As a savvy consumer, you should always do what you can to maximize your return on spending, and tailor that to particular categories. In this post, I’d like to take a look at the best credit cards to use for hotel spending — no, I’m not talking about the best hotel credit cards, necessarily, but instead, which cards offer the best return on hotel spending.
Typically recommending which credit card is best for a particular bonus category (like dining, grocery stores, gas stations, everyday spending, etc.) is easy. That’s not really the case when recommending which credit card to use at hotels, since you don’t just have to consider which credit cards broadly offer the best bonus categories for travel, but you also have to consider whether the hotel brand you’re staying at has a co-branded credit card that offers bonus points for stays at that specific brand. Then there’s the whole topic of booking through credit card hotel portals.
So let’s take a look at the most rewarding credit cards for hotel spending in general (regardless of the brand you’re staying at), and then compare that to the bonuses offered by specific co-branded hotel credit cards.
The best transferable points credit cards for hotel spending
Broadly speaking, what are the most rewarding credit cards for hotel spending? For this section, I’m excluding co-branded hotel credit cards. That’s because I’m looking at the cards that offer the best bonuses on hotel spending in general, rather than the best bonuses for a particular brand of hotel.
The below rewards for spending are based on my latest miles & points valuations of transferable points currencies, and I’m only including cards that are still open to new applicants. Below is a chart summarizing this, and then I’ll have a more detailed explanation.
| Credit card | Points on hotel spending | Calculated return |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® | 4x | 6.8% |
| Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ | 4x | 6.8% |
| Wells Fargo Autograph Journey | 5x | 6.5% |
| Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card | 3x | 5.1% |
| Citi Strata Premier® Card | 3x | 5.1% |
| Bilt Palladium Card (Rates & Fees) | 2x | 3.4% |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | 2x | 3.4% |
1. Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Reward for hotel spending: 6.8% (4x points, which I value at 1.7 cents each)
Card annual fee: $795
Things to be aware of: This is a personal card, there are no foreign transaction fees, and there’s no cap on this bonus
Read my Chase Sapphire Reserve review, learn more about the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
2. Sapphire Reserve for Business℠
Reward for hotel spending: 6.8% (4x points, which I value at 1.7 cents each)
Card annual fee: $795
Things to be aware of: This is a business card, there are no foreign transaction fees, and there’s no cap on this bonus
Read my Sapphire Reserve for Business review, learn more about the Sapphire Reserve Business.
3. Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card
Reward for hotel spending: 6.5% (5x points, which I value at 1.3 cents each)
Card annual fee: $95
Things to be aware of: This is a personal card, there are no foreign transaction fees, and there’s no cap on this bonus
Read my Wells Fargo Autograph Journey review, learn more about the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey.
4. Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Reward for hotel spending: 5.1% (3x points, which I value at 1.7 cents each)
Card annual fee: $95
Things to be aware of: This is a business card, there are no foreign transaction fees, and the 3x points is limited to the first $150,000 in combined purchases in bonus categories each account anniversary year (then 1x points)
Read my Ink Business Preferred review, learn more about the Ink Business Preferred.
5. Citi Strata Premier® Card
Reward for hotel spending: 5.1% (3x points, which I value at 1.7 cents each)
Card annual fee: $95
Things to be aware of: This is a personal card, there are no foreign transaction fees, and there’s no cap on this bonus
Read my Citi Strata Premier review, learn more about the Citi Strata Premier.
6. Bilt Palladium Card
Reward for hotel spending: 3.4%+ (2x points, which I value at 1.7 cents each, but that doesn’t factor in the value of 4% back in Bilt Cash, which is also worth something)
Card annual fee: $495 (Rates & Fees)
Things to be aware of: This is a personal card, there are no foreign transaction fees, and this is just the standard return on everyday spending, so it’s not even a bonus category
Read my Bilt Palladium review, learn more about the Bilt Palladium.
7. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Reward for hotel spending: 3.4% (2x points, which I value at 1.7 cents each)
Card annual fee: $95
Things to be aware of: This is a personal card, there are no foreign transaction fees, and there’s no cap on this bonus
Read my Chase Sapphire Preferred review, learn more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
The best hotel credit cards for hotel spending
As you can see above, there are cards that offer anywhere from 2-5x points per dollar spent on hotels, with a return that I value at anywhere from 3.4% to 6.8%.
