How does Genius, Booking.com's loyalty program, work?

For who is Genius, Booking.com's loyalty program?

Booking.com’s loyalty program Genius is for casual travellers who:

don’t earn enough nights to get a status with a hotel program like Marriott Bonvoy
want to book the hotels of their choice
are interested in collecting rewards
switch between Airbnb rentals and hotels

Booking.com Genius Levels

Booking.com‘s Genius program has three status levels. All members enjoy free access to discounts for life, depending on their level:

Genius status	Conditions
Level 1	10% discount on the price of the stay
Level 2	Obtained after 5 bookings in 2 years
and Level 3	Obtained after 15 bookings in 2 years

Here are some of the bookings we made with Booking.com:

South Africa: Oceansong Beach House Noordhoek Cape Town
In New Zealand: The Winedrinkers Cottage

The benefits of Booking.com's Genius Statuses

Here’s a summary of the benefits offered based on your Booking.comGenius status level:

Benefits	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
Free lifetime membership	♦	♦	♦
10% discount at select properties	♦	♦	♦
Up to 15% off at select locations		♦	♦
Up to 20% off at select locations			♦
Free breakfast at select option		♦	♦
Free room upgrade on select options		♦	♦
Priority assistance for all reservations			♦

Best price guarantee

Booking.com offers the guarantee of the best price and the refund of the difference if you find your booking at a lower rate on another site.

That is, if you find a lower price for the same hotel room booked with Booking.com, submit a claim up to 24 hours before the start date of your stay . Booking. com will then refund the difference.

In your booking confirmation email, look for the option You found this accommodation cheaper elsewhere. Or go to your account, in the View all reservations section.

Get points for your bookings on Booking.com

Get Flying Blue miles with Booking.com

Flying Blue, Air France-KLM’s loyalty program, is partnering with Booking.com. You can get Flying Blue miles for your reservations on Booking.com!

To do this, go through the Flying Blue link to Booking.com and you will earn 2 miles per euro spent.

Get cash back with Rakuten.ca

If you prefer cash back, you can get some through the Rakuten.ca shopping portal, which offers Booking.com in its list of partners.

To do this, you will have to go to yourRakuten.ca account before being redirected to the Booking.comwebsite. Cash back rate regularly changes during the year.

Check out this article to learn more about online shopping portals.

Redeem travel points for Booking.com reservations

The online travel agency Booking.com is recognized by all travel points rewards programs. You will, therefore, be able to redeem your points to save on your reservations made on Booking.com.

For example with:

Our credit card selection
Credit card	Annual fee	Welcome offer
Scotiabank Passport^® Visa Infinite +* Card Apply NowCompare	Annual fee$150	Welcome offerAfter $2,000 in 3 months Up to 35,000 pointsEnds Nov 1, 2026 After $2,000 in 3 months	Apply NowCompare
Scotiabank Passport^® Visa Infinite +* Card Apply NowCompare	Annual fee$150	Welcome offerAfter $2,000 in 3 months Up to 35,000 pointsEnds Nov 1, 2026 After $2,000 in 3 months	Apply NowCompare
American Express Cobalt^® Card Apply NowCompare	Annual fee$191.88	Welcome offerGet 1,250 points after $750 in purchases per month for 12 months Up to 15,000 points Get 1,250 points after $750 in purchases per month for 12 months	Apply NowCompare

Bottom Line

Booking.com’s Genius loyalty program is very simple. This program is for occasional travellers who do not necessarily book in a branded-hotel or who wish to be free to choose the hotel they want.

Plus,signing up for Booking.com’s Genius program is free!

Finally, in our opinion, the best credit card to use for Booking.com is the American Express Cobalt^® Card:

5 points per dollar on groceries and restaurants, and 1 point per dollar on travel purchases (including on Booking.com)
travel points you can apply to on Booking.com reservations
Reliable travel insurance
No minimum income required

Compare

American Express Cobalt^® Card

American Express Amex Membership Rewards

Annual fee: $191.88
Our valuationMilesopedia first-year estimate First-year valueWelcome bonus$255Total$255Rewards on your spending are not included. The calculator that adds them from your own profile is on the card's page.: $255
Welcome offerGet 1,250 points after $750 in purchases per month for 12 months: Up to 15,000 points

The American Express Cobalt^® Card is a versatile American Express card, whether you want points for travel or cash back.

