Marriott International announced Dec. 5 that it has inked new deals with J.P. Morgan Chase and American Express and will soon add to its collection
of hotel rewards cards.
Thankfully, consumers can help deflect the costs of these fees by taking advantage
of a hotel rewards card.
Not exact matches
The
card earns Membership
Rewards points, the currency in Amex's loyalty program, which can be exchanged for statement credits or cash back, used to book travel through Amex's travel website, or, to get the most value, transferred to any
of 17 airline and three
hotel transfer partners (transferable points are among the best).
Seventy - nine percent
of travel credit
card holders said they had never transferred credit
card rewards points to an airline or
hotel loyalty program, despite presumably having those
rewards points.
The premise
of Upside is simple enough:
Reward business travelers with gift
cards for being a little more flexible with their flight and
hotel.
Out
of these, four allow you to collect airline miles, which you can redeem for airfare and other airline
rewards, three are cobranded
hotel cards that offer
hotel nights in exchange for your points and 21 are general
rewards cards that offer a wide variety
of redemption options.
As a rule
of thumb, if you spend less than $ 10,000 per year on gas, dining, or
hotels, the Stash
Hotel Rewards Visa
card is probably not worth the fee.
Tier two Ultimate
Rewards cards, such as Chase Sapphire Preferred ®
Card and Ink Business Preferred ℠ Credit
Card, allow you to transfer your points to a number
of different airline and
hotel partners.
The Ritz - Carlton
Rewards Credit Card is one of the few premium hotel credit cards, and it comes with some of the best rewards for frequent tra
Rewards Credit
Card is one
of the few premium
hotel credit
cards, and it comes with some
of the best
rewards for frequent tra
rewards for frequent travelers.
The
card's
rewards program, Stash, is designed for boutique
hotels — ones that are not tied to one
of the giant
hotel conglomerates.
Those Membership
Rewards points can be redeemed for statement credit, gift
cards, and Uber credits, but you'll get the most value out
of using them to book travel through amextravel.com or by transferring them to an airline or
hotel partner:
One
of the most sought - after
rewards for
hotel credit
cards is free
hotel nights — which the Starwood Preferred Guest ® American Express Luxury
Card features.
* Note: In order to transfer Ultimate
Rewards points to airline and
hotel partners, you must hold one
of the starred
cards.
Earn 2 Starpoints ® for every dollar
of eligible purchases on the
Card at participating SPG ® and Marriott
Rewards ®
hotels.
The last group
of rewards cards are tied to a specific airline or
hotel chain.
Let's look at a comparison
of the SPG Amex credit
card, Hilton Honors Surpass from American Express and the IHG
Rewards Club Select credit
card (free night certificate, low annual fee, and low minimum spend helps separate this
hotel card).
With Bank
of America ® Travel
Rewards Credit
Card, you'll take a step closer to a free flight or hotel night every time you swipe your c
Card, you'll take a step closer to a free flight or
hotel night every time you swipe your
cardcard.
You could come close to that
rewards levels with many other
cards, but only if you spent on specific categories, or by using the
rewards at a particular chain
of airlines or
hotels.
This is one
of our favorite credit
card reward programs, as it allows you to transfer your points to some great airline and
hotel loyalty programs.
While
hotel cards offer some
of the best overall
rewards, their redemption options are far more limited.
The Starpoints earned through this
card, the cornerstone
of its
rewards program, can be used to book
hotel rooms, as well as be turned into airline miles.
To get a rate
of 4.2 %, users must use the
card to exclusively make Expedia.com purchases, and then redeem their
reward on + VIP Access
hotels — exchanging points for ordinary rate
hotel coupons will drop the
rewards rate down to 2.1 %.
Plus, you can earn an additional $ 100 statement credit after your first purchase on the
Card at a participating SPG ® or Marriott
Rewards ®
hotel within your first 6 months
of Card Membership.
Experienced players
of the
rewards program game often do best by combining travel at a single
hotel or airline with everyday use
of its co-branded credit
card.
While the most you'll get out
of this
card is a 2.5 %
rewards rate (compared to the 2.8 % -4.2 % max on the Asiana
card), you have the option to directly transfer your
rewards points to other airline and
hotel programs.
All the
card's features make the Barclays Arrival Plus ® World Elite Mastercard ® one
of our «editor's pick» in categories like Best
Rewards Credit
Cards, Best Airline Credit
Cards and Best
Hotel Credit
Cards.
