Hotels

A no-fee Chase card offering 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points on everything, except as noted below. It's best combined with a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred, or Chase Ink Business Preferred to unlock the power of transfer partners.

Chase Freedom Unlimited Rate:

• 5X on travel when purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal*
• 5X on Lyft until March 2022
• 3X on dining (including takeout and delivery)
• 3X at drugstores
• 1.5X on everything else

NOTE: This card can be used as cash back or as an Ultimate Rewards points card. In valuing your rewards, we assume you also have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred, or Chase Ink Business Preferred. You can then transfer points from this card to one of those to unlock the power of transfer partners. If you have this card without one of the above cards, your rewards value will be lower with each point worth exactly 1 cent.

0% Interest APR Intro Offer:

Get a 0% Intro APR for 15 months (Terms Apply)

Note: Our rewards optimization calculator will count all travel on this card at 5X, but please note the limitations around that above. 

The Platinum Card® from American Express is full of caché and its heavy metal design will catch more than a few looks. While the fee isn't small, you get a lot back in the form of statement credits and other perks and benefits.

The benefits include a $200 in yearly Uber credits and Uber VIP status as well as $200 in annual incidental airline credits (as statement credits) for your chosen airline and $100 in annual Saks Fifth Ave statement credits.

You also get access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection, which includes the Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass, and Delta SkyClubs when you are flying Delta. (Enrollment required)

In addition, you get elite status in two hotel programs (enrollment required):

• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite
• Hilton Gold

While the Bonvoy Gold status is mostly good for small room upgrades and bonus points on stays, Hilton Gold confers free breakfast - a benefit that can really add up!

New: for January to June 2021 only, the Amex Platinum has a $30 monthly PayPal credit as well.

More Platinum Card benefits:

• Reimbursement (as a statement credit) for your Global Entry or PreCheck membership fees every 4 years.
• Secondary Car rental CDW/LDW collision/damage coverage
• Lost, damaged or stolen baggage insurance
• Extended warranty, purchase protection and return protection on covered purchases
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Access to the Platinum Concierge line

NOTE: This card earns 5x on airfare and hotels, however, the airfare must be booked direct with the airline or at Amex Travel and the hotels must be prepaid at Amex Travel to earn 5x. This site's Estimated Rewards Values will calculate all airfare and hotels at 5x points, so if your hotels are booked directly (which you generally need to do to earn hotel points and status/benefits) please note that they will not earn 5x and your actual rewards value will vary accordingly.

The Citi Custom Cash card earns ThankYou points which are worth a penny per point (1% cash back) unless you also have a Citi Premier card or Prestige in your Citi portfolio.

Assuming you do, then these should combine to your overall ThankYou pool once linked.

You will earn 5% cash back (as ThankYou Points) on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, with 1% cash back thereafter. You do not have to select anything at any time. It's automatic.

The eligible spend categories are:

• Restaurants
• Gas Stations
• Grocery Stores
• Select Travel
• Select Transit
• Select Streaming Services
• Drugstores
• Home Improvement Stores
• Fitness Clubs
• Live Entertainment.

You'll earn an unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.

The 5X applies to your top category each month.

O% Intro APR Offer - New Purchases and Balance Transfers

You'll get 15 months at 0% for both new purchases and, if you choose, balance transfers. After that, the variable APR will be 13.99% - 23.99%.

Please note: If you are finding this card in your results for our Rewards Optimization tool, due to system limitations the tool will calculate a maximum of $6,000 per year for your top categories at 5%, but it will not factor in exact monthly spend.

Get complimentary top-tier Hilton Diamond status, an annual $250 Hilton Resort credit, an annual $250 airline incidental fee credit, and a Free Weekend Night Award.

Also includes Priority Pass Select Airport Lounge Access for you and up to 2 guests per visit at no additional charge. (Enrollment required).

Earn Rate:

14x Hilton Honors points at Hiltons; 7x points on flights booked directly with airlines, car rentals booked direct, and US restaurants; and 3x points everywhere else.

Only in 2021 - Additional Hilton Aspire Benefits 

• Bonus points earned through eligible purchases, if they post to the card member’s Hilton Honors account by Dec. 31, 2021, will be classified as base points and will count toward elite tier qualification and lifetime Diamond status.
• Unexpired and newly issued free weekend night certificates can temporarily be used on any night of the week.
• All newly issued Free Weekend Night Reward certificates issued after Jan 1, 2021 will be valid through December 31, 2022.

NOTE: For the purposes of calculating your expected rewards for this card, we are assuming that the spend you put in "Hotels" is all spent at Hilton portfolio hotels and resorts. If some is spent at other hotels, your actual rewards will be slightly lower.

Earn 4x World of Hyatt points at Hyatt, 2x at restaurants, airline tickets purchased directly, local transit and commuting, and fitness club and gym memberships.

The Hyatt card gives you a Category 1 - 4 night every card year at renewal and you can earn a second one with $15,000 spend. Additional benefits include automatic Discoverist status and 5 elite nights credited each calendar year as well as the ability to earn 2 elite nights for every $5,000 in purchases.

Keep in mind that all points earned on a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred can also be transferred to World of Hyatt at a 1 to 1 ratio.

NOTE: In calculating your rewards for this card, we are making the assumption that all Hotel spend entered is spent on Hyatt. If part of that spend is on other hotel chains, that spend will earn only 1x on this card, reducing the value of your rewards.

This mid-tier Hilton card comes with complimentary Hilton Gold status.

It will allow you to earn 12x Hilton Honors points at Hilton; 6x at US restaurants, US supermarkets, and US gas stations; and 3x everywhere else.

There is also an opportunity to earn Diamond status and a free weekend night via card spend.

