A while back I wrote about the best hotel rewards program for earning free nights based on non-elite earning rates, which came down to Hilton HHonors, Club Carlson and Wyndham Rewards. Barring a really great mattress running opportunity, most of us in the points and miles world earn our hotel stays via credit card sign-up bonuses and spending. So what is the best hotel credit card for earning free nights? Below is a breakdown of each co-branded hotel credit card, the amount of points paid out for non-bonus category spending, followed by the amount of spending required to earn a free night in each category.
Use rewards from the Hilton credit cards for a free night at hotels like the Hilton Munich
Once again, it comes down to Hilton, Club Carlson and Wyndham hotels. Three of the co-branded Hilton HHonors credit cards require the last amount of non-bonus credit spending for a Category 1 hotel ($1,666.67 to be exact). When it comes to earning free nights at top-tier hotels, Club Carlson and Wyndham come out ahead. All it takes is $14,000 worth of non-bonus category spending to earn a free night with the Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa or the Club Carlson Business Rewards Visa Card. Wyndham is a bit unique because all award nights, regardless of hotel category, cost just 15,000 points per night. With the Wydnam Rewards Visa Signature Card, this translates to just $7,500 worth of spending to earn a free night.
Personally, this is an area where I’ve been putting Barclay Arrival Miles to great use because 1.) some co-branded hotel credit cards have terrible accrual rates on non-bonus category spending and 2.) depending on the cost of paid stays, it can actually be a better value to redeem Arrival Miles rather than hotel points for hotel bookings. There’s also the added bonus of earning points through the rewards program when redeeming credit card points like those earned through the Barclay Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard.
Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature Card and Club Carlson Business Rewards Visa Card
- 5 points per $1 spent on all spending
- Club Carlson Award Chart
- Category 1 = $1,800
- Category 2 = $3,000
- Category 3 = $5,600
- Category 4 = $7,600
- Category 5 = $8,800
- Category 6 = $10,000
- Category 7 = $14,000
Club Carlson Rewards Visa Signature Card
- 3 points per $1 spent on all spending
- Club Carlson Award Chart
- Category 1 = $3,000
- Category 2 = $5,000
- Category 3 = $9,333.33
- Category 4 = $12,666.67
- Category 5 = $14,666.67
- Category 6 = $16,666.67
- Category 7 = $23,333.33
Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card and Hilton HHonors Surpass Card from American Express and Hilton HHonors Card from American Express
- 3 points per $1 spent on all spending
- Hilton HHonors Award Chart
- Category 1 = $1,666.67
- Category 2 = $3,333.33
- Category 3 = $6,666.67
- Category 4 = $6,666.67 – $10,000
- Category 5 = $10,000 – $13,333.33
- Category 6 = $10,000 – $1,666.67
- Category 7 = $10,000 – $20,000
- Category 8 = $13,333.33 – $23,333.33
- Category 9 = $16,666.67 – $26,666.67
- Category 10 = $23,333.33 – $31,666.67
Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card
- 2 points per $1 spent on all spending
- Hilton HHonors Award Chart
- Category 1 = $2,500
- Category 2 = $5,000
- Category 3 = $10,000
- Category 4 = $10,000 – $15,000
- Category 5 = $15,000 – $20,000
- Category 6 = $15,000 – $25,000
- Category 7 = $15,000 – $30,000
- Category 8 = $20,000 – $35,000
- Category 9 = $25,000 – $40,000
- Category 10 = $35,000 – $47,500
- Non-elite point earning rate: 1 points per $1
- Hyatt Gold Passport Award Chart
- Category 1 = $5,000
- Category 2 = $8,000
- Category 3 = $12,000
- Category 4 = $15,000
- Category 5 = $20,000
- Category 6 = $25,000
- Category 7 = $30,000
IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card
- 1 points per $1 on all spending
- IHG Rewards Club Award Chart
- Pointbreaks = $5,000
- Category 1 = $10,000
- Category 2 = $15,000
- Category 3 = $20,000
- Category 4 = $25,000
- Category 5 = $30,000
- Category 6 = $35,000
- Category 7 = $40,000
- Category 8 = $45,000
- Category 9 = $50,000
- Category 10 = $55,000
- Category 11 = $60,000
Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card and Marriott Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
- 1 points per $1 on all spending
- Marriott Rewards Award Chart
- Category 1 PointSavers = $6,000
- Category 1 = $7,500
- Category 2 PointSavers = $7,500
- Category 2 = $10,000
- Category 3 PointSavers = $10,000
- Category 3 = $15,000
- Category 4 PointSavers = $15,000
- Category 4 = $20,000
- Category 5 PointSavers = $20,000
- Category 5 = $25,000
- Category 6 PointSavers = $25,000
- Category 6 = $30,000
- Category 7 PointSavers = $30,000
- Category 7 = $35,000
- Category 8 PointSavers = $35,000
- Category 8 = $40,000
- Category 9 PointSavers = $40,000
- Category 9 = $45,000
Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express and Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express
- 1 points per $1 on all spending
- Starwood Preferred Guest Award Chart
- Category 1: $2,000 – $3,000
- Category 2: $3,000 – $4,000
- Category 3: $7,000
- Category 4: $10,000
- Category 5: $12,000 – $16,000
- Category 6: $20,000 – $25,000
- Category 7: $30,000 – $35,000
Wyndham Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card
- 2 points per $1 on all spending
- All hotels 15,000 points per night = $7,500 worth of credit card spending
Which, if any, of these credit cards do you use to generate points for hotel stays?
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