Hotels.com, the world’s leading hotel booking website, has launched its new Welcome Rewards, a new loyalty scheme offering customers one free night for every ten nights stayed.

The new loyalty programme, which allows customers to accumulate their ten nights across chain hotels, B&Bs, self catering and independent hotels, is the first of its kind in the UK. The launch follows the successful rollout of Welcome Rewards in the US over the past 18 months.

Unlike most rewards schemes, which are usually specific to one brand, Hotels.com allows customers to accumulate their ten qualifying nights across independent and chain hotels and to redeem their free night at any eligible hotel from Hotels.com's global network.

The redemption element of the programme is just as easy, as there are no blackout dates or complicated points systems; customers simply stay for ten nights and get the eleventh night free (taxes and fees apply to the free night).

Whether a customer is travelling for business or leisure, the ten night target is easily attainable and, with a free night available Welcome Rewards provides a great opportunity for Britons to make every weekend a long weekend.

Alison Couper, Global Communications Director of Hotels.com, commented: "Welcome Rewards is a simple, straightforward programme that can be used at any of more than 65,000 hotels globally, and is far more generous than the vast majority of hotel loyalty programmes. The launch of Welcome Rewards is a significant customer friendly innovation that will benefit leisure and corporate travellers alike."