I’m often asked by readers which credit card they should be using to maximize points for a given hotel stay, or if there’s an overall best hotel credit card.
Continue reading: Which Credit Card Should You Use At Hotels? Here’s The Math…
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
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!
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 or Amex because their rates tend to be higher however, there are often bonuses for transferring the points.
What about Best Western? Those of us who hike, ski and visit National Parks use Best Westerns often.