topic Hotel cards that pay for itself. in Credit Cards

Hotel cards that pay for itself.

SwiftTone — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 17:54:22 GMT

I'm interested in a hotel card. I don't travel much but like to go to couple trips a year. I'm looking for a card that gives you a free night a two a year, which offsets the AF. So far, I've come up with Priority Club Rewards from Chase which has 60k sign up bonus, and 1 free night a year. It has a AF of $49 but 1 free night more than offsets that.

For Priority Club Rewards: anyone know if there are restrictions on the free night or it can pretty much be used for any hotel in their network.

I'm not picky with hotels as long as it's clean and good condition. Luxuary is not a priority. What's important s that it has to be everywhere as in in the city and in the country.

O ya, a metal card would we really cool!

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

Omri — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:20:17 GMT

Chase Hyatt has a $75 AF and you get an annual free night in a category 1-4 Hyatt. AFAIK, sign-up bonus is 2 free nights.

Chase Marriott Rewards Premier has an $85 AF and you get an annual free night in a category 1-5 Marriott. AFAIK, sign-up bonus is 1 free night in cat 1-4 and 50,000 points.

The Priority Club one allows you to stay in *any* of their hotels, including the expensive Intercontinental hotels.

I don't believe any of the cards are metal, but I think the Hyatt card has an EMV chip in it, so those are cool! Oh, and I just looked and it looks like the Marriott Rewards Premier card has one too :)

As far as how big hotels' networks are, this may be helpful: http://www.nerdwallet.com/infographics/hotel-rewards

I don't have any experience booking rewards (as I have none of these cards, but I've been researching them, as I'm looking to apply for one soon), so I don't know how difficult it is/blackout issues/etc. Hope this helps!

Edit: Personally, given what you said about how luxury isn't important and network size is, I think the Priority Club card is probably your best bet. The points aren't worth much, and therefore the earn rate isn't as good as other cards, but if you primarily want it for the annual free night, it has the biggest network, the lowest annual fee, and you can use your free stay for a fancy hotel as an added bonus. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with Priority Club for these reasons.

Edit again: Included sign-up bonuses.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

djrez4 — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:18:49 GMT

How about the Amex Hilton HHonors with no annual fee and 40k points on first purchase? That'll get you 1-2 free nights, depending on the category of hotel you choose. It's hard for that card not to pay for itself; it doesn't cost anything.

If you really, REALLY, want a metal hotel rewards card, the Chase Ritz-Carlton card is the only one. You get one free night, 3 Club-level upgrades, $100 hotel credit, $200 in airline incidentals (baggage fees, etc.) and airport lounge access (Lounge Club, about $200). All this for an annual fee of only $395!

If you use all of the perks, it actually does pay for itself.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

bluesnowman — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:28:28 GMT

One of my classmates from last year (i had a business class with him) had a Mariott card (I believe it was the premier card). The annual fee is 85$, from what I have seen it is mostly good for business travelers or people who stay at mariott often. Starwood is good if you happen to stay at Sheraton's or Four Season Hotels. The other cards mentioned are good too.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

distantarray — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:32:43 GMT

the no annual fee hilton card with Amex would be good cause it gets bonus points on supermarket, drugstores, gas etc so you can save it for occassional trips.

Only metal cards are United Club, Chase Sapphire, American Express Black, Palladium, Ritz Carlton, Sberbank might be missing a couple, but Ritz being the only hotel one I know of.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

SwiftTone — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:44:24 GMT

bluesnowman wrote:
One of my classmates from last year (i had a business class with him) had a Mariott card (I believe it was the premier card). The annual fee is 85$, from what I have seen it is mostly good for business travelers or people who stay at mariott often. Starwood is good if you happen to stay at Sheraton's or Four Season Hotels. The other cards mentioned are good too.

I believeChase Marriott Rewards Premier is metal

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

distantarray — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:46:32 GMT

SwiftTone wrote:
bluesnowman wrote:
One of my classmates from last year (i had a business class with him) had a Mariott card (I believe it was the premier card). The annual fee is 85$, from what I have seen it is mostly good for business travelers or people who stay at mariott often. Starwood is good if you happen to stay at Sheraton's or Four Season Hotels. The other cards mentioned are good too.
I believeChase Marriott Rewards Premier is metal

maybe maybe not, but you know Mariott owns Ritz right? =)

They probably used metal for their $400 annual fee card imo but could be wrong

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

bluesnowman — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:59:53 GMT

I wasn't sure if it was metal, the only metal card I've gotten to hold is a CSP (once at work). It is surely a great looking card.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

MrShush — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 20:34:28 GMT

First, I have the Marriott Premier coming any day now so I'll let you all know if it indeed metal.

Second, after $1000 spend, 50K points for like 5 nights and no 1st year AF makes the card well worth it.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

SwiftTone — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 21:28:48 GMT

MrShush wrote:
First, I have the Marriott Premier coming any day now so I'll let you all know if it indeed metal.

Second, after $1000 spend, 50K points for like 5 nights and no 1st year AF makes the card well worth it.

Do you happen to have the CSP as well? Curious if it is indeed metal, how does it compare to CSP.

Mind sharing your credit profile at the time of approval? What other cards do you have

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

SwiftTone — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 21:44:59 GMT

Omri wrote:
Chase Hyatt has a $75 AF and you get an annual free night in a category 1-4 Hyatt. AFAIK, sign-up bonus is 2 free nights.

