Wells Fargo has launched a Hotels.com credit card. Let’s take a look in this quick review.
- Sign up bonus of one reward night worth up to $125 when you spend $1,000 or more in the first three months
- No annual fee
- Collect 1 stamp for every night you stay at any eligible property booked on Hotels.com and collect 1 stamp each time you spend $500 on purchases with your card. (10 stamps = 1 reward night). Stamps earned are valued $110 per night
Our Verdict
Basically every $500 you spend you get a stamp worth ~$11 towards a future hotel stay. That works out to be 2.2% back towards hotel stays on all purchases. That isn’t bad, but for most people they will prefer the simplicity of a straight cash back card. I was hoping that the stamp you earned from spending $500 didn’t have a set value, then you could potentially get 9 of those stamps and just stay one night at a high end property to get a super valuable free night certificate but unfortunately that isn’t the case. Personally don’t think this card is worth signing up to at all.
Hat tip to reader Joe
Bonus has increased to two $125 reward nights after 1k spend.
Since this is a Wells Fargo card, will opening this card reset the 15 month clock on being eligible for Wells Fargo Propel bonus?
yes
Worst case scenario, you can turn it into a low balance cancellation sock drawer card.
Hotels.com is owned by Expedia. After dealing with cancelling an Expedia reservation during the initial stages of COVID in April and May… I’ll never book anything through them again.
It was so much easier, and much more straightforward to deal with the airlines and hotels directly. Reservations made this way were a cinch to cancel, while getting my money back from Expedia from a hotel in Spain that was closed during my booking dates was like pulling teeth. Had to sic the state AG office on them before being referred to tier 3 support and finally getting a refund for services not rendered.
It may not always turn out to be that easy or speedy to get refunds “directly” from foreign hotels, in this or the next pandemic. I’ve found Hotels.com to be very customer-friendly; I don’t think I’ve ever reserved through Expedia itself, though.
P2 approved instantly. Already has a WF Checking, savings and propel. 810 EX. 1/6, 3/12, 9/24. So far just the EX pull. CL 11,000
Can churn it in 15 moths from now.
Shame they are not offering more than just that. Would’ve been great if they gave perks like hotel status upgrades like amex does for instance.
“Collect 1 stamp for every night you stay at any eligible property booked on Hotels.com” is this extra to the night you already get for being a member? So would I get one night stamp for every night as normal, plus one night stamp for every night for using the card to pay plus another night stamp for every $500? That could be a good card.
I think what they were trying to say is that you get 1 stamp from Hotels.com’s general rewards program, and 1 stamp for each $500 card spend.
Yeah I’m assuming so but hotel credit cards don’t usually state the perks you already get for being a member without the card.
Hotel chains often do this when talking about earning rates.
I see Hotels.com has extended expiring reward nights again, this time through March 2021. Very cool.
Do the stamps earned from the credit card count towards Hotels.com status? (10 for Silver, 30 for Gold)
As far as I can tell yes since they offer you Silver status for the 1st 12 months and then they say to maintain status see the hotels.com rewards terms & conditions which mention earning 10 or 30 stamps for Silver or Gold Status.
Footnote 5 “You automatically earn the Hotels.com® Rewards Silver tier for 12 months from the date the account is opened. Usage of the card is not required and your Hotels.com® Rewards Silver tier will not be removed if the card is closed. To continue to earn Hotels.com® Rewards Silver tier past the 12 months, please refer to Hotels.com® Rewards program terms and conditions located at hotels.com/rewards for detailed information. If you have already qualified for Hotels.com® Rewards Silver, your Hotels.com® Rewards Silver tier will automatically extend for 12 months at the expiration of your current membership period.”
I chatted with Hotels.com customer service and the agent confirmed that stamps earned via the credit card do count towards status in addition to the free nights.
The site references 10 nights and 30 nights for Silver and Gold status, not stamps, so I would think no.
I chatted with Hotels.com customer service and the agent confirmed that the stamps from credit card spending apply to status as well as to free nights.
The post says one stamp is worth $11 and you will earn one stamp per $500 spend.
On the linked site, the terms say one stamp is worth $110 and you will earn one stamp per $500.
If the terms are true, that’s a 22% return on spend! That’s incredible.
Here’s a cut and paste:
Earn and Redeem Rewards
Earning rewards
Purchases on the Hotels.com Rewards Visa Credit Card can get you closer to your next adventure.
Collect 1 stamp worth $110 each time you spend $500 on purchases with your Hotels.com Rewards Visa Credit Card.
You need 10 stamps for a free night.
The value of $110 is assigned to the stamp because the free night reward has a value equal to the average of the last 10 stamps earned. Those stamps may have been earned from hotel stays or credit card spend.
Ah, I see.