How to Book Hotels and Airbnb with Crypto: The Gift Card Method

No hotel chain takes crypto at the front desk, and Airbnb will not accept a wallet address. But all of them take their own gift cards, and gift cards can be bought with crypto. That is the whole method: buy the brand's card on GiftQubes with Bitcoin, USDT, USDC or 25+ coins and networks, redeem the code where the brand accepts it, and sleep somewhere paid for in crypto.

Three kinds of stay card

1. Marketplace cards — Airbnb, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Agoda

These are redeemed into your account on the platform and then pay for any listing it sells. An Airbnb gift card becomes Airbnb credit that books a flat in Lisbon or a cabin in Vermont; a Hotels.com card pays at checkout for any of hundreds of thousands of properties. The destination does not matter; the account country does — an Airbnb card is issued per country and only redeems into an account registered there. Marketplace cards generally cover the whole booking including service fees and taxes, and most never expire.

2. Chain cards — Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Best Western, Premier Inn, Taj

These are presented at the property (or applied to an eligible direct booking) and pay for the room and the folio — restaurants, bars, spa — at participating hotels of that group. A Marriott Bonvoy card covers 30+ brands from Courtyard to The Ritz-Carlton; a Hilton card covers Hampton to Waldorf Astoria. Points accrue as normal. The catch: book direct — a stay booked through a travel site cannot be paid with the chain's card — and check the property participates, because some franchised locations opt out.

3. Open hotel cards — HotelGift, HotelsGift, Global Hotel Card

Redeemed on the issuer's site and exchanged for a booking at any of 550,000+ hotels when you need it. Best for gifts and undecided trips; they carry a validity window (typically 12 months), so exchange them when the trip is in sight.

Which card for which trip

• City break, flexible on where you sleep → Airbnb or Hotels.com.
• Loyal to a chain, want points and folio coverage → Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt.
• UK road trip → Premier Inn or Travelodge, in pounds.
• India → Taj, ITC, Oberoi for luxury; OYO for budget; MakeMyTrip or Goibibo for anything.
• A gift → an open hotel card, or Airbnb for someone with an account in the same country.

The rules in one list

1. Match the card's country to your account's country (marketplace cards) or to the hotel's country (chain cards).
2. Redeem marketplace cards to your account first; book direct for chain cards.
3. Marketplace cards pay the booking; chain cards pay the folio too.
4. Most stay cards never expire; open hotel cards do — check the card page.
5. Refunds return to the card or account, never to cash.

A week's stay reaches the $250+ band where the Qube Price saves most, and the code is on your order page within minutes of the payment confirming. Browse the hotels & stays hub for every brand we sell.