One Key+™ Card review: Solid rewards for occasional travelers

With the combination of the Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo reward programs into the One Key rewards program, Wells Fargo brings one of its latest offerings, the One Key+™ Card.

The One Key+ Card rewards structure holds up very well compared to some of the best credit cards. With multiple bonus categories and rates that match most flat-rate cards, this can be a solid standalone option if you prefer simplicity.

While other travel credit cards might offer more benefits and better redemption options, this card offers excellent practical value for the occasional traveler.

Why you might want the Wells Fargo One Key+ Card

The Wells Fargo One Key+ Card can be a great choice, especially for the occasional traveler. It combines solid reward rates with popular bonus categories and decent travel perks, like statement credits for expedited airport screening.

Solid rewards on every purchase

This card offers the best of both worlds in terms of rewards earnings. Many cards offer a high flat rate or a set of bonus categories, but the One Key+ Card gives you both features. It has a terrific flat rate of 2 percent in OneKeyCash while also providing multiple commonly used 3 percent bonus categories, including dining, gas stations and grocery stores. You’ll also get 3 percent for Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo bookings. If you hold Platinum status, VIP Access bookings can earn up to 6 percent — a competitively high boost, especially if you don’t travel often.

This rewards structure makes this card an excellent choice if you’re looking for a standalone option, as you’ll get a solid return on any purchase. Earning $1 in OneKeyCash rewards is equivalent to $1 in cash, so $100 in OneKeyCash rewards can be redeemed for $100. However, OneKeyCash can only be redeemed for Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo bookings.

Additionally, this card’s modest $99 annual fee is not too costly and worth the price. For instance, you’ll get $100 in OneKeyCash as a cardholder anniversary bonus just for renewing the card, a valuable and flexible perk.

Decent perks for occasional travelers

If you don’t travel often or aren’t loyal to a particular brand, the Wells Fargo One Key+ Card can make a lot of sense. You can take advantage of an attractive welcome bonus plus you’ll get a taste of some of the perks elite-status travelers enjoy, enhancing your travel experience and providing you with decent value.

The initial boost from the welcome offer may be worth enough to book your first vacation. Once you spend $3,000 in the first three months, you’ll earn a $600 in OneKeyCash™ to your OneKeyCash balance. You’ll also get $100 in OneKey Cash annually during you cardholder anniversary when you renew the card and pay the annual fee, making the annual fee worth it.

However, this program’s key feature is the flexibility of OneKeyCash without a reduction in value. OneKeyCash can be earned on one part of your trip and redeemed for part of another trip’s expenses. For instance, you could book a hotel with Vrbo on one trip and redeem the rewards earned for a car rental with Expedia on your next trip.

Get Automatic Gold tier in the One Key rewards program with savings of 20% or more with Gold Member Prices on over 10,000 hotels worldwide. You can also reach Platinum status by spending $30,000 in a calendar year. This tier boosts your OneKeyCash earnings at VIP Access properties and provides Platinum VIP support.

The card also comes with no foreign transaction fees and an up to $100 statement credit every four years for Global Entry® or TSA Precheck® application fees. While fairly standard offerings, they can result in significant savings and greatly improve your travel experience — especially for frequent flyers.

Why you might want a different card

If you have elite status with a specific brand like Hilton or Marriott or are loyal to certain brands and companies, you may not get the best value from the Wells Fargo One Key+ Card. Also, earning enough for free trip perks can be difficult compared to other cards.

No elite status recognition with other brands

One of the reasons why this card is better suited for occasional travelers is that your elite status and benefits with whatever brand you are booking will likely not be recognized. Generally speaking, when you make a reservation with a third party, such as Expedia, Hotels.com or Vrbo, you forgo any elite status or loyalty benefits you may hold. While there can be instances where it’s advantageous, such as significant price savings or redeeming OneKeyCash, you’ll want to evaluate what is more important on any given trip.

Typical elite status benefits you’d potentially miss out on include seat upgrades on flights, room upgrades at hotels or upgrades to better rental cars. You may get some food and beverage perks at VIP Access properties, but you might also miss out on early check in/late check out or access to other elite-status amenities.

This might not be an issue if you don’t have elite status, but if you have elite status with a certain brand, this card may be a drawback. You can book directly with the brand using your One Key+ Card to get around this, but that isn’t the optimum use of the card since you won’t earn boosted rewards unless you book through Expedia, Hotels.com or Vrbo. Co-branded or flexible travel cards are much better suited for travelers looking to maximize their brand-specific elite status or loyalty program.

Difficult to earn trip perks

A primary advantage of using credit cards for traveling is making parts of your trip free. Whether it’s incidental credit for airline seats, free night certificates at hotels or credits for exclusive experiences, defraying your costs is a great way to outsize your trip value.

The OneKeyCash rewards program makes this more difficult. For instance, under the previous Hotels.com rewards program from Wells Fargo, you could stay 10 nights, then get a free night at the average cost of what you paid for those 10 nights. With the OneKeyCash rewards program, you could earn up to 6 percent with Platinum tier status, but most likely, this holds far less value than what it used to be, making offsetting entire portions of your trip more difficult. For example, a $1,000 booking at a VIP Access property with Platinum tier status would earn you $60 in OneKeyCash.

To further complicate matters, while you can use your OneKeyCash to partially pay for most travel costs, you can only redeem OneKeyCash on flights if you have enough to cover the entire fare. So you’ll need to pay attention to when to book and whether you have enough to cover your costs.

Co-branded and flexible travel cards make this much simpler. These cards often offer features that provide the ability to get outsized value with your redemption. For example, using a free night certificate that is tied to points earned instead of a high cash rate can offer substantial value when compared to your OneKeyCash redemption options.

How does the Wells Fargo One Key+ Card compare to other travel cards?

