Why Everyone Wants to Give You 10% Back on a Hotel

Photo Credit: An offer to get 10% back appearing on a cell phone. Grok Ten percent back has become a common offer on hotel bookings in the U.S. Uber pays it in ride credits, Robinhood pays it on a $695 credit card, and Airbnb pays up to 15% on hotels it features. Most of the companies making the offer earn their money somewhere other than hotels. The latest came last week, when Robinhood and Duffel, a London travel-technology company, announced their partnership. Duffel powers the flight, hotel and car rental bookings inside Robinhood's app for holders of its Platinum and Gold credit cards. Platinum cardholders earn 10% back on hotels and car rentals and 5% on flights, and Gold cardholders earn 3%. Ten percent back on a hotel used to be a travel company's offer. Hotels.com once gave customers a free night after every ten paid nights, which worked out to about 10% of what they spent. In July 2023, Expedia Group replaced that program in the U.S. with OneKey. Since July 28, 2026, members on its free Blue tier earn 1% back on hotels.