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Hotel cards that pay for itself.

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SwiftTone
Valued Contributor

Hotel cards that pay for itself.

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!

AMEX: $25,000, CSR: $10,000, Chase Priority Club: $1,500, Freedom: $5000, Freedom Unlimited: $1000, Discover: $21,000, BoA $11,000, WF Cash Wise: $5000

EQ FICO - 753
TU FICO - 755
EX FICO(AMEX) - 766
Message 1 of 56
55 REPLIES 55
Omri
New Contributor

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

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 Smiley Happy

 

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.

Recent FICO scores: TU - 755 (mortgage lender pull)
Message 2 of 56
djrez4
Established Contributor

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

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.

Message 3 of 56
bluesnowman
Frequent Contributor

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

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. 

Bank of America: Cash Rewards.- 4.2k. 4/25/12 (CLI Increase 6/15/13, CLI May of 2015, sept 2015), Citi: Forward- 4.5k. 10/27/12 (CLI on 2/8/14, SP, CLI on 9/26/15 sp). Discover: More- 7k, 10/27/12 (Increase 6/1/14, CLI in May of 2015, SP 9/2015) Amex: PRG- NPSL (closed 12/13/13). 11/24/12. Chase: Freedom. 5/1/13- 5k (EX CLI HP 9/2015) Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus.-3.6k. 6/15/13. Amex BCE-2k. 12/7/13. Amex SPG-5k 12/8/13 (CLI on 9/2015) Capital one VentureOne Visa Signature-10k (9/6/15). Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard-4K. Last App: 9/6/15. Total cl: 45,300
Message 4 of 56
distantarray
Established Contributor

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

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.


total credit limits $108,400 Credit scores Ex 728 EQ 738 TU 758
Message 5 of 56
SwiftTone
Valued Contributor

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.


@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

AMEX: $25,000, CSR: $10,000, Chase Priority Club: $1,500, Freedom: $5000, Freedom Unlimited: $1000, Discover: $21,000, BoA $11,000, WF Cash Wise: $5000

EQ FICO - 753
TU FICO - 755
EX FICO(AMEX) - 766
Message 6 of 56
distantarray
Established Contributor

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.


@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


total credit limits $108,400 Credit scores Ex 728 EQ 738 TU 758
Message 7 of 56
bluesnowman
Frequent Contributor

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

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. 

Bank of America: Cash Rewards.- 4.2k. 4/25/12 (CLI Increase 6/15/13, CLI May of 2015, sept 2015), Citi: Forward- 4.5k. 10/27/12 (CLI on 2/8/14, SP, CLI on 9/26/15 sp). Discover: More- 7k, 10/27/12 (Increase 6/1/14, CLI in May of 2015, SP 9/2015) Amex: PRG- NPSL (closed 12/13/13). 11/24/12. Chase: Freedom. 5/1/13- 5k (EX CLI HP 9/2015) Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus.-3.6k. 6/15/13. Amex BCE-2k. 12/7/13. Amex SPG-5k 12/8/13 (CLI on 9/2015) Capital one VentureOne Visa Signature-10k (9/6/15). Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard-4K. Last App: 9/6/15. Total cl: 45,300
Message 8 of 56
MrShush
Valued Contributor

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.

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.
Message 9 of 56
SwiftTone
Valued Contributor

Re: Hotel cards that pay for itself.


@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

AMEX: $25,000, CSR: $10,000, Chase Priority Club: $1,500, Freedom: $5000, Freedom Unlimited: $1000, Discover: $21,000, BoA $11,000, WF Cash Wise: $5000

EQ FICO - 753
TU FICO - 755
EX FICO(AMEX) - 766
Message 10 of 56
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