Can you get a better or worse return when using a co-branded hotel credit card? To be comprehensive, let’s look at the co-branded credit cards issued by Choice Privileges, Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, and Wyndham Rewards. First let me share how much I value a point in each of these currencies (and of course let me emphasize that everyone should use their own valuation of points):
- Choice Privileges — 0.6 cents each
- Hilton Honors — 0.5 cents each
- IHG One Rewards — 0.5 cents each
- Marriott Bonvoy — 0.7 cents each
- World of Hyatt — 1.4 cents each
- Wyndham Rewards — 0.6 cents each
To keep things fairly simple, let’s look at the co-branded credit card(s) from each of the hotel groups that offers the highest return on hotel spending (keep in mind the main reason to get hotel credit cards could be for the elite status and free night certificates that they offer). Below is a chart summarizing this, and then I’ll have a more detailed explanation.
| Hotel program | Max points per dollar spent | Calculated return |
|---|---|---|
| Choice Privileges | 10x | 6% |
| Hilton Honors | 14x | 7% |
| IHG One Rewards | 12x | 6% |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 6x | 4.2% |
| World of Hyatt | 4x | 5.6% |
| Wyndham Rewards | 8x | 4.8% |
Choice Privileges
The Choice Privileges Select Mastercard offers 10x points on Choice spending, which I value at a return of 6%. This is quite good — it’s not quite as good as the rewards offered on the Chase Sapphire Reserve (personal or business), by my valuation, but is otherwise very competitive.
Hilton Honors
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (learn more) offers 14x points on eligible purchases made directly with hotels and resorts in the Hilton portfolio, which I value at a return of 7%. This is excellent, and beats the return on spending offered by all transferable points cards, though only by a narrow margin.
IHG One Rewards
The Brand New IHG One Rewards Premier Select Credit Card (learn more) offers 12x points on IHG hotel spending, which I value at a return of 6%. This isn’t quite as good as the return on spending offered by some transferable points cards, though others may feel differently based on their valuation of points.
Marriott Bonvoy
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (learn more), Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card (learn more), and Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (learn more), offer 6x points on Marriott hotel spending, which I value at a return of 4.2%. This isn’t as good as the return on spending offered by some transferable points cards.
That being said, some may wish to still use a Marriott co-branded credit card, since there aren’t many other ways to efficiently earn Bonvoy points. Furthermore, keep in mind that the Bonvoy Bevy Card offers 1,000 bonus points per eligible Marriott stay for cardmembers, beyond the 6x points.
World of Hyatt
The World of Hyatt Credit Card (learn more) and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (learn more) offer 4x points on Hyatt hotel spending, which I value at a return of 5.6%. While not quite as good as the return on spending offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve, some may still wish to use one of these cards, due to the additional rewards and sweet spots on spending.
Wyndham Rewards
The Wyndham Earner Business Card (learn more) offers 8x points on Wyndham hotel spending, which I value at a return of 4.8%. This is decent, but not quite as good as the return offered by some other cards.
Crunching the numbers on hotel spending
Everyone will value points differently, and those with different points valuations may also come up with different conclusions. As you can see, based on my valuation:
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Reserve Business offer up to a 6.8% return
- The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey offers up to a 6.5% return
- The Ink Business Preferred and Citi Strata Premier offer up to a 5.1% return
- The Bilt Palladium and Chase Sapphire Preferred offer up to a 3.4% return
What’s surprising is that co-branded hotel credit cards largely don’t offer a better return for stays at their “own” hotels than some of these cards do.
Based on my valuation of hotel points, I’d argue that Hilton Honors is the only program where it generally makes sense to use a co-branded credit card rather than a transferable points card. I can also see merit to doing this with World of Hyatt, given the additional perks for spending, but it’s not some slam dunk.
Credit card hotel portals can also offer bonus points
While I wouldn’t consider it to be a core part of the analysis, one other thing that has to be mentioned is that some credit card portals nowadays offer bonus points when you book hotels through them. Here are the most popular ones, ranked by their return on spending: :
- The Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (learn more) offers 12x points on hotels booked through Citi Travel
- The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (learn more) and Capital One Venture X Business (learn more) offer 10x miles on hotels booked Capital One Business Travel
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Reserve Business offer 8x points on hotels booked through Chase Travel℠
- The American Express Platinum Card® (learn more) and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (learn more) offer 5x points on prepaid hotel bookings through Amex Travel
I value all of those points at 1.7 cents each, so to me that’s like a return of 8.5% to 20.4%, depending on the card. That of course sounds amazing, but just keep in mind there’s often an opportunity cost to booking through these portals.
You’ll often find better prices or a better overall value elsewhere. Furthermore, unless you’re booking specifically through the luxury hotel programs, you typically won’t earn points or receive elite credits on these stays, so there’s a tradeoff. Lastly, hotels often prioritize third party guests last for things like room assignments, upgrades, etc., so don’t be surprised if you don’t get treatment that’s quite as good as booking direct.
Bottom line
It’s always worth trying to maximize your return on hotel spending. It’s interesting how the return on spending at hotels varies, and often you’ll find the best return on transferable points credit cards, rather than the credit cards actually associated with the hotel group.
