Best hotel credit cards for September 2024

Anytime you go on vacation, the hotel you choose can have a big impact on your trip — whether you prioritize luxury accommodations with the best views and amenities, or just need a place to sleep and recharge before setting back out to explore. No matter what type of traveler you are, you could save more on hotel stays when you travel with a hotel credit card. Here’s a look at the best credit cards to save on an upcoming hotel stay.

Best hotel credit cards for September 2024

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Other hotel credit cards to consider

Annual fee: $95

Welcome offer: Earn 3 Free Night Awards (worth up to 50,000 points each) after spending $3,000 within the first 3 months

Rewards:

• Up to 17x points on purchases with Marriott Bonvoy hotels (6x points with your card, 10x points for being a Bonvoy member, and 1x point with Silver Elite status — complimentary with card membership)

• 3x points on the first $6,000 in combined spending at grocery stores, at gas stations, and on dining

• 2x points on all other purchases

More card details: Marriott Bonvoy members get plenty of extra savings on hotel stays with this card. Start with a Free Night Award every account anniversary, worth up to 35,000 points. Plus get 15 Elite Night Credits each year, another Elite Night Credit for every $5,000 you spend, automatic Silver Elite status, Gold Elite status after spending $35,000 in a calendar year, and more.

Why we like this card: For a relatively affordable $95 annual fee, loyal Marriott customers can rack up plenty of free nights and other benefits with the Bonvoy Boundless card. Not only will you get an annual Free Night Award starting on your first cardmember anniversary, but you can earn three free nights right from the start with the card’s welcome bonus.

We also like that the Bonvoy Boundless benefits your purchases at home and while traveling. Take the 3x grocery store, gas station, and dining categories for example. If you max out these categories with a combined $6,000 spent each year, you’ll earn 18,000 points. With award night redemptions starting at 7,500 points, that’s two more nights each year — before even accounting for your other earnings.

Then there are the status benefits. You’ll get complimentary Silver Elite status, which comes with 10% bonus points on eligible stays, late checkout, and more — plus the opportunity to earn Gold Elite status (adding welcome gifts at check-in and room upgrades) after you spend $35,000 in a calendar year.

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• Annual fee: $75

• Welcome offer: Earn 100,000 Wyndham Rewards points after spending $2,000 within the first 3 months (worth up to 13 free nights)

• Rewards:

  • 6x points on purchases at Hotels by Wyndham

  • 6x points on qualifying gas purchases

  • 4x points on dining

  • 4x points on grocery store purchases (excluding Target and Walmart)

  • 1x points on all other purchases

• More card details: This card’s added benefits help make the most of your Wyndham stays. There’s an automatic upgrade to Platinum membership level, with perks like early check-in, late checkout, preferred room choice, Caesar Rewards status match, and upgrades on Avis and Budget car rentals. Each year after your first account anniversary, you’ll receive 7,500 bonus points (enough for a free night). This card also has a 0% intro APR on balance transfers.

Why we like this card: Wyndham may not have as many well-known credit card options as chains like Hilton or Marriott, but it does have a comparable number of locations — with more than 9,000 worldwide properties. And with the Rewards Earner Plus, there are plenty of ways to save anytime you book a stay.

Automatic status and the anniversary points bonus are two perks you can benefit from year after year. And for new cardholders, this card’s 100,000 welcome bonus — enough points for up to 13 free nights — is hard to beat.

Like other hotel cards on our list, we also like that the Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus rewards non-travel spending. Not only are gas station purchases one of the card’s top-earning bonus categories, but each of the everyday rewards categories has no annual spending cap, guaranteeing you can maximize every dollar you spend.

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What are hotel rewards programs?

When you’re a member of a hotel rewards program, you can earn points on your stays and other purchases to use toward future bookings with the hotel chain. Joining a hotel’s loyalty program is a great way to save on hotel stays — often one of the most expensive parts of a vacation. Common hotel rewards programs include Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, World of Hyatt, Wyndham Rewards, IHG Rewards Club, and more.

