Expedia 10% off code for hotels - a tiny bit useless

Backbiter

As I am in the process of putting together next year's road trip around a few states in the US, I was delighted to receive an code offering me 10% off hotel bookings until the end of November 2015.
I found a good deal for a couple of nights and used the code while booking, only to discover it wasn't valid with that hotel chain.
So I checked the T & Cs to read the exclusions, and found that the code was not valid at these chains:

AC (Antonio Catalan) Hotels by Marriott,
AC Adagio,
AC by Marriott,
Accor,
Adagio Access,
Adagio by Accor,
Adagio,
All Seasons,
Aloft,
Altri marchi del gruppo Starwood,
Amara,
Amari Hotel and Resorts,
AmeriHost,
Ana Hotels International,
Anantara,
Andaz,
Angsana,
APAC Name Search,
Aramark Parks & Destinations,
ARIA Resort & Casino at CityCenter,
Art'Hotel,
Ascend Collection,
Ascott,
Aston Resorts,
Autograph Collection Hotels & Resorts
Ayres Collection
Bally's Atlantic City,
Bally's Las Vegas,
Banyan Tree,
Barcelo,
Baymont Inns & Suites,
Bellagio,
Benchmark,
Best Western,
Bill's Gamblin' Hall,
Bluegreen Resorts,
Bulgari Hotels & Resorts,
Caesars Atlantic City,
Caesars Entertainment,
Caesars Palace,
Cambria Suites,
Campanile,
Candlewood Suites,
Capella Hotel Group,
Carlson,
Choice,
Circus Circus Hotel & Casino,
Clarion Collection,
Clarion Hotel,
Clarion,
Club Quarters,
Coast Hotels,
Coastal Hotels,
Comfort Hotel,
Comfort Inn,
Comfort Suites,
Conrad,
Country Inn & Suites,
Courtyard,
Crowne Plaza,
Damai Luat Golf and Country Club,
Days Inn,
Destination Hotels,
Diamond Resorts,
Divi Resorts,
Dolce Hotels and Resorts,
Doubletree,
Drury,
Dusit,
Eaton,
Econo Lodge,
Edition,
Element,
Elite Hotels of Sweden and Berns Hotel ist,
Embassy Suites,
Etap,
Eviivo Small Hotels,
Evolution Hospitality
Excalibur Hotel Casino,
Execustay,
Expo Hotels & Resorts,
Extended Stay America
Fairfield Inn,
Fairmont,
Fattal,
Festiva Resort,
Flamingo Las Vegas,
Formule 1,
Fortune Hotels,
Fortune,
Four Points,
Four Seasons,
Fraser
Furama,
FX hotels and resorts,
Global Hotels & Resorts,

Good Nite Inns,
Gran Melia,
Grand Hyatt,
Grand Mercure,
Grand Residences by Marriott,
Great Wolf Lodge,
H10,
Hampton Inn,
Harveys Resort & Casino,
Hawthorn Inn & Suites,
Hawthorn Suites,
Hesperia,
Hilton Worldwide,
Holiday Inn,
Home2 Suites by Hilton,
Homewood Suites,
Horseshoe Tunica Casino and Hotel,
Hotel 81,
Hotel Indigo,
Hotel Missoni,
Hotels,
Hotusa,
Howard Johnson,
Hyatt Hotels,
Iberostar,
Ibis,
IHG,
Independent,
Indigo,
Innside,
Inter-Continental,
Intrawest Corporation,
ITC (Starwood Luxury Collection in India),
JDV,
Joie De Vivre,
Jolly Hotels,
Jumeirah,
JW Marriott,
Kamath Hotels,
Kempinski Hotels & Resorts,
Kimpton,
Knights Inn,
KSL Resorts
Kyriad Prestige,
Kyriad,
La Quinta,
Langham Hotels,
Langham,
Larkspur Landing,
Las Vegas Sands,
Le Meridien,
Leela Palace,
Leonardo Hotels,
Loews,
Louvre Hotels,
Lusso Infantas (Madrid),
Luxor Hotel and Casino,
Luxury collection,
LXR,
M Gallery,
Magnuson Hotels,
MainStay Suites,
Mandalay Bay Resort And Casino,
Mandarin Orchard,
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group,
Marina Mandarin,
Marriott,
Melia Hotels International,
Melia,
Mercure,
Meritus,
MGallery,
MGM,
Microtel Inn,
Microtel,
Millennium,
Mirage Resort & Casino,
Missoni Hotels,
Missoni,
Morgans Hotel Group,
Movenpick Hotels & Resorts,
Movenpick,
New York New York Hotel & Casino,
NH Hotels,
Nobel House,
Novotel,
Oberoi Hotels & Resorts,
Oberoi,
Omni,
One&Only Resorts,
Orbis,
Oxford Suites
Pacifica Hotels
Paradisus,
Paris Las Vegas,
Park Hyatt,

