking flights, hotels, car hire and activities. And when you book your travel through Expedia, you can earn points and discounts on future bookings through its loyalty program, Expedia Rewards.
In this guide, we’ll outline the benefits of the Expedia Rewards program, plus how you can double dip on rewards by using a points-earning credit card.
Note that Expedia Rewards is different to Expedia’s One Key rewards program, which is currently only available in the US.
Take off on your next holiday sooner with a bonus points offer!
How does the Expedia Rewards program work?
There are two elements to Expedia’s loyalty program:
- The ability to earn points, which can be redeemed for discounts on future bookings.
- The ability to earn ‘trip elements’, which determine your membership tier, subsequently unlocking greater benefits as you progress through the program.
We cover more on Expedia’s points and membership tiers below.
As a summary, the benefits you can expect from the Expedia Rewards program are:
- Earn Expedia Rewards points on flight bookings plus frequent flyer points.
- Earn points when booking stays for other people. This is useful if you have become the de facto travel planner/booker in your family or group of friends.
- Earn points across a vast range of airlines, hotels, car rental bookings and activities.
- Redeem points on hotels with no minimum amount required, no blackout dates, and combined with promotional coupons.
- Earn bonus points on mobile app bookings, and on all bookings once you have Silver or Gold status.

Earning Expedia Rewards points
Expedia’s loyalty program has a simple points-earning structure:
- Earn 1 Expedia Rewards point for every AU$1 spent on eligible stays, cars, packages and activities.
- Earn 1 Expedia Rewards point for every AU$5 spent on eligible flights.
You’ll also earn bonus points with the following:
- Earn 2 Expedia Rewards points for every AU$1 when you book in the Expedia app.
- Earn 3 Expedia Rewards points for every AU$1 when you book a VIP Access property.
Expedia Rewards points can be redeemed for hotel bookings, car hire or activities.
Points will be awarded once your booking has been completed, up to 90 days after travel completion.
Rewards points will not expire as long as there is a qualifying purchase or redemption activity through Expedia at least once every 18 months.
Expedia Rewards trip elements
In addition to points, which can be used to save money on future bookings, you’ll also collect ‘trip elements‘ to progress through the membership tiers of Expedia Rewards, which we cover below.
Trip elements are based on different parts of your trip:
- Flight ticket = 1 trip element per ticket (a roundtrip including stopover, a single flight or a leg of a multi-flight booking.)
- Hotels = 1 trip element per room, per night (regardless of number of guests.)
- Holiday rentals = 1 trip element per night.
- Car reservations = 1 trip element per completed reservation.
- Activities = 1 trip element per completed activity booked.
- Package – trip elements earned based on the rules for each travel type listed above.
Note that trip elements are based on a minimum spend of AU$35 per trip element.
For example, if you’re travelling as a couple and book return flights (four one-way flights) plus three nights accommodation and four activities, you’ll earn 11 ‘trip elements’, which is enough to reach Silver status.
Trip elements and your Expedia Rewards tier status are calculated based on a calendar year from January 1 to December 31. Your qualification resets every year.
Best of all, you’ll earn trip elements for eligible bookings made using your Expedia Rewards account, regardless of who completes the travel. If you regularly book travel on behalf of family and friends, this can help you quickly earn trip elements to reach Gold status.

Expedia Rewards membership tiers
Trip elements are used to determine your Expedia Rewards tier, with the following benefits:
Blue – 0-9 trip elements in a year
- Save 10% or more on select hotels.
- Earn points on eligible bookings.
- Double points on bookings made via the Expedia app.
- Triple points at VIP Access properties.
- Hotel Price Guarantee.
- Gain early access to sales and other exclusive member offers.
Silver – 10 trip elements in a year
All the benefits of Blue tier, plus:
- Earn 2 points for every AU$1 spent on eligible bookings.
- Free perks at VIP Access properties when available.
- Expedited customer service via the Silver member number
Gold – 25 trip elements in a year
All the benefits of Blue and Silver tiers, plus:
- Earn 3 points for every AU$1 spent on eligible bookings.
- Enjoy two-hour late checkout and free room upgrades when available at VIP Access properties.
- Expedited customer service via the Gold member number.
Earning frequent flyer points from Expedia flight bookings
Expedia is one of the only local online travel agents (OTA) that offers rewards programs for flight bookings. You’ll earn Expedia Rewards points plus frequent flyer points on eligible flights booked via the Expedia website.

