Orbitz Visa vs Citi Expedia vs Hotels.com etc.

[Anonymous]

I looked at all these options before selecting Orbitz Visa for my primary hotel card.  My thoughts.

General Observations

1.  I like shopping for hotel deals

2.  I have no interest in staying at the same chain over and over again to reach "status" at the chain

3.  I prefer to book air fare directly with the airlines in case the SHTF.

4.  I prefer to book car rentals on Amex where I signed up for primary rental coverage.

As a result of 1-4, I was looking for a hotel card that gave me a lot of flexibility and nice rewards.  

Hotels.com

On its face, offers a nice internal reward system.  One free night after ten.  However, I am always forced to choose between a discounted price, and the one night's credit.  I can never have both, and I always choose the discount.  As a result, after multiple bookings, I have 0 nights credit.  

Capital One Venture card holders get 10x miles on Hotels.com purchases.  The program expires, however, in 2019 or 2020.  Had I not learned about the expiration, I might have gone this route.  Certainly, current Venture card users should take advantage of the Hotels.com offer.  

Other than that, there is no Hotels.com credit card.  Those with 5-6% back at grocery stores can theoretically purchase Hotels.Com gift cards at the grocery store and get some cash back.  If I was ever forced to book on Hotels.com, this is what I would do.

Expedia

Stacking Expedia's own reward system with the Citi Expedia+ Voyager card gets you 9.2% back on "VIP" hotels, and 4.6% back on normal hotels.   The Expedia+ Voyager costs $95, but you get $100 per year in travel incidentals plus $100 TSA/Global Entry every four years.   There is a nice SUB worth $175 or $350 after $2K spend ($350 if used on VIP hotels).

I may get this card in the future if I have a big purchase coming up that will snag the SUB.

Priceline

Priceline has no internal rewards.  The Priceline Rewards Visa offers 5x points on Priceline purchases, and 1x on everything else.  Points worth up to 1.1 cents.

Travelocity

 No true rewards program to speak of, and no co-branded card

Orbitz 

Orbitz offers 3-5% on Orbitz hotel purchases, depending on whether you use the app (5% for app purchases).

Comenity Orbitz Rewards Visa adds another 5% on Orbitz hotel purchases.  So that's 8-10% back on all hotel purchases.  Plus Gold status (wifi, breakfast, other perks).  No annual fee.  $100 SUB after $1500.  

The kicker is that the card gets 2% Orbucks on all other purchases.   I like accumulating hotel credits with my 2% back.  Makes me feel like I am saving up for a trip instead of always using cash back for a statement credit.  So this has become my go to card in categories where I don't get 3% or better.  Replacing my Citi Double Cash card.

And Orbucks don't expire as long as you don't sock drawer the card.  Finally, Orbitz has a dining program where you get 7% back in certain restaurants across the country if you use the Orbitz Visa.   

The only potential drawback of the card:  Orbucks can only be used on hotels.  Not flights.  Not a problem for me.  

[redpat]

It seems good if you want to freelance.  Their gold/VIP doesn’t always give you free breakfast w/o additional cost at some hotels and not all Hotels are VIP, only a few selected ones are.  In addition, rates can be $5-$10 higher than Member rates (Hilton/Marriott)..

I dumped Marriott for Hilton and gold status gives free breakfast, internet and late checkout at lowest bookable member rates.  Hilton Ascend card gives you gold status for $95 AF, 100k SUB, 30x on stays, 14x same dining program, 6x restaurants, gas, grocery and 3x everything else. Worst case earnings rate 15%, 7%, 3% and 1.5%, but gold perks all the time. Getting free breakfast on all stays for 2, 3 or 4 can add up quickly.

[Anonymous]

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@redpat wrote:

I dumped Marriott for Hilton and gold status gives free breakfast, internet and late checkout at lowest bootable member rates.  Hilton Acend card gives you gold status for $95 AF, 100k SUB, 30x on stays, 14x same dining program, 6x reactants, gas, grocery and 3x everything else. Worst case earnings rate 15%, 7%, 3% and 1.5%, but gold perks all the time. Getting free breakfast on all stays for 2, 3 or 4 can add up quickly.

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Thanks for the info.  What's your experience been on point value?

From this article, it sounds like Hilton points are worth less than 0.4 cents at most of their nicer hotels.

[redpat]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@redpat wrote:

I dumped Marriott for Hilton and gold status gives free breakfast, internet and late checkout at lowest bootable member rates.  Hilton Acend card gives you gold status for $95 AF, 100k SUB, 30x on stays, 14x same dining program, 6x reactants, gas, grocery and 3x everything else. Worst case earnings rate 15%, 7%, 3% and 1.5%, but gold perks all the time. Getting free breakfast on all stays for 2, 3 or 4 can add up quickly.

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Thanks for the info.  What's your experience been on point value?

From this article, it sounds like Hilton points are worth less than 0.4 cents at most of their nicer hotels.

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No worse than .05 up to .07.  That is why it's easy to get a ton of points, their all relative and that's why I broke them as a percentage of $ spent which is .05 cents per $.

[yfan]

As an Orbitz Visa cardholder myself, I'd say this is a good case for it. I have used the card for the exact same reasons, although I used to use it for airline bookings as well (which also gave me 5% in Orbucks).

Recently, though, I have started going the direct route - for both air tickets and hotels. One reason is definitely in case SHTF, but hotels and airlines have started to sweeten the deal for direct bookings. Jetblue doubles the points earned for direct booking compared to OTA bookings (6 points per dollar spent compared to 3), and many hotels are giving an extra $5-$10 off just for being a member of their rewards program. That's defintiely to combat OTA dominance, but it also allows you to earn points with whatever chain - or with a partnered airline program. To top that off, the Citi Costco Visa offers 3% back on travel, which means that for an extra 2%, I'd be giving up the perks of direct booking, plus some small extra discounts. Not entirely sure that's worth it.

On the other hand, I found Orbitz' service pretty good when I was using it. I have had a hotel that I had booked get overbooked - and therefore of course the OTA bookers got to walk - but Orbitz immediately and automatically booked me a different comparable hotel nearby and sent me an email. All this happened before checkin time, so I just showed up at the new hotel.