Chase Marriott Rewards Premier has an $85 AF and you get an annual free night in a category 1-5 Marriott. AFAIK, sign-up bonus is 1 free night in cat 1-4 and 50,000 points.

The Priority Club one allows you to stay in *any* of their hotels, including the expensive Intercontinental hotels.

I don't believe any of the cards are metal, but I think the Hyatt card has an EMV chip in it, so those are cool! Oh, and I just looked and it looks like the Marriott Rewards Premier card has one too :)

As far as how big hotels' networks are, this may be helpful: http://www.nerdwallet.com/infographics/hotel-rewards

I don't have any experience booking rewards (as I have none of these cards, but I've been researching them, as I'm looking to apply for one soon), so I don't know how difficult it is/blackout issues/etc. Hope this helps!

Edit: Personally, given what you said about how luxury isn't important and network size is, I think the Priority Club card is probably your best bet. The points aren't worth much, and therefore the earn rate isn't as good as other cards, but if you primarily want it for the annual free night, it has the biggest network, the lowest annual fee, and you can use your free stay for a fancy hotel as an added bonus. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with Priority Club for these reasons.

Edit again: Included sign-up bonuses.

Excellent post, thank you

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

MrShush — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 23:16:52 GMT

I don't know what my TU score is...haven't checked lately but its between 750 and 785.

The other Chase cards I have are Freedom Sig @ $6500, Slate Visa @ 7000, JPM Select @ $18000, and this Marriott was approved @ $20, 000.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

armbenderc — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 23:32:20 GMT

What about Amex SPG?

I thought that it is one of the best card?

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

MrShush — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 23:49:05 GMT

SPG is great and has a ton of flexibility, low AF, but personally, I don't stay at any.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

Repo-ed — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:19:52 GMT

im hoping for success with marriott as i have a lot of one-night travel planned for 2013, and that 5 night bonus would help out some.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

koalablue — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:46:11 GMT

If you want total flexibility in where you can stay, you could try the Amex Blue Sky Preferred. You can use their travel credits toward any hotels as well as airplane tickets, car rentals, train trips, and cruises. Every 7500 points gets you a 100.00 travel credit, and you can apply it to any travel-related charge you wish.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

jefftca925 — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:14:36 GMT

I have the Marriotts Rewards Premier card and it definitely is NOT made of metal... plastic like the other cards. I think it is probably one of the better hotel cards to have despite the AF because you get the free night once a year which can be worth up to $150 or more. The sign-up bonus is very good too since depending on where you stay but you can get roughly 5 nights free at a category 4 or 5 hotel...not too shabby. Plus if combined with the other Chase cards (Freedom, CSP, United) I have it can make a nice vacation pretty inexpensive.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

CreditScholar — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:39:00 GMT

djrez4 wrote:
How about the Amex Hilton HHonors with no annual fee and 40k points on first purchase? That'll get you 1-2 free nights, depending on the category of hotel you choose. It's hard for that card not to pay for itself; it doesn't cost anything.

If you really, REALLY, want a metal hotel rewards card, the Chase Ritz-Carlton card is the only one. You get one free night, 3 Club-level upgrades, $100 hotel credit, $200 in airline incidentals (baggage fees, etc.) and airport lounge access (Lounge Club, about $200). All this for an annual fee of only $395!

If you use all of the perks, it actually does pay for itself.

+1. At first I wasn't 100% sure as to the value of the Ritz card, but as I'm currently in a Marriott typing this I can say it has already paid for itself and then some. It's metal like the CSP and United Club cards, but the numbers are on the front unlike the other two. Don't let the $395 AF scare you off if you can use the card properly.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

Cdnewmanpac — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 09:51:47 GMT

armbenderc wrote:
What about Amex SPG?

I thought that it is one of the best card?

As a flexible uncategorized spending card, it is phenomenal. The ability to convert Starwood points to many different airlines at 1:1 while getting a 5000 pt bonus per 20000 pts converted is a great value for big spenders. But as an actual hotel card, it is average at best. I know several people who use it as a go to card, but have never stayed at a Starwood property.

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

SwiftTone — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:19:42 GMT

jefftca925 wrote:
I have the Marriotts Rewards Premier card and it definitely is NOT made of metal... plastic like the other cards. I think it is probably one of the better hotel cards to have despite the AF because you get the free night once a year which can be worth up to $150 or more. The sign-up bonus is very good too since depending on where you stay but you can get roughly 5 nights free at a category 4 or 5 hotel...not too shabby. Plus if combined with the other Chase cards (Freedom, CSP, United) I have it can make a nice vacation pretty inexpensive.

I believe that the card recently was redesigned. It's now black, with engraved numbers, and metal. Also has chip and sig chip now.

The Marriott sign up bonus/free nights are nice but I'm more thinking inline of getting free night year after year. The Marriott card seems that after the initial bonus, theres not much more. Also, Marriot hotels does not have as much coverage as Priority Club hotels, which include Holidy Inns(I don't mind as long as it's clean) and Staybridge which I stayed in in NYC which I thought it was very nice. Sometimes we travel to Vermont for hiking, and other times we'll go to NYC for the weekend.

I grew up "function over form". When we did road trips with my parents we stayed in motels etc...lol. Just as long as it's clean and safe. So Priority Club hotels are definitely a step up from Motel 8s. I've carried this habbit over to my gf whome have the same view.

edit: after reading Chase's site more carefully about the Marriott Premier, it says "15 night credit every year after your account anniversary, giving you Silver Elite status or better" What does this mean exactly. I can't imagine it means that you get 15 free nights a year.