In general, the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Reserve Business are going to offer the best return on hotel spending, as you earn 4x points, which I value at a 6.8% return. However, some people may still prefer to use a co-branded hotel credit card, especially if those points are otherwise hard to earn, or if there are some threshold spending bonuses that make it worthwhile.
What’s your go-to credit card for hotel spending?
Citi Strata Premier for $95 just offers such outsized value here for the AF.
I'm a big fan of AA Hotels with the AA Exec Card as well - 12x on spend plus generally good miles/LP offers with any AA status.
As a Hilton loyalist, HH Amex Aspire does me right. One-stop source. No transferring points, etc. Myriad of strong benefits. Hope it stays that way.
You missed a very important one. Atmos Summit card earns 3x on hotels outside the US. With foreign travel that could be more lucrative than Chase 4x, given you get half your spend in status points.
I now put all my foreign hotel spend (if I'm not trying to use a credit) on the Atmos Summit, since the 3x redeemable and 0.5x status points are really important to me, as I want to avoid 1x spending on the card as much as possible.
I was going to mention the AMEX Green Card (3x points on travel), and then I remembered it's the "Classic" Green now and no longer available to new cardholders.
The conflict with hotel spend comes down to how you use the points. I usually prefer the CSR's 4X to get the highest average value and flexibility, but if you have specific high value redemptions in mind, then more points from hotel cards often beats higher average value.
Ha! This post was a few hours too late for me. Checked out of the Boston Intercontinental today. I debated between the CSR or my IHG Premier. Looks like I chose wrong!
I think it depends on the hotels you frequent
and how you redeem the hotel points as to if you should use the hotel credit card as well as the type of charge. It often makes sense to charge a hotel of that hotel group if you frequent that hotel group for example. It usually does not make sense to charge other purchases. I would not suggest booking through the travel provider of Chase...
I think it depends on the hotels you frequent
and how you redeem the hotel points as to if you should use the hotel credit card as well as the type of charge. It often makes sense to charge a hotel of that hotel group if you frequent that hotel group for example. It usually does not make sense to charge other purchases. I would not suggest booking through the travel provider of Chase or Amex because their rates tend to be higher however, there are often bonuses for transferring the points.
If you have any status with AA and any credit card with AA, the AAdvantage Hotels portal can be a great deal. With the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card you earn 10x points (1x base/LP and 9x bonus) on the $ amount spent. Then each hotel offers its own set of additional miles, which are elevated offerings based on if you have any status or any credit card with AA. Sometimes portal pricing is way too...
If you have any status with AA and any credit card with AA, the AAdvantage Hotels portal can be a great deal. With the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card you earn 10x points (1x base/LP and 9x bonus) on the $ amount spent. Then each hotel offers its own set of additional miles, which are elevated offerings based on if you have any status or any credit card with AA. Sometimes portal pricing is way too inflated and I'll book direct (not just an issue with AA's portal of course). Sometimes it's basically equivalent (or within, say, $10-20) and you can get a significant amount of additional AA base miles/LP. Plus you may get a 20% or 30% LP bonus if you have earned 60k or 100k LPs with AA in the last 6 months.
Here's an example from an upcoming stay I have (rounded the #s) in a major European capital at a luxury hotel not associated with a major chain.
Rate is ~$500 for flexible rate/breakfast included (was same price as if booking direct) + 10,000 base miles.
So I get 5,000 miles from the AA Executive Card ($500x10) plus 10,000 extra base miles from the booking. I'm currently in the 20% LP bonus so I'll get 12,000 LPs (120% of the 10,000 base miles from the booking) plus an additional 500 LPs from the credit card spend (at $1/base mile/LP). All in that's 15,000 miles plus 12,500 LPs on a $500 booking.
That's 30 miles per $, plus LPs. And they are AA miles which, yes, are not as flexible as MR or UR but are still valued by this site at 1.5 cpp or $225 in value. For purposes of this example, can value the LPs at $0 (although obviously valuable if chasing status).
Let's say I booked the same through the Chase portal and got 8x points - that's 4,000 UR points or $68 in value. Or the Citi portal and got 10x points - that's 5,000 TY points or $85 in value. Doesn't come close, and that's without even considering AA status.
Is every deal "this good"? Nope. And if you value staying with major chains (I do not) or perks with major chains (have status through credit cards, I don't value the perks at all), then AA Hotels may not be for you. But if you are a casual traveler staying ~15-20 nights a year in places where you want to stay and are not loyal to a major chain, the AA Hotels program can offer some incredible value.
I love a real world example - thanks for sharing! I do feel like this has the most value for unaffiliated hotels without loyalty programs that could be useful as the cost of foregoing the hotel points is more than made up for by a currency you'll actually use!
What about Best Western? Those of us who hike, ski and visit National Parks use Best Westerns often.