Overall the Starwood Preferred Guest ® Credit
Card from American Express is pretty much the only hotel card where the rewards rate surpasses the Capital One ® Venture ® Rewards Credit Card both in and outside of hotel spend
Card from American Express is pretty much the only
hotel card where the rewards rate surpasses the Capital One ® Venture ® Rewards Credit Card both in and outside of hotel spend
card where the
rewards rate surpasses the Capital One ® Venture ® Rewards Credit Card both in and outside of hotel sp
rewards rate surpasses the Capital One ® Venture ®
Rewards Credit Card both in and outside of hotel sp
Rewards Credit
Card both in and outside of hotel spend
Card both in and outside
of hotel spending.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred ®
Card earns Chase Ultimate
Rewards points, which can be transferred to a number
of hotel and airline loyalty programs — including the IHG ®
Rewards Club.
The Starwood Preferred Guest ® Credit
Card from American Express rates as one of our top hotel credit cards and also one of the best rewards card off
Card from American Express rates as one
of our top
hotel credit
cards and also one
of the best
rewards card off
card offers.
The Starwood Preferred Guest ® Credit
Card from American Express, one
of our favorite
hotel cards, is the better option for those who are interested in earning versatile
rewards as well as for those who use their
cards to make around $ 6,000 per year in nonhotel purchases.
Both these
cards allow users to transfer the
rewards points they earn to a number
of different partner programs — both airline and
hotel.
In addition to being a top tier travel
rewards card, theStarwood Preferred Guest ® Credit Card from American Express is one of our favorite hotel rewards credit ca
card, theStarwood Preferred Guest ® Credit
Card from American Express is one of our favorite hotel rewards credit ca
Card from American Express is one
of our favorite
hotel rewards credit
cards.
The partnership with Koinz Media is a savvy one because the company specializes in the platform to safely and securely purchase any type
of digital good or service with their credit
card or
hotel reward points and airline miles.
Great
card that
rewards frequent Hilton guest with one
of the most lucrative points earning rate among
hotel credit
cards.
The Ritz - Carlton
Rewards Credit
Card is more of a luxury card targeted at frequent travelers, providing benefits such as airport lounge access and annual travel & hotel cre
Card is more
of a luxury
card targeted at frequent travelers, providing benefits such as airport lounge access and annual travel & hotel cre
card targeted at frequent travelers, providing benefits such as airport lounge access and annual travel &
hotel credit.
The Fairmont Visa Signature credit
card rewards users with 1 complimentary nights stay at one
of their
hotels, for any cardmember year they spend at least $ 12,000 - that's just an average
of $ 1,000 per month.
These three travel credit
cards will give you lucrative
rewards that are easy to redeem for a wide range
of travel purchases, such as airfare,
hotels, taxis, public transportation, etc..
The Ritz - Carlton
Rewards ® Credit
Card grants you quite unusual signup bonus — E-certificate for 2 complimentary nights at Tier 1 - 4 Ritz - Carlton
hotels instead
of regular
reward points.
Most
of the time, the
rewards rates on these credit
cards tend to be lower than those
of airline or
hotel - specific credit
cards.
As with
hotel rewards cards, there is a fair amount
of variation with the category.
The Marriott
Rewards ® Premier Credit
Card is one
of our favorite
hotel credit
cards, due to the 1 free night stay at a category 1 - 5
hotel it offers each account anniversary.
With AwardWallet you can simply add all
of your
rewards programs into one consolidated dashboard whether that be for airfare,
hotels, credit
cards, shopping, rental cars and more.
The Marriott
Rewards ® Premier credit
card comes with the one
of the best signup bonuses among
hotel credit
cards — you get 100,000 points as soon as you spend $ 5,000 on this
card within first 3 months.
This
card is a wonderful solution for travelers interested in redemption
of reward points for
hotel stays.
While the
cards are not nesessarily one
of our top picks for best
rewards cards, they do have their perks as
hotel specific credit
cards.
If you use this
card as your primary credit
card to book Pay When You Stay
hotel nights / other published rates on Priceline.com, or pay for the rest
of your gas, groceries, and everyday spending, you'll be losing out
rewards money (more below).
Hotel rewards cards follow in second place, with an average bonus
of $ 393.
The Starwood Preferred Guest ® form American Express is a co-branded credit
card that has one
of the most attractive bonuses and
rewards rate (5 Starpoints ® per $ 1 spent) for
hotel stays among other travel credit
cards.
On the other hand, Membership
Rewards points you earn with the Blue credit
card from Amex can be transferred to a number
of different travel airlines and
hotels, used as statement credit, and exchanged for gift
cards.
In addition to being a top tier travel
rewards card, theStarwood Preferred Guest ® Credit Card from American Express is one of our favorite hotel rewards credit ca
card, theStarwood Preferred Guest ® Credit
Card from American Express is one of our favorite hotel rewards credit ca
Card from American Express is one
of our favorite
hotel rewards credit
cards.