The example above is based on a one-way Economy Choice fare from Melbourne to Sydney with Virgin Australia. Before the Expedia discount is applied, the flight costs $167. I can enter my Velocity membership number to earn Velocity Points, and I’d also earn 32 Expedia Rewards points plus one ‘trip element’ towards Expedia Rewards status. The same flight, when booked directly on the Virgin Australia website, is priced at $199 for an Economy Choice fare. So, it’s worth comparing prices before booking.
Note that Expedia states that it shares program details with the airline, though points aren’t guaranteed.
Other ways to earn rewards on Expedia bookings
On top of the ability to earn Expedia Rewards points, you can also earn cashback from Cashrewards for your Expedia bookings, frequent flyer points on eligible flight bookings, as well as credit card points – a useful quadruple dip.
At the time of writing, Cashrewards offers:
- 6% cashback on stays
- 5% cashback on activities
- 5% cashback on car hire
- 1.5% cashback on packages
- 0.3% cashback on flights
By comparison, Cashrewards also offers 0.8% cashback on Virgin Australia domestic flights and 0.7% on International flights if booking direct through Virgin Australia.
Think of Expedia Rewards points earned for flight bookings, plus cashback, as a small win that you wouldn’t have otherwise earned. But it’s not something to worry about too much. Do it if you can and if you remember to.
Redeeming Expedia Rewards points
Redeeming Rewards points is simple. Use them to bring the price of a booking down, or cash them in for a Reward Coupon.
How to use Expedia Rewards points
- Sign into your Expedia account and start the booking process.
- At checkout, under payment, find ‘use my points’.
Your entire points balance will be applied to your total booking. But, if you don’t want to use all of your points, you can enter the amount you’d like to use. If you want to use Expedia Rewards points towards a hotel, you’ll need to pay during checkout.
Redeem Expedia Rewards points for Rewards Coupons
Alternatively, you can swap your points for a Flight + Hotel package coupon. There are various denominations, in increments of $25, between $25 and $400.
- 1,875 Rewards points = AU$25 coupon
- 3,750 Rewards points = AU$50 coupon
- 5,625 Rewards points = AU$75 coupon
- 7,500 Rewards points = AU$100 coupon
- 30,000 Rewards points = AU$400 coupon
The coupons can only be applied to eligible Pay Now Flight + Hotel packages made online. Reward Coupons will be deposited in your Expedia Rewards account for future use. The coupon can only be applied to one hotel room per booking, and any leftover value is void.
Remember, Expedia Rewards members can book VIP Access properties, which are high-quality, often upscale properties with hefty discounts. You may be able to make your Rewards Coupon stretch further here.

When redeeming Expedia Rewards points, you can also stack traditional Expedia coupon codes with your redemption. You can enter your coupon code during the checkout process.
Expedia’s booking, change and cancellation fees
Expedia doesn’t charge any additional up-front booking fees on either hotels or flights. That’s unlike, say, Webjet, which has a massive $21.95 booking fee on domestic flights and $32.95 on international – about the highest on the market.
Generally, Expedia itself does not charge any cancellation fees for flights, but the airline might. When booking flights via Expedia, you’re subject to the airline’s rules and restrictions, which may include fees for changes or cancellations after a certain timeframe. Expedia does offer a generous Cancel for Any Reason add-on that you can purchase during eligible flight bookings.
The same applies to hotels. While Expedia does not charge a hotel cancellation fee, you’re subject to the property’s policies, and they may charge you a fee to change or cancel your booking. If a hotel allows a change or cancellation under the rate conditions for your reservation, Expedia won’t charge any additional fees to make a change.
Most bookings made via Expedia have a 24-hour cool-down window, where you can cancel eligible bookings for a full refund.
Summing up
The Expedia Rewards program has its benefits, in particular for confirmed flights where there is an opportunity to earn some extra points.
The value proposition for hotel bookings can also be considerable, particularly if you have Expedia Rewards status, book via the mobile app, stack with a coupon code, and frequently stay and redeem points for VIP Access properties.
Overall, if you regularly book flights, hotels, car hire and activities through an OTA, then you’ll find exceptional value in joining the free Expedia Rewards program. As always, make sure you compare prices across different providers before booking.
Also read: The Ultimate Guide to Genius
Featured image: Kittiphan, Adobe Stock.
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FAQs
What is Expedia Rewards?
Expedia Rewards is the loyalty program of travel booking website, Expedia. The program has two elements: the ability to earn points which can be used for future bookings, and the ability to earn ‘trip elements’ and move up the membership tiers to unlock benefits like discounts, upgrades and more.
Do Expedia Rewards points expire?
Expedia Rewards points do not expire as long as you make a qualifying purchase or redemption via Expedia at least once every 18 months.
What are Expedia Rewards points worth?
Expedia Rewards points can be redeemed against future bookings or swapped for a Rewards Coupon. 7,500 Expedia Rewards points are worth an AU$100 coupon.
How do I use Expedia Rewards points?
Expedia Rewards points can be redeemed at checkout. Simply follow the steps to complete your booking, and select ‘use my points’ on the payment screen. Alternatively, you can swap your Expedia Rewards points for a Rewards Coupon.
Im generally wary of this fee for such purchases, but the only way to know is to try it.
I would recommend using Skyscanner for both flights and rental car bookings and get a range of supplier and price options then try direct with the suppliers Skyscanner comes up with. Also google flights is worth a try. I used to use rentalcar.com but they seem to have got pricey so now I use my UK based Enterprise plus corporate account or Nova’s Dublin site.Holiday Autos is also worth a try sometimes.
For hotels Trivago and Booking.com then try direct with the supplier. I also think the Virtuoso site you recommended has possibilities.
You forgot the best thing about Expedia! The Price match policy where you supply a screenshot and a link for a competitors price and they will refund you the different AND give you a $50 coupon to use on your next booking!!
*The $50 coupon does come with fine print but it’s definitely better then nothing!