Great Card If
- You’re looking for an affordable credit card that offers bonus rewards on all purchases and comes with extra travel-ready perks like a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit.
- You want to earn and redeem OneKeyCash, which is a shared currency between Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo that can be used for flights, vacation rentals, car rentals, and activities.
Don’t Get If
- You want to earn transferrable points and miles to get outsized value on travel redemptions.
- You don’t want to pay an annual fee.
One Key+ Card — Is It Worth It?
The One Key+ card takes a fresh approach to travel credit cards. You’ll earn OneKeyCash on travel and everyday spending, which can then be used across 3 familiar travel brands: Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo.
In fact, 2 co-branded cards from Wells Fargo are part of this shared loyalty program: the One Key™ Card and the One Key+ card. While the One Key+ card comes with a $99 annual fee, there are plenty of perks and benefits that can justify the ongoing cost. Besides earning bonus rewards on Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, gas stations, grocery stores, and dining, the One Key+ card offers a solid 2% OneKeyCash on other eligible purchases.
Furthermore, the One Key+ card offers an annual $100 OneKeyCash credit and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit every 4 years. If you are eligible for Global Entry, we recommend opting for this program since TSA PreCheck is included in the cost of the membership. As such, you’ll get access to expedited airport security lines and customs screening when entering the U.S. by air.
The One Key+ card offers automatic Gold status in the One Key loyalty program, meaning cardholders can get 20% or more in discounts on over 10,000 hotels worldwide. This level of elite status provides complimentary price drop protection on flights booked through Expedia. Anytime the airfare drops after booking, you’ll get an automatic credit in OneKeyCash to your account.
By spending $30,000 or more on the card in a calendar year, you can unlock Platinum elite status. Members can supercharge their earnings — 9% back at VIP Access properties on Expedia and Hotels.com. That’s on top of what you’ll earn with the OneKey+ card. (VIP Access properties meet consistently high quality and service standards, as deemed by Expedia Group.)
Any good travel card is jam-packed with travel and purchase protections, and the OneKey+ card excels in this category. Cardholders can access cell phone protection, trip cancellation and interruption protection, primary auto rental collision damage waiver, and travel accident insurance, and enjoy no foreign transaction fees when traveling abroad.
What Benefits Do You Get With the One Key+ Card?
$100 OneKeyCash Credit
Every cardholder anniversary, you’ll earn $100 in OneKeyCash that can be used for the following 12 months. This is a no-brainer benefit that effectively offsets the $99 annual fee!
Automatic Gold Elite Status
Gold status normally requires earning 15 to 29 qualifying “trip elements” in a year, but One Key+ card holders are automatically upgraded to this tier. Trip elements are comprised of hotel nights, cruise nights, car rental days, etc. earned in a calendar year. For instance, 1 hotel night is considered a single trip element, while 3 hotel nights would be 3 trip elements, etc.
Gold elite status is where the travel perks get valuable. Price drop protection on flights is a unique feature not offered by many credit cards. Gold members who book flights through Expedia will automatically receive this benefit and earn OneKeyCash as the difference good for future travel.
There are a lot of cool hotel benefits, too. You can get space-available room upgrades and an extra perk when visiting VIP Access properties on Expedia and Hotels.com. That’s in addition to 20% (or more) in discounts at participating hotels worldwide.
Top-tier Platinum status is much closer in reach by spending at least $30,000 on the One Key+ card in a calendar year, and members get 3x OneKeyCash when booking VIP Access properties. In total, Platinum status holders and One Key+ cardholders could earn up to 9% OneKeyCash on VIP Access Properties.
Travel Protections
The One Key+ card offers a competitive suite of travel protection benefits:
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver — This primary rental car insurance provides coverage up to $50,000 for accidental damage or theft of your rental car.
- Trip Cancellation and Interruption Protection — If you need to cancel a trip due to illness, severe weather, or any other covered circumstance, you can receive a reimbursement of up to $5,000 per person, per trip. Additionally, you can be reimbursed up to $20,000 within a 12-month period per account.
- Travel Accident Insurance — In the event of accidental death or loss of speech, sight, or hearing during your travels, you can receive up to $1,000,000 if the incident occurs on a common carrier, such as an airline or cruise ship.
Cell Phone Protection
The One Key+ card comes with cell phone protection, providing up to $1,000 worth of coverage toward accidental damage or theft to your cell phone. There’s a $25 deductible per claim and a maximum of 2 claims per 12-month period, totaling up to $2,000 in coverage
To qualify for coverage, you must pay your monthly cell phone bill with the card, but this is an example of an incredibly valuable everyday benefit.
Who Is the One Key+ Card For?
Points and miles aren’t the preferred award currency for every traveler. It requires a lot of mental gymnastics to maximize your points and find the award availability for certain flights and hotels — which can be slim to none.
As such, the One Key+ card is the perfect solution for travelers who like straightforward redemptions. Your OneKeyCash is always worth 1 cent apiece for various travel expenses via Expedia, Hotels.com, or Vrbo platforms. There’s no math involved, making it easy to understand the value of the One Key program.
The $99 annual fee is easily worth the cost when you consider the automatic Gold elite status, $100 annual OneKeyCash benefit, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, and travel and cell phone coverages.
Best Ways To Earn and Redeem Your OneKeyCash
The OneKey+ card offers 3% OneKeyCash on Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo purchases, as well as gas stations, groceries, and dining. All other purchases still earn 2% OneKeyCash.
Those earning rates are before you consider any bonus rewards from Gold or Platinum elite status. Gold members can earn 6% OneKeyCash for VIP Access properties, while Platinum members can earn 9% OneKeyCash for VIP Access properties!
The major downside is that you can’t transfer OneKeyCash to airline or hotel programs. OneKeyCash is worth a flat 1 cent apiece for cruises, car rentals, hotels, vacation rentals, and more through Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. (However, if you choose to book airfare via Expedia, you will need enough rewards for the entire flight cost.)
Alternative Cards to the One Key Card
One of the most popular travel credit cards with a sub-$100 annual fee is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. This card has a $95 annual fee and earns 5x points on travel booked through Chase Travel, 3x points on dining, online groceries, and select streaming services, 2x points on other travel, and 1x points on all other purchases.
Chase Ultimate Rewards has an impressive list of 1:1 transfer partners, spanning both airline and hotel programs. You can also use points at an elevated 1.25 cents apiece for travel booked through Chase Travel, which provides 25% more value than OneKeyCash would for travel redemptions.
The One Key card is the $0-annual-fee version of this product but still offers plenty of important travel benefits. The card earns 3% OneKeyCash on Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, gas, groceries, and dining, but 1.5% OneKeyCash on other purchases.
This card has automatic Silver elite status and a pathway to Gold and the same access to travel and purchase protections.
UP’s Card Review Methodology
Every card we review is assigned a “U.P. Rating” – our star-based system that encompasses all the key details to showcase a card’s standout features, where it falls short, and how it stacks up for travelers to maximize rewards.
These ratings range from 0 to 5 stars and are determined by carefully weighing crucial factors like:
- Bonus categories
- Benefits and perks
- Quality of associated loyalty programs
- Annual fees and other costs
- Size of the welcome bonus (and relative to the annual fee)
- And several more
You can learn more about how Upgraded Points reviews and rates credit cards.
The information regarding the One Key™ Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
