Choosing the best hotel credit card for you can be a game-changer. Hotel credit cards offer many benefits that enhance your travel experience and can save you money. It doesn’t matter if you’re a business traveler, a family planning your next vacation, or an adventurer exploring new destinations, the right hotel credit card can unlock free nights, room upgrades, and a host of other perks that can make your stay more enjoyable and affordable. However, with so many options available, selecting the best card can be overwhelming.
In this guide, I’ll break down the major factors to consider when picking a hotel credit card. I’ll also help you navigate through the many choices to find the perfect match for your travel needs. I’ll cover everything you need to know to make an informed decision from understanding the importance of hotel loyalty programs and sign-up bonuses to evaluating earning potential and redemption flexibility,
Factors to Consider in Picking the Best Hotel Credit Card
1. Your preferred hotel chain
If there is a hotel chain that you like to stay at then that is the place you should probably start. All of the major hotel chains, such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Wyndam and Choice have credit cards.
The chain that you choose should meet your travel needs. Are they located in places that you love to travel to or are going to travel to? Do you want to take an aspirational trip? If so then, you will want to get a card that will help you with that trip.
You don’t have to be pigeonholed into having just one hotel chain brand of card. Personally, I have three different hotel chain cards. They all have their strengths and weaknesses but they all meet the needs of the way that my wife and I travel.
2. Sign Up Bonus
Hotel credit cards offer sign up bonuses when you get the card. Sign up bonuses vary from card to card but they can usually range from 50,000 points to 180,000 points. You will earn the bonus after meeting a certain spending requirement.
For example, right now the Hilton’s Aspire card is offering a 175,000 point sign up bonus after spending $6,000 in the first 6 months. You just want to make sure that you can earn the sign up bonus with your regular spending.
The value of various credit card points varies. So, a large sign up bonus with one brand may not be as valuable as a smaller sign up bonus with another brand. The Frequent Miler, the Points Guy, and One Mile at a Time are a few of the sites that can show you the value of various hotel points.
3. Earning Potential
Besides the sign up bonus, another factor to consider are the points that you can earn when using the card. Just like other cards, hotel cards will have certain categories where you can earn extra points in a particular category.
You may want to look at the different cards for a hotel chain to see what card offers the highest earning potential for where you spend the most.
For example, the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card earns 4x the points at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. While the IHG Premier card earns 5x the points at grocery stores, travel, dining and select business expenses.
Usually the best place to use a hotel card is when booking stays with the particular hotel chain. So, when booking a paid stay with a Hyatt hotel the best card to use to earn the most points will be a Hyatt credit card.
Hotel cards are generally not the best place to put your everyday spend. One of the few exceptions is when you are trying to meet the minimum spend for the sign up bonus for the card.
4. Annual Fee
There are some hotel credit cards that come with no annual fee but many of them do. You have to consider if the annual fee is worth the card has to offer when it comes to the perks that the card may have.
This can be easy when considering some cards. The World of Hyatt credit card comes with an annual fee of $95. One perk that comes with the card is a category 1-4 free night certificate. It is possible to get way more value out of the certificate than what you pay in an annual fee.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card comes with a $650 annual fee. That isn’t a misprint. The card does come with many perks but you have to see if you would get the value from the perks that they offer on the card.
5. Additional Perks
Hotel co-branded credit cards come with additional perks. Usually the higher the annual fee is the more perks come with the card. Some perks included with various cards include free night certificates, hotel elite status, elite night credits, free night stays, and travel protections and insurance to name just a few of the perks. These perks can help you have a better experience no matter what hotel chain that you choose.
6. Gaining Status with the Card
Besides perks that I have mentioned before, some hotel credit cards offer some kind of elite status with the hotel chain. If you like to be loyal to one program, having status can make your stay that much nicer.
The top card as it comes to elite status is the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card. You earn top tier Diamond status by holding the card. Diamond status gives you numerous perks, such as late checkout, lounge access, free breakfast and suite upgrades.
The card also includes many other perks, such as a free night certificate and a $400 resort credit. If you stay at Hilton hotels just a few times a year, the $550 annual fee could be worth it.
Some other cards that give you elite status include the IHG Premier card which gives you Platinum elite status. It is the second to highest status with IHG. The World of Hyatt credit card gives you Discoverist status which is Hyatt’s lowest tier of status. These statuses aren’t near as valuable as the Aspire’s top tier status.
7. Locations Where You are Traveling
You want to make sure that the hotel chain you are selecting is located where you want to travel to. The last thing you want to be is surprised that the chain that you have selected isn’t located where you want to go. Do a little detective work before making your selection.
For example, Hyatt hotels are located in bigger cities. They may or may not be found in smaller cities and you won’t find them in small towns. On the other hand, chains like Hilton, Marriott, IHG, and Choice hotels have much larger footprints. So, you have a greater chance of finding one of them where you are going to be traveling to.
Final Thoughts
Selecting the ideal hotel credit card is more than just picking a card with the most appealing sign-up bonus or the highest earning potential. It’s about aligning the card’s benefits with your unique travel patterns and preferences. The right hotel credit card can enhance your travel experience. Hotel credit cards can offer valuable perks like free nights, room upgrades, and elite status benefits.
Make sure that whatever hotel credit card that you select that the hotel chain aligns best with your travel habits and destinations. It doesn’t matter if you are loyal to one brand or are open to exploring different brands. There is a card that is out there that will fit your needs.
Make sure to go to my blog Travelwidstom to learn more about how to save on travel, how to earn and maximize credit card points and miles, as well as travel itineraries.