American Express Cobalt^® Card welcome offer

The welcome bonus is paid out monthly over your first 12 months. You earn 1,250 Membership Rewards points for each monthly billing period in which you charge $750 in net purchases to your card, in any category (1X, 2X, 3X or 5X). That adds up to 15,000 Membership Rewards points over the year, a welcome offer valued at $255.

Earning the full bonus means $9,000 in net purchases spread across 12 monthly billing periods. This offer rewards steady monthly spending rather than one large purchase.

You can use these points as statement credits on everyday or travel purchases, at the same rate either way: 1,000 points = $10.

You can also transfer them to Aeroplan, Avios (British Airways and Qatar Airways), Flying Blue, Marriott Bonvoy or Hilton Honors. With the full welcome bonus, that is a choice between:

15,000 Aeroplan points
15,000 Avios points
15,000 Flying Blue Miles
18,000 Marriott Bonvoy points

American Express Cobalt^® Card benefits

Here is what the card gives you, starting with the benefits cardholders use most.

5X points on eligible eats and drinks in Canada: groceries, restaurants and bars, and home food delivery. A spend cap applies.
3X points on eligible streaming subscriptions in Canada.
2X points on eligible gas, public transit and ride sharing purchases in Canada.
1 additional point on eligible hotel and car rental bookings made through American Express Travel Online.
1X point per dollar on everything else, with no category restrictions.
Points that hold the same value either way: 1,000 points = $10 as a statement credit, or a 1:1 transfer to several airline and hotel loyalty programs.
No minimum income requirement, as with every American Express Canada card.
Additional cards at no extra cost: the first and every other supplementary card is $0.
The Hotel Collection: a room upgrade when available, 12pm check-in and late check-out when available, and up to $100 USD in hotel credit on amenities charged to the room for a stay of two or more consecutive nights, booked through American Express Travel.
Front Of The Line^® presale and reserved tickets for concerts and theatre performances, plus offers and events curated for cardmembers through Amex Experiences.
A soft credit check before you apply: you can see whether you will be approved with no impact to your credit score. This applies to American Express personal card applications.

The 5X categories and where they apply

The 5X rate is the reason most people carry this card. In Canada it covers three kinds of merchants:

Groceries: Metro, IGA, Sobeys, Super C, Safeway, Whole Foods.
Restaurants and bars: sit-down meals, takeout and drinks.
Home food delivery.
Convenience stores (Couche-Tard, 7-Eleven): not part of 5X, 1 point per dollar.

The 2X rate covers gas stations such as Esso, Shell and Petro-Canada, along with public transit and ride sharing.

With the American Express Cobalt^® Card, you earn between 1 and 5 points per dollar:

Category	Points per dollar
Grocery (Metro, IGA, Sobeys, Super C, etc.)	5
Home food delivery	5
Restaurants and bars	5
Convenience stores	1
Streaming services	3
Service station	2
Transport	2
Travel	1
Other	1

That works out to a 1 to 5% return on those purchases. For example, if you spend $1,000 per month across groceries, restaurants and food delivery, you earn $50 back per month, or $600 per year from that category alone. Transfer the points to a program such as Aeroplan instead and the return can be higher.

You can also stack these categories with the hundreds of stores that offer 5x points.

American Express Cobalt^® Card insurance coverage

The card comes with a broad insurance package. The amounts below are the coverage limits; conditions, age limits and exclusions are set out in the certificate of insurance linked in the Insurance section above.

