Earning travel rewards....does Booking.com count???

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I'm hoping for some guidance on a simple (I think!) question....

I recently received a PenFed Pathfinder rewards card and earn 4 points per $1 spent on travel expenses.

In your experience, does booking a hotel through BOOKING.COM qualify for earning travel points?

I called PenFed and was transferred at least 7 times, they didn't seem to understand the question and kept booting me to the next department.

Thank you!

[K-in-Boston]

It will depend on how it's coded by the network that it's processed on and how general "travel" is defined by the card issuer.

booking.com should code as Travel on the Amex network (it does on Visa, for example and is eligible for 2x on CSP and 3x on CSR) and as long as PenFed just says "Travel" and not "Airlines, Hotels, Auto Rentals" or something more specific, you should be fine.

[Shadowfactor]

I got this directly from Penfed’s cardmember agreement through a google search.

Counts towards travel
Airfare
• Hotel
• Car Rental
• Cruise
• Travel Agency
• Commuter Transportation • Taxi/Uber/Lyft
• Bus Lines
• Tour Operators
• Tolls

As K In Boston stated it will depend on the MCC for the merchant but if the MCC listed falls into one of the above categories then it will count.

[Anonymous]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

It will depend on how it's coded by the network that it's processed on and how general "travel" is defined by the card issuer.

booking.com should code as Travel on the Amex network (it does on Visa, for example and is eligible for 2x on CSP and 3x on CSR) and as long as PenFed just says "Travel" and not "Airlines, Hotels, Auto Rentals" or something more specific, you should be fine.

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Thanks K! I am still on the phone with PenFed and have been for over an hour...this last person has given me an less than definitive yes, but I'm not confident in her answer since I've gotten so many different responses. I have also tried to simply ask, "How does booking.com code their charges?" or "What is booking.com's merchant code?" and still no solid answers. I have the paper terms from PenFed in front of me that show the purchase codes that they accept for travel points so the booking.com merchant code is essentially all I need.  So much easier said than done!

The difference in cost to book directly with the Hyatt vs booking.com is about $80, so I'm not sure if it's worth it or not to chance it.  The total charge is $1400 through Hyatt which would earn me 5600 points (4/$).  Or $1320 through booking.com which could only earn me only 1980 points (if not counted as travel and only calculated at 1.5/$).  So at a difference of 3620 points, I'm not sure if it makes sense or not.  I don't know how much the points are worth.  I'm not super savvy on reward points, I'm new to all of this rewards stuff, lol.

[Anonymous]

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@Shadowfactor wrote:
I got this directly from Penfed’s cardmember agreement through a google search.

Counts towards travel
Airfare
• Hotel
• Car Rental
• Cruise
• Travel Agency
• Commuter Transportation • Taxi/Uber/Lyft
• Bus Lines
• Tour Operators
• Tolls

As K In Boston stated it will depend on the MCC for the merchant but if the MCC listed falls into one of the above categories then it will count.

---

Yeah, I've got the terms and conditions right in front of me.  I've read that some cards don't count expedia or booking.com as travel.  All I really need to know is what booking.com's MCC is, that would definitively answer the question, lol!  Since there is a difference in the cost of the booking, I was just trying to get a more solid answer.

[K-in-Boston]

Might be worth contacting booking.com to ask them?

[UpperNwGuy]

I use Booking.com frequently to book hotels, and usually the charge to my credit cards doesn't come from Booking.com but from the hotel itself.  So, at least in my experience, it doesn't matter how Booking.com is coded.  What matters is how the hotel is coded.

[Anonymous]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

I use Booking.com frequently to book hotels, and usually the charge to my credit cards doesn't come from Booking.com but from the hotel itself.  So, at least in my experience, it doesn't matter how Booking.com is coded.  What matters is how the hotel is coded.

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Ohhhhh, that is a really good point!  I think you're right!  Yay!  What a relief!!!!!

[Cookiegrabber]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

I use Booking.com frequently to book hotels, and usually the charge to my credit cards doesn't come from Booking.com but from the hotel itself.  So, at least in my experience, it doesn't matter how Booking.com is coded.  What matters is how the hotel is coded.

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I can confirm this, as we get reservations through Booking.com.

Unlike Expedia or Agoda, Booking.com does not take payment on behalf of the hotel.

[SarahJo]

I use Booking.com frequently and use my PenFed Amex for most reservations. In my experience all the transactions have earned the additional "4x" points. I'm not sure about "coding by each hotel," but most of our bookings are higher end establishments...in case that makes a difference.