BEST Hotel Cards to Get?

[FinStar]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@FinStar wrote:

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jfriend33 wrote:there.

Dont forget about the cards that have 4th night free like the Citi Premier or the SPG...but sometimes that isnt the best price!

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Citi Prestige.  $450 AF ($350 with Citigold)

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Thanks! I will edit that!  And also isnt it pretty much $350 for anyone in branch?

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I believe it is (depending on the offer) since some individuals have had success and no issues whereas others have had to jump through hoops.  Mine was adjusted for last year's to $350 with opening Citigold at the end of December and my new/current AF for this year is only $200

[wacdenney]

I use Hyatt and Marriott the most simply because it's where my work sends me.  The Hyatt signup bonus of 2 free nights at ANY Hyatt property is great and so is the Marriott 80k points.  Both also offer a free night anually that more than covers the AF.

To be honest, Embassy Suites is my favorite place to stay because of the free happy hour, but I don't seem to get a lot of value out of the Hilton points.

[Anonymous]

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@wacdenney wrote:

I use Hyatt and Marriott the most simply because it's where my work sends me.  The Hyatt signup bonus of 2 free nights at ANY Hyatt property is great and so is the Marriott 80k points.  Both also offer a free night anually that more than covers the AF.

To be honest, Embassy Suites is my favorite place to stay because of the free happy hour, but I don't seem to get a lot of value out of the Hilton points.

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Thanks for weighing in I see you have quite a few hotel cards in your siggy. I also so IHG! I just got the card and want to get your take on it? Some people say it's great and some people say it's meh.. I'm excited to test it out myself. 

My lifestyle currently doesn't allow me to lead luxurious options but I know if I had the money I would of course prefer to stay at more luxurious properties so I see the IHG card as a good platform and reasonable option that compliments my finances as of now. I'm 25 so I'm hoping in the next 2-3 years I can start going for more luxurious options and then will consider getting a Hyatt or other kind of card geard towards luxury options.

[CreditScholar]

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@redpat wrote:

It's not a CC but look at Amex Plat, you get gold status at SPG and Hilton and Fine Hotel & Resots benefit.

In addition you can get all the other travel perks that come with the card.

Also, look at Citi Prestige with the fourth night free benefit and other travel benefits.

IMO, you can get better hotel benefits without having a hotel CC.

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I'd be curious to see what happens to this once SPG is absorbed into Marriott. If it continues to offer any kind of meaningful status with Marriott after the merger (gold or above), then the relative value of the Amex plat would increase dramatically to some. 

[red259]

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@CreditScholar wrote:

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@redpat wrote:

It's not a CC but look at Amex Plat, you get gold status at SPG and Hilton and Fine Hotel & Resots benefit.

In addition you can get all the other travel perks that come with the card.

Also, look at Citi Prestige with the fourth night free benefit and other travel benefits.

IMO, you can get better hotel benefits without having a hotel CC.

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I'd be curious to see what happens to this once SPG is absorbed into Marriott. If it continues to offer any kind of meaningful status with Marriott after the merger (gold or above), then the relative value of the Amex plat would increase dramatically to some. 

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I can tell you if the Plat was going to give marriott gold status in addition to hilton gold that would be a feature that would likely lead me to pay the AF to keep it. Right now come the summer the amex plat will be on the chopping block, because the citi prestige covers a lot of what I would use the amex plat for. I'll likely pick up the amex plat business version down the line when they have a great signup, especially if my amex business SPG ends up going away. Very curious to find out what will happen with the SPG cards.  

[CreditScholar]

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@red259 wrote:

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@CreditScholar wrote:

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@redpat wrote:

It's not a CC but look at Amex Plat, you get gold status at SPG and Hilton and Fine Hotel & Resots benefit.

In addition you can get all the other travel perks that come with the card.

Also, look at Citi Prestige with the fourth night free benefit and other travel benefits.

IMO, you can get better hotel benefits without having a hotel CC.

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I'd be curious to see what happens to this once SPG is absorbed into Marriott. If it continues to offer any kind of meaningful status with Marriott after the merger (gold or above), then the relative value of the Amex plat would increase dramatically to some. 

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I can tell you if the Plat was going to give marriott gold status in addition to hilton gold that would be a feature that would likely lead me to pay the AF to keep it. Right now come the summer the amex plat will be on the chopping block, because the citi prestige covers a lot of what I would use the amex plat for. I'll likely pick up the amex plat business version down the line when they have a great signup, especially if my amex business SPG ends up going away. Very curious to find out what will happen with the SPG cards.  

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+1. I'm in the same boat.

Unless something changes, I'll get rid of the Amex plat come mid-year. Given that you have to spend 10k on the $395 AF Ritz card, it's unlikely IMO that they'll just hand out Marriott gold just for holding the Amex plat.

Chase will fight hard to prevent this from happening, and they have a deep relationship with Marriott and even deeper pockets. They definitely won't want to see an Amex product take away business from an existing product of theirs.

I'm also curious what will happen with the SPG card. Hopefully its something good, but I'm not holding my breath at the moment.

[deltatee]

I wonder if after the merger, we will have the ability to transfer SPG to Chase partners and from CSP to SPG.  If that's the case, whatever ends up of the SPG card could potentially be even better, and same with the Marriott card.  

[jsucool76]

If the Marriott starwood merger actually ends up going through I'll be applying for the spg card just in case Amex pills a fast one with it like Barclay's did with the US airways card. I'm excited to see all the new hotels in the Marriott portfolio, but it will likely be years before we can earn and redeem points at them through Marriott rewards.

[Anonymous]

following

[Anonymous]

Like so many others have said, the best card is the one you're going to use.

I got the no AF AMEX HHonours card not because I stay there a lot, but because I am tired of having points expire.  At least this keeps my points current.  There's not a lot of hotel choice around here, so the card that would be most useful to me with be the LaQuinta card, but since FNBO is so difficult to get in with, that's likely not going to happen.

So, pick the card based on where you stay, where you would expect to stay, and on what is most useful to you.  That is by far the BEST hotel card for you.