Hotel Rewards Credit Card
This hotel credit cards section is organized as follows. We first highlight our favorite credit cards for hotel stays, followed by a couple of frequent guest tips and articles. There will be links to popular frequent guest program after that.
In the past, there were mainly two types of hotel credit cards. The first was a dedicated hotel credit card which you can earn extra points for staying with that hotel. You could also choose a credit card that allowed you to transfer points to a frequent guest program. Then credit card issues simply offered you the chance to redeem points for any hotel stays as long as you booked through their online travel agent. But recently, credit card issuers have been partnering up with hotels and online travel agents in their shopping portal and offering fantastic deals and rebates. We think this will be the wave of the future.
The Chase Sapphire® Preferred Card is now offering a bonanza 50,000 sign up bonus that is "bonus" for hotel frequent guest members. You get these 50,000 points after spending $3,000 during the first three months. Why is this so great? Because you can transfer Chase Ultimate Reward Points earned from this card to Marriott, Hyatt and Priority Club points. Here's a couple of examples of what 50,000 points can accomplish with these programs. 50,000 points is worth 2 nights at a category 5 Marriott hotel or 5 nights at a category 2 Marriott hotel. For Hyatt, 44,000 points gets you 2 nights at a category 5 Regency/Grand Club Room.
The Starwood Preferred Guest is perhaps the most highly rated frequent guest program. People who stay at their hotels can truly understand this. But what makes the program stand out is that you can transfer points (mostly one for one) to over 30 airline partners! Or you can use your starpoints to book flights directly with Starwood's travel site. They even give you 5,000 bonus points to transfer points over to miles! The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express is one of the best popular travel rewards card around.
The Marriott Rewards Visa Signature Card is really one of the best hotel rewards credit card and will appeal to folks who stay a lot at Marriott Hotels and are frequent guest members. You can earn double points when you use your card at Marriott Hotels and you get a 22,500 points bonus after the first time you use the card. You can also get 15,000 bonus points if you redeem your points for a 7 day stay at a category 7 or 8 hotel. But best of all, you can earn 1 elite night credit for every $3,000 you spend and every year you will get 10 elite night credits! Marriott frequent members will know that you need 10 elite night credits to get a Silver Elite Status. That means that by simply having this card, you can get Silver Status even without staying at the Marriott!
The Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Signature Card is a step up from the regular Marriott credit card. It has a higher annual fee at $65 (versus $30). But you can earn 5 points (rather than 3) per dollar that you spend at Marriott Hotels. And you get to earn double points for airline, dining, and rental car purchases. You also get 15 elite night credits, which means you automatically are a Marriott Silver Elite member for every year that you keep this card.
The Citi® Hilton HhonorsTM Visa Signature® Card is one of the three available Hilton HHonors credit card (the other two being the Amex versions). But because Visa is more widely accepted, this is one of the more popular Hilton credit cards that will boost the points in your Hilton HHonors account. Best of all, unlike other hotel credit cards, this one has no annual fee.
Frequent Guest Affinity Card Articles
Which Marriott Credit Card should you get?
Though Marriott has its own affinity card, many other reward programs also offer Marriott checks, gift certificates or a nights' stay at the Marriott, thus diluting its' credit card "exclusivity". We take a look at what other credit cards are offering.
Resources : Frequent Guest Program Reviews
Starwood Preferred Guest
Marriott Rewards
Hilton HHonors
Choice Privileges
