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I am looking to get a hotel branded card, and want some suggestions.
I would like ones that are going to give me a fairly high starting limit (say at least $7500), have an APR no higher than 19%, and preferably no fee for at least a year.
What are some good ones?
I know this may sound snarky but a hotel card that you actually stay at a lot would be best. If you're open to moving where you currently stay a lot to revolve around your new card then Marriott has a good card with a good sign up bonus right now. You just missed a good bonus but SPG is a really good one. I can't speak to SL and APR as that depends on your situation but Those are two good choices. I'm sure you'll have others way in.
@Anonymous wrote:I am looking to get a hotel branded card, and want some suggestions.
I would like ones that are going to give me a fairly high starting limit (say at least $7500), have an APR no higher than 19%, and preferably no fee for at least a year.
What are some good ones?
It depends on what is important to you. Some chains may not even have properties at the locations where you want to go to so I would start with that. I just got the hyatt card which will give me two free nights and even though the AF is $75 there are offers where you get a $50 credit upon your first purchase so for $25 its definetly worth getting for two free nights. The first time I applied for a hyatt card I got a 21.7k limit. Marriott did have a signup offer of 100k which is a strong offer. The citi hilton reserve will give you two free weekend nights and gold status. Check the current offers and see which cards are having a higher than usual signup offer. I would not avoid a card just because it has an AF. Some of the hotel card signups/benefits make it worth it even with the AF.
You really need to look at all the hotel properties and then figure out which one you like the best. Wyndham credit card through Barclaycard has no annual fee and the properties seem to be pretty nice for the higher end ones. No annual fee card either. A good friend of mine swears by it.
I would highly recommend Marriott. I know that of all the cards it isn't the absolute highest earner but I have never run into a situation when we couldn't get a room. One year we drove from Omaha NE to San Diego CA without booking an overnight room; every single decent sized town had a Marriot we could stop at.
Also, if you travel for work you may consider signing up with whatever company your employer goes with simply because you can usually have them add the room to your rewards program.
With hotel cards, how often and where you stay has a huge impact on which cards are most valuable. The Amex Hilton Surpass has a nice 100k sign-on bonus right now and includes gold status for a year. Is that good? Well, depends on the user. A heavy Hilton user might already have gold status or higher making that perk useless. A person who never stays at Hilton might find it equally useless.
I like the Citi Hilton card, which had a 75k point bonus when I signed on (only 40k now I think); however the Amex Hilton card with no AF currently has an 80k bonus I think. The Amex SPG card is known as one of the best for big spenders becuase points can be transferred to partners for more value. Several of the chase hotel cards offer free nights each year which can be very valuable.
when people ask for "what best hotel card" I always keep telling people IHG is the way to go. Yes, it's the way to go
low annual fee and more properties and yes more properties worldwide
in term of credit line and ARP it can change over time
Does the 100k come around often on that Hilton card? what is the usual bonus? That card looks pretty sweet.
Generally speaking, I think IHG is the best hotel card. $49 annual fee and you get a free night annually with no restrictions. But that might not be the best card for you if you have no desire to stay at their brands. Or any of the other cards such as Marriott and Hyatt should offer good value since they also come with a free night.
For me, Hilton is the best hotel card and it's why I have it. I travel a lot but don't stay in hotels much, and I already had an AmEx card prior to getting the Hilton. The card came with a 75k points sign up bonus, has no annual fee, and you can earn status by spending on the card.