Generally, the most common (and most valuable) way to redeem the points you earn from a hotel rewards program is for future hotel stays. Under most programs, you can either redeem your points toward a booking in full or pay with a combination of points and cash.

You might also have the option to redeem your hotel points for online purchases, experiences, gift cards, and more. Some even allow transfers to partner airlines. Before you choose an alternative redemption, make sure you compare the redemption value. Sometimes, these options may give you a lesser value for your points than if you wait and redeem them for your next hotel booking.

In addition to points you can use for future stays, hotel rewards programs also come with added benefits for members. That might include small perks like discounted rates and free wi-fi for basic members, but the value quickly grows as you move up in elite status. Top-tier hotel program members can earn everything from bonus earnings on hotel stays to suite-level room upgrades, welcome gifts, dedicated assistance, and more.

How much are hotel rewards worth?

Unlike some other rewards programs, it’s difficult to pin down a value for many hotel rewards programs. That’s because hotels often use dynamic pricing when it comes to points redemptions. The value of your redemption can change over time depending on the property, when you book, when you plan to travel, and more factors.

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Credit card rewards programs for hotels

In addition to hotel credit cards from specific hotel brands, you can also use a general travel credit card for hotel rewards. The points and miles you earn with these travel cards are typically more flexible, but still offer great savings on hotel stays.

One thing to consider is the different ways to maximize rewards you earn on hotel stays. Instead of booking directly from the hotel — like you would with a co-branded hotel card — you may only earn maximum points when you book through your card issuer’s travel portal. When you book this way, you can often still input your hotel loyalty program number and earn points as a member of the hotel program in addition to your credit card rewards.

Many credit card rewards programs also have transfer partners, which include hotel loyalty programs. This can be a good option if you’re a member of a specific hotel program, but you’re not sure you want to commit to a hotel credit card. Here are the hotel transfer partners offered by three popular rewards programs today:

American Express Membership Rewards

• Choice Privileges

• Hilton Honors

• Marriott Bonvoy

Capital One Travel

• ALL Accor Live Limitless

• Choice Privileges

• Wyndham Rewards

Chase Ultimate Rewards

• IHG Rewards Club

• Marriott Bonvoy

• World of Hyatt

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What to look for in a hotel credit card

These are some details to consider before you choose a new hotel card:

Welcome bonus

A hotel card’s welcome bonus can often get you multiple free nights, whether you choose a co-branded hotel card or general travel card.

Before applying, make sure you understand the requirements to score the bonus your card offers. You’ll typically need to spend a few thousand dollars at minimum within three to six months of account opening.

If this isn’t within your regular budget, strategize how you can meet the bonus without risking high-interest card balances. For example, you could plan your application around an upcoming trip you’ve already saved money for — the extra expenses can help you hit the spending threshold without risking a debt balance you can’t pay off.

Rewards categories

Look for the card with rewards categories that fit where you already spend most.

If you travel year-round and are always moving onto your next destination, you’ll probably want to prioritize travel rewards and top earnings on your hotel bookings. But if you only reliably travel a few times each year — a summer vacation, for example, followed by a holiday trip to visit family — you’ll likely get more value from a card with rewards on things like groceries, gas, and other essentials.

This is also a factor to consider if you’re adding a hotel credit card to cards you already have in your wallet. To make the most of every dollar you spend, look for categories you might be missing. Alternatively, you may choose a travel card with flat rewards on most purchases (or branded hotel card with a high non-category earning rate) to use as a catch-all for the spending categories you don’t maximize elsewhere.

Added benefits

Your card’s added benefits should add value over time — not just in the first year.

This is especially important for hotel cards that carry annual fees. Card benefits can be a great way to make up the cost of the annual fee, but they’re only valuable if they save you money on purchases you would have made anyway.

For hotel cards specifically, common benefits include annual Free Night Awards and elite status upgrades. If you stay with the hotel chain often, it can be easy to take advantage of the added benefits. Otherwise, you may want to look for other rewards cards that better fit your spending and travel.

