Hotels.com Black Friday: 15% Bonus on Gift Cards

Hotels.com is running a notable Black Friday week promotion, offering a 15% bonus on gift card purchases, a deal that aims to attract back users who might have left after the Hotels.com Rewards program was discontinued. This offer allows customers to effectively gain significant savings on future hotel stays.

The core of the promotion involves purchasing gift cards and receiving an additional 15% in value. For instance, buying a £100 gift card yields an extra £15, while a £200 purchase comes with a £30 bonus. While Hotels.com initially lists £100 and £200 denominations, an important detail highlighted is that these gift cards can also be purchased on Amazon, where a wider range of denominations, up to £500 per card, are available with the same 15% discount. This Amazon route might simplify larger purchases.

A key benefit of this offer is its flexibility. Customers can acquire multiple gift cards, even potentially under different names, and then either merge them online or use up to five gift cards for a single booking. This flexibility means users can achieve an effective 13% saving (£15 bonus on £115 total value) on bookings of virtually any size. Furthermore, the gift cards boast a generous three-year validity period. Crucially, unlike many other Hotels.com promotions that restrict eligible properties, this deal appears to have no such limitations; any hotel bookable on a ‘pay now' basis through Hotels.com can be paid for with these gift cards, including branded hotels. Bookings made with the gift cards will also earn OneKeyCash.

However, there are potential drawbacks to consider. While not explicitly confirmed in the small print, it's suspected that bookings made using these gift cards might not qualify for shopping portal rewards. Despite this, the 15% gift card bonus is often superior to typical portal rewards and offers the certainty of a guaranteed saving, eliminating tracking uncertainties. A more significant risk is the standard Hotels.com platform limitation: bookings made through them do not accrue hotel loyalty points, nor do they confer elite status benefits. Therefore, this promotion is most advantageous for stays at independent hotels or with chains where a traveler has no existing status or interest in their loyalty programs.

(Source: https://www.headforpoints.com/2025/11/25/15-bonus-buy-hotels-com-gift-card/)