5 Things to Know About the Expedia Credit Cards
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» These cards are no longer available
In 2022, Citi stopped issuing the Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi and the Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card from Citi, so this page is out of date. On Oct. 23, 2022, holders of the Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi were to be moved to the Citi Rewards+® Card, while those who had an Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card from Citi were to be switched to the Citi Premier® Card.
In a crowded world of discount travel sites, Expedia is a longtime fan favorite. Whether you’re looking to fuel your wanderlust or find a basic hotel for a work trip, you can likely score a good deal.
And if you’re a loyal and frequent user of the site, an Expedia credit card can help you juice up your rewards earnings.
There are two possibilities:
The Voyager version of the card could be a good fit despite its annual fee, thanks to its decent bonus, solid ongoing rewards and annual travel credit.
But point values are underwhelming, and especially for casual Expedia fans, there are better and more rewarding travel credit cards to choose from.
Here are five things to know about Expedia credit cards.
1. You can choose no annual fee or richer incentives
There’s a basic $0-annual-fee version of the card, but if you’re willing to pay an annual fee you’ll ramp up your rewards and perks.
Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi | Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card from Citi | |
|---|---|---|
Annual fee | $0 | $95 |
New cardmember bonus | Earn 15,000 Expedia Rewards bonus points after $1,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening. | Earn 25,000 Expedia Rewards bonus points after $2,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening. |
Rewards |
|
|
Anniversary bonus | None | 5,000 Expedia Rewards bonus points after you spend $10,000 in the prior cardmembership year |
Other credits | None | $100 Annual Air Travel Fee Credit - Statement credit can be used toward airline incidentals, such as checked bags, in-flight entertainment or refreshments, and in-flight Wi-Fi carriers, or for either the Global Entry or the TSA Precheck application fee |
The Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi may appeal to frugal, infrequent travelers who are opposed to annual fees. But all things considered, the Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card from Citi is the better deal.
If you make full use of the $100 annual air travel fee credit, you can more than make up for the annual fee, and that's before taking into account the sign-up bonus, ongoing rewards and potential anniversary points.
To get either Expedia credit card, you must first become a member of the Expedia Rewards loyalty program. Through that program, even without an Expedia credit card, you earn 2 points for every $1 spent on things like hotels, cars and cruises, and 1 point for every $5 on flights. Any points you earn with an Expedia credit card would be on top of those baseline rates.
2. Point values aren't great ...
If you’re using your Expedia points to book travel, they’ll be worth 0.7 cent apiece, which is well below the industry standard of at least a penny per point.
In comparison, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card — which has a similar annual fee — earns points that are worth 1.25 cents each when you redeem them for travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal.
It’s also important to know that not all Expedia bookings will qualify for bonus rewards on your Expedia credit card. The following bookings don’t count as eligible Expedia bookings:
Expedia Rate hotels booked through Expedia but not prepaid.
Properties booked through the "vacation rental" tab.
Car reservations not booked as part of a travel package.
Cruise bookings.
Expedia highlights certain hotels, called VIP Access hotels, that are vetted for high customer service and quality standards (and you can filter your Expedia search to show only these options). There are only about 8,000 of them, but if you book a VIP property through your Expedia account, you'll earn extra points and perks like food and drink extras, free breakfast or parking credits.
3. ... But you can triple-dip your rewards earnings
When you hold either the Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi or the Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card from Citi it's possible to earn points three different ways when you book:
Expedia Rewards points: Independent of the credit cards, being a member of Expedia's loyalty program means you'll earn 2 points for every $1 spent on hotels, cars, packages, things to do, and cruises, and 1 point for every $5 spent on flights.
Credit card bonus points: As noted above, you can earn up to 4 points per $1 spent on the Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card from Citi or up to 3 points per $1 spent on the Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi.
Airline miles: You can also collect miles on your favorite airline program when you book with Expedia.
Plus, you can receive double the points when you use the Expedia app to book your trip. The points you'll earn from the card won't double, but the base Expedia Rewards loyalty points earned do. That means if you book a $500 hotel stay through the Expedia app, you'll earn 2,000 Expedia Rewards points.
4. You’ll get automatic status
Who doesn’t like the red-carpet treatment when they stay at hotels? The Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi and the Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card from Citi come with varying levels of elite status:
Silver membership: You’ll get this status automatically with the Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi. As a Silver member, you can enjoy perks like free breakfast and spa credits at VIP Access hotels, and you can earn 10% more Expedia points when you book. Usually you have to stay seven nights or spend $5,000 a year on Expedia bookings to earn Silver membership.
Gold membership: If you have the Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card from Citi, you’ll get automatic Expedia Gold membership. It entitles you to free room upgrades at VIP Access hotels when available (in addition to free breakfast and spa credits), plus you’ll earn 30% more Expedia points on bookings. To earn this status without the credit card, you’d have to stay 15 hotel nights or spend $10,000 in a year on Expedia bookings.
5. You won't want to carry a balance
Travel credit cards aren’t known for having low APRs, and the Expedia credit cards are no exception. The ongoing interest rate on both the Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi and the Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card from Citi can be quite high.
The ongoing APR is 14.99%-22.99% Variable APR for the Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi.
The ongoing APR is 13.99%-21.99% Variable APR for the Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card from Citi.
Information related to the Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi and the Expedia® Rewards Voyager Card from Citi has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of these cards.
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