Rewards program

As much as the credit card rewards and added benefits can make a big difference, the program under which you earn your rewards can, too.

For co-branded hotel credit cards, choose the loyalty program offered by the hotel brand you like and use most. If you’re already a member, look for ways your card can help you maximize your stays even further, with boosted points on bookings and faster paths to elite status.

If you’re considering a general travel card with great hotel rewards instead, you’ll still want to do your research into the card’s rewards program. Make sure you’ll get a good value when you use your rewards for hotel bookings, and compare other redemption options that may work for your travel plans. Don’t forget to also check out the program’s transfer partners — you may get more long-term value when you have the ability to transfer points and miles to your preferred airline and hotel brands.

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Hotel credit card pros

• Hotel savings: The best reason to open a hotel card is for the potential savings on hotel stays. Not only do these cards earn points that you can put toward future reward nights, but they also often come with annual Free Night Awards and other annual bonuses that can help you rack up savings on your stays over the long-term.

• Status benefits: One of the easiest ways to increase your status level with a hotel loyalty program is with a credit card. Many of our favorite co-branded hotel cards come with complimentary status boosts and paths to earn the next level with card spending. If elite status is important to you and you travel frequently enough to gain value from the perks, these benefits are worth considering.

• Welcome offers: Many hotel cards offer very high welcome bonus offers for new cardholders. With any of the hotel cards on our list above, you can get multiple free nights with the welcome bonuses alone. Consider planning ahead for when you apply for your hotel card to make the most of the welcome bonus offer for your next trip — and make sure the spending threshold is within your budget.

Hotel credit card cons

• Rewards value: Because of hotel program dynamic pricing, the value of your points can vary greatly depending on when you book and your itinerary. If you have any flexibility, you can compare different stays before you book to get the best redemption value.

• Limited rewards in other categories: While many of the cards on our list offer great rewards on travel and everyday expenses, that’s not always true for hotel cards. Many hotel credit cards can provide limited rewards in everyday categories. If you’re looking for a well-rounded card for earning hotel rewards, make sure you compare each of the bonus categories offered to your regular spending.

• Maximize with frequent travel: Consider your travel habits before you open a hotel card. If you don’t travel often or you often choose to stay in AirBnBs and other rentals, a hotel card may not be worth it.

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Our methodology

While we believe co-branded hotel credit cards can offer great savings for some hotel brand loyalists, they’re not for everyone. That’s why we focused on curating a list that includes both general travel cards with great hotel savings and hotel credit cards for specific chains.

We started with cards we’ve already rated highly among the dozens of card options we compared for our list of best travel credit cards. This helped us narrow down a short list of cards with solid rewards value and welcome bonus. We also looked for baseline details useful for travelers, like no foreign transaction fees and fraud protections.

For co-branded options, we included the best card options for the top three hotels by number of locations worldwide among those cards on our short list. Those hotels were Marriott and Wyndham, both with 9,000+ properties, and Hilton with 7,500+. We wanted to focus on hotels with the greatest number of properties to ensure the cards are useful for the greatest number of travelers.

We also focused on co-branded hotel credit cards with lower annual fees. For many people, we estimate that the hotel card may not be the only card in their wallet. And the more credit cards you have with high annual fees, the more you could be eating away at your potential annual value

If you have a favorite hotel brand not included above, you may get better value from another co-branded hotel card with, for example, IHG or Hyatt rewards. The most important thing to consider if you’re opening a co-branded card is your own relationship and spending with the brand. You should have a strong preference for the hotel and be sure that you can maximize the loyalty program rewards before you open a hotel credit card.

For the general travel credit card recommendations, we sorted out our top travel card picks by those that offer some added benefit specifically for hotel stays. Then, we created the superlatives included above to call out the features we believe set these cards apart for hotel spending.

While we believe these travel cards (and more on our best travel credit cards list) can offer great value even beyond hotel rewards, we specifically chose cards that provide maximum savings or benefits for hotel stays.

This article was edited by Rebecca McCracken

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