How To Avoid Paying The New Hotels.com Redemption Fee

When I book hotels, my first choice is to redeem points, of course. I use awardmapper.com  to find the best value in the city I want to visit. But sometimes, an independent hotel makes more sense either for value, breakfast, location, room size or availability.

If that's the case, then I book through hotels.com. I use the Capital One Venture credit card link so I earn 10x points plus you can double dip with the hotels.com loyalty program. Even if you don't have a Capital One Venture credit card, you can still take advantage of the hotels.com loyalty program.

If you book 10 nights through hotels.com, then you earn 1 FREE night. You basically earn a credit for the average of the 10 nights you booked. In fact, you can use the credit to partially cover the cost of the hotel.

Now you can see I booked the Tru Hilton and Hampton Inn through the hotels.com website. That's because I was collecting 10x points on my Capital One Venture card to erase some of our recent travel purchases. See my prior post that explains how this works.

Starting November 27th, if you book your FREE reward night on hotels.com desktop site, you will be charged a $5 redemption fee. However, if you book your FREE reward night through the app, the fee is waived. No brainer here. $5 is a FREE Starbucks latte in my book.

Hope that helps and please if you apply for the Capital One Venture card, please use my link. Your support helps me continue to serve you.