Park Inn,
Park Plaza,
Pear Tree Inn,
Peninsula,
Planet Hollywood Towers,
Premiere Classe,
Protea
Pullman Hotels and Resorts,
Pullman,
Quality Inn,
Quay West,
Radisson,
Raffles Intl Hotels and Resorts,
Ramada,
Red Lion,
Red Roof Inn,
Regent,
Relais & Chateaux,
Renaissance,
Residence Inn by Marriott,
Residence Inn,
Resort Quest
Rezidor,
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino,
Ritz-Carlton,
RIU Hotels,
Rocco Forte
Rodeway Inn,
Rosewood Hotels,
Rosewood,
Sandals Resorts,
Scandic Hotels Chain,
Scandic Hotels,
Sea Temple,
Sebel,
Shanghai JC Mandarin,
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts,
Shangri-la,
Shell Management
Sheraton Hotel,
Sheraton,
Shilo Inn,
Showboat Atlantic City,
Six Senses Resorts & Spas,
Six Senses,
Sleep Inn,
Sofitel,
Sol Melia,
Sol,
Sonesta Hotel
Soneva,
soweit das Hotel ein Harrahs,
SpringHill Suites,
St Regis,
Starwood,
Staybridge Suites,
Suburban Extended Stay,
Suburban,
Suite Novotel,
Summerfield Suites,
Super 8,
Swiss Court Holiday Appartments,
Swiss Quality Hotels,
Swiss-Garden,
Swissotel,
Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces,
Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces,
The Gateway Hotels,
The Hardage Group,
The hotel at Mandalay Bay,
The Peninsula Group,
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company,
Top International Hotels
TownePlace Suites,
Traders,
Travelodge,
Trident Hotels,
Trident,
TRYP by Wyndham,
Tryp Hotels,
Tulip Inn,
V hotel,
Vail Resorts
Vdara Hotel & Spa at CityCenter,
Viceroy Hotel Group,
Vincci,
Vivanta by Taj,
W Hotels,
Waldorf Astoria,
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts,
Warwick All,
Westgate Resorts,
Westin,
Westmark,
Wingate Inn,
Wyndham Hotels,
Wyndham Worldwide,
Wynn Resorts.
It would have been a lot easier for them to name the hotel where you can use the code.

Happily, if you go via Quidco you can still get 10% cashback.

SW17

Sad but true. Welcome to online rate parity at chains. Code will no doubt be valid at a lot of independent hotels, but not much comfort in the US, where 75-80% of hotels are chain-affiliated.

budgetflyer

If you book via Topcashback/Quidco you will get 12.5% cashback, or their sister site hotels.com will probably have identical rates, 10.5% cashback.
Hotels.com also have their loyalty club where 1 in 10 rooms are free so you would get an additional 10% of the average towards a room as well as the cashback.

cubegame

You'd be mad to prebook for a road trip. There is such an oversupply of rooms in the USA that this is only REALLY necessary in large cities around holiday times.

You won't save any money by prebooking so you might as well book during the day when you know where you're going to be.

It is also still just about possible to get walk in bargains, although the internet seems to have made this harder in recent years.