Travel insurance

Emergency medical: up to $5,000,000 for the first 15 days of a trip.
Travel accident: accidental death and dismemberment of up to $250,000 for you, your spouse and dependent children under age 23 when travelling on a common carrier (plane, train, bus or ship) and the tickets are charged to your card. Supplementary cardholders and their families are covered too.
Flight delay: up to $500 for necessary hotel, meal and sundry expenses bought within 48 hours when you are delayed or denied boarding for four hours or more and no other transportation is available. This $500 is an aggregate limit per occurrence, shared with missed connection and delayed baggage coverage.
Delayed baggage: up to $500 for essential clothing and sundries bought within four days when your outbound luggage is delayed six hours or more. This $500 is an aggregate limit per occurrence, shared with missed connection and flight delay coverage.
Lost or stolen baggage: up to $500 per occurrence for all insured persons combined, for checked or carry-on baggage and personal effects in transit, when the airline tickets are charged to your card. Within that limit, jewellery is capped at $300 per occurrence and golf clubs, including golf bags, at $250 per occurrence.
Hotel and motel burglary: up to $500 against the loss of most personal items if your hotel or motel is burglarized, when the stay is charged to your card.

Rental car insurance

Theft and damage coverage is included for a rental car with an MSRP, for its model year, of up to $85,000 excluding all taxes, for rentals of up to 48 days. To use it, decline the Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) or any similar option from the rental company and charge the full rental to your card. There is no cost for this coverage, and it replaces the daily insurance the rental company charges, usually $16 to $23 per day.

Mobile device insurance

Your device is covered for up to $1,000 per occurrence when it is charged to the card, for up to two years from the date of purchase. The payout is based on the depreciated value of the device, which falls by 2% of the purchase price for every completed month, less a 10% deductible. Theft and accidental damage coverage starts on the 91st day after purchase, because the first 90 days are covered by purchase protection.

Purchase protection and extended warranty

Eligible items charged to your card are insured against accidental physical damage or theft for 90 days from the purchase date, up to $1,000 per occurrence for all items combined. The card also extends the original manufacturer’s warranty by up to one additional year on eligible items, with indemnification limited to $10,000 per insured item and $25,000 per Cardmember per policy year for all items combined.

American Express Cobalt^® Card fees

Card fee: $15.99 per month, which equals $191.88 per year, for residents outside Quebec. Quebec residents are billed $191.88 per year.
Additional cards: $0.
Purchase interest rate: 21.99%.
Cash advance interest rate: 21.99%.
Foreign transaction fee: 2.5%.
Minimum income required: none.

Because the fee is billed monthly rather than in one annual charge, you can stop and restart the cost in step with how much you are actually using the card.

Legal

American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information, click the Apply Now link. If you apply and get approved for an American Express Card, we may receive compensation from American Express, which can be in the form of monetary payment.

Annual fee

Primary card$191.88

Additional card$0

Annual income required

Individual$0

Household$0

Conversion fees

2.5%

Earning rate

5xRestaurants
5xGroceries
3xStreaming
2xTransit
2xGas
1xAll spending

Value

1st Year Value$1,675

2nd Year Value$799

Transfer partners

AeroplanAirline
British Airways ClubAirline
Cathay Asia MilesAirline
Etihad GuestAirline
Flying BlueAirline
Hilton HonorsHotel
Marriott BonvoyHotel

Travel insurance

Travel medical (under 55)Up to $5,000,000 / 15 days

Travel medical (55-64)Up to $5,000,000 / 15 days

Delayed BaggageUp to $500

Lost BaggageUp to $500

Flight DelayUp to $500

Hotel BurglaryUp to $500

Travel AccidentUp to $250,000

Purchase protection

Purchase ProtectionUp to $1,000 / 90 days

Extended Warranty+1 years

Mobile DeviceUp to $1,000 / 2 years

Auto Rental Collision (primary)Up to $85,000 / 48 days

For who is Genius, Booking.com's loyalty program?

Booking.com’s loyalty program Genius is for casual travellers who:

don’t earn enough nights to get a status with a hotel program like Marriott Bonvoy
want to book the hotels of their choice
are interested in collecting rewards
switch between Airbnb rentals and hotels

Booking.com Genius Levels

Booking.com‘s Genius program has three status levels. All members enjoy free access to discounts for life, depending on their level:

Genius status	Conditions
Level 1	10% discount on the price of the stay
Level 2	Obtained after 5 bookings in 2 years
and Level 3	Obtained after 15 bookings in 2 years

Here are some of the bookings we made with Booking.com:

South Africa: Oceansong Beach House Noordhoek Cape Town
In New Zealand: The Winedrinkers Cottage