While the Wells Fargo One Key+ Card measures up well with rewards rates, frequent travelers may want to consider other travel card options.

Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card	Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card	Citi Strata Premier℠ Card
Rewards rate Earn unlimited 5X points on hotels Earn unlimited 4X points on airlines Earn unlimited 3X points on other travel and restaurants Earn 1X points on other purchases	Rewards rate  5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠. 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries. 2x on all other travel purchases. 1x on all other purchases.	Rewards rate Earn 10 points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on CitiTravel.com. Earn 3 points per $1 on Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases, at Restaurants, Supermarkets, Gas and EV Charging Stations. Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Welcome bonus Earn 60,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months – that’s $600 toward your next trip.	Welcome bonus  Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.	Welcome bonus  Earn 70,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $700 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com
Annual fee $95	Annual fee  $95	Annual fee $95
Other things to know $50 annual statement credit with a $50 minimum airline purchase	Other things to know $50 annual Chase Travel℠ hotel credit Points worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through Chase Travel℠ 10% anniversary points boost Complimentary Doordash DashPass subscription for one year (enroll by December 31, 2024) Complimentary Instacart+ subscription for six months Up to $15 quarterly Instacart credit through July 2024	Other things to know $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) once per calendar year booked with Citi Travel

Wells Fargo One Key+ Card vs. Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card

When comparing the Wells Fargo One Key+ Card to the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey, you should consider how much you travel and your everyday spending.

According to Bankrate’s estimated valuations, Wells Fargo Rewards earned with the Autograph Journey are worth about 1.0 cent per point, giving them an equal cash value to OneKeyCash. While both cards earn 3 percent at restaurants, the Autograph Journey earns better for travel purchases. You’ll get 5X points at hotels, 4X on airlines and 3X on other travel purchases. However, the One Key+ earns more for everyday purchases, earning 3 percent at gas stations and grocery stores and 2 percent on other purchases.

Both cards offer the same value for the welcome offer, but the One Key+ Card has a lower spending requirement. Also, the annual fee is worth it with the One Key+, which offers a $100 OneKeyCash anniversary bonus, as opposed to only a $50 statement credit for airline purchases on the Autograph Journey. But the Autograph Journey offers a full slate of travel benefits and cellphone protection, something sorely lacking from the One Key+. The Autograph Journey also has more options to redeem rewards, including as a statement credit for eligible purchases, providing much more flexibility.

If you travel a lot, you might benefit more from the Autograph Journey’s boosted rewards rates for hotels and flights, but the One Key+ Card might suit you if you prefer to earn your rewards through non-travel bonus categories.

Wells Fargo One Key+ Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the top travel cards available. It’s better suited for frequent travelers, offering an array of transfer partners, superior travel benefits and the potential to boost point values when redeeming with Chase Travel™. Occasional travelers may still prefer the simplicity of the One Key rewards program, especially if they are just looking for the lowest prices without extra features.

Our valuations show that Chase Ultimate Rewards are worth around 2.0 cents per point, a higher value than the One Key+ Card. The Sapphire Preferred is also a better choice for purchases on dining, select streaming, online groceries and travel. On the other hand, the One Key+ is a better choice for gas stations and purchases outside bonus categories.

On top of that, the annual $100 bonus from the One Key+ Card offers more value and flexibility than the $50 annual hotel credit through Chase Travel. Also, even though the value of the sign-up bonus doesn’t quite match up to the Sapphire Preferred, it requires less spending.

The key difference is that booking through Chase Travel℠ with the Sapphire Preferred offers much stronger value than booking with Expedia, Hotels.com or Vrbo with the One Key+ Card. You’ll earn 5X on those booking, versus 3 percent on the One Key+. Ultimately, though the One Key+ Card attempts to be a strong travel card, the Chase Sapphire does a better job at rewarding and redeeming travel.

Wells Fargo One Key+ Card vs. Citi Strata Premier℠ Card

The newly revamped Citi Strata Premier℠ Card is another great option for a standalone card that is better suited for travelers. Citi has a wide variety of transfer partners and redemption options which are far more flexible than the One Key+ and also offers a solid set of travel benefits.

We estimate Citi ThankYou Points at about 1.6 cents per point, which makes the Strata Premier earn better on anything other than non-bonused purchases. You’ll get 3X ThankYou Points in many of the same 3 percent categories as the One Key+, as well as EV charging stations, air travel and other hotel purchases.

You’ll also get superior value using the Citi Travel portal, earning a whopping 10X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions, which is far superior to the One Key+. However, the annual $100 hotel benefit is limited compared to the One Key+ annual bonus. You’ll need to spend at least $500 (excluding taxes and fees) to get this discount, while the OneKeyCash bonus comes simply for renewing the card.

Overall, the Citi Strata Premier is a better version of what the One Key+ card aspires to be. It has excellent everyday categories, higher rewards value, a more valuable welcome offer and better redemption flexibility. This makes it a solid choice for both frequent and occasional travelers.

How to use the Wells Fargo One Key+ Card

• Use your card for your dining, gas stations and grocery store purchases to earn 3 percent in OneKeyCash.
• Renew your card every year to earn the $100 annual OneKeyCash bonus.
• Pay for bookings with Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo with your card to stack your OneKeyCash earnings.

Is the Wells Fargo One Key+ Card right for you?

The rewards value across the board make the Wells Fargo One Key+ Card a compelling choice for any purchase. The annual fee is worth it with the annual bonus OneKeyCash, and you’ll also get a solid boost to your balance from a comparable welcome offer.

If you travel frequently or have elite status with certain programs, you may not get great value with the One Key+ Cards. But if you only travel occasionally or just want one card and program to cover your bases, the One Key+ Card can be a great choice for you.