American Express defines a supermarket as offering a wide variety of food and household products such as meat, fresh produce, dairy, canned and packaged goods, household cleaners, pharmacy products and pet supplies. (Superstores, convenience stores and warehouse clubs are NOT considered supermarkets.)

Note: Estimated Rewards Values shown throughout this site assume your hotel spend will be at Hilton brand hotels and resorts. If you have additional hotel spend not associated with Hilton, your actual return will be lower.

The card that re-revolutionized points-earning credit cards, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is a high-end travel rewards card that unlocks transfers from this and any linked Chase Ultimate Rewards-earning card to airline and hotel partners and offers rich benefits for a frequent traveler.

It offers 3x Ultimate Rewards points on travel and dining. It provides a 50% boost in point value within the Chase portal and you get an annual $300 travel credit each card year which greatly offsets the card's annual fee.

New Lyft and DoorDash Benefits:

• Earn 10X Ultimate Rewards points on Lyft rides through March 2022.
• Get a one-time complimentary Lyft Pink (15% Lyft discounts, free bike/scooter rentals each month, and better cancellation rules). ($19.99 / month value)
• Get $60 in DoorDash credits this year (2021).
• Get free DashPass to get free DoorDash deliveries at select restaurants with $12 or more in your order and decreased service charges.

Chase Will Let you “Pay Yourself Back”

Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers can always use their points to book travel via the travel portal where they get 1.5 cents per point.

Now, you can redeem in the same manner for grocery stores, home improvement stores and dining, including restaurants, takeout and eligible delivery services. Instead of using a “portal” to make the purchases, you just pay as you normally would and then go into the Chase website to “pay” for that purchase with points. You will get the same 1.5 cents per point in value as you get booking travel. The feature is branded “Pay Yourself Back^SM“. 

The biggest feature of this card is 3X American Express Membership Rewards points on Travel, Transit and Dining.

The new Amex Green card also comes with a few annual credits:

• $100 credit towards a CLEAR membership for expedited airport security lines.
• $100 credit to Lounge Buddy (airport lounges - a competitor to Priority Pass lounge access

This card is an excellent general travel, dining, and grocery card with a low annual fee.

Citi ThankYou cards are great because they have a range of interesting and advanced airline partners that you can transfer your points to, including Avianca, Turkish, and Cathay Pacific.

There are frequent transfer bonuses as well. If you are looking to get started collecting ThankYou points, this is the best starter card for the program.

How Does the Citi Premier Earn Citi ThankYou Points?

• 3X Points at Dining
• 3X Points at Grocery Stores / Supermarkets
• 3X Points on Gas
• 3X Points on Flights and Hotels
• 1X Points on All Other Purchases

Other ThankYou Premier Card benefits

• The annual hotel savings benefit will give you $100 off a $500 prepaid hotel booking in the ThankYou travel portal.
• No foreign transaction fees

Thank You points can be transferred to a variety of airline frequent flyer programs, such as Avianca, Etihad, Turkish and Cathay Pacific.

The IHG credit card offers an annual anniversary free night, the fourth reward night free whenever you redeem for 4 or more nights, and Platinum status.

Earn 10x at IHG and 2x at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants. Also earn 10,000 bonus points when you spend $20,000 plus one additional purchase each card year.

NOTE: In calculating your rewards values for this card, we are making the assumption that all Hotel spend entered is spent on IHG. If part of that spend is on other hotels, that spend will earn only 1x on this card, reducing the value of your rewards.

With the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, you'll receive Marriott Gold status and 15 elite nights credits every year.

This card earns Marriott Bonvoy points for purchases: 6x points at Marriott hotels, 3x points at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines, and 2x points everywhere else.

The Bonvoy Brilliant card comes with an annual free night award (up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points in value) at renewal and a $300 credit towards Marriott hotel and resort stays.

Terms apply.

NOTE: Our rewards calculator is assuming that your total entered in "Hotels" is spend at Marriott properties for the purposes of calculating this card's value to you. If part of your hotel spend is at non-Marriott properties, that spend will earn less than our estimate.

With the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, you'll get an annual main cabin "Buy One, Get One" companion certificate, plus your first checked bag free and priority boarding on Delta.

Earn bonus Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) and bonus miles at tiered spending thresholds. Spending $25,000 in a year on this card will waive the MQDs requirement for Medallion qualification up to Platinum status.

Delta Platinum Bonus Categories

• Earn 3X miles on Delta purchases
• Earn 3X miles on hotels (purchased directly with the hotel - much better than when you have to use a booking portal!)
• Earn 2X miles at U.S. supermarkets
• Earn 2X miles at restaurants, worldwide
• Terms apply

Additional Delta Platinum Benefits

• $100 statement credit every 4 years for Global Entry or an $85 credit for TSA Pre✓^® every 4.5 years.
• Buy One, Get One Companion Certificate on select fares.

NOTE: Our rewards calculator and Estimated Rewards Values assume all "Airfare" is on Delta and is therefore counted at 3x points. If you also fly another carrier, you will only earn 1x points for those purchases and your Reward Values would be lower than indicated.

Earn Marriott points for purchases. Earn 6x at Marriott and SPG and 2x everywhere else. Get a Free Night Award, 15 elite credits, and Silver status every year.

NOTE: In valuing your potential rewards from this card, we assumed that all spend from Hotels is at Marriott brands, which earn 6x points. If some of your hotel spend is at other hotel brands, your actual rewards will be somewhat lower.

The no-annual fee Hilton Honors American Express Card comes with complimentary Hilton Silver status, earns bonus Hilton points on Hilton stays, US restaurants, US gas stations, and US supermarkets*. Terms apply.

*American Express defines a supermarket as offering a wide variety of food and household products such as meat, fresh produce, dairy, canned and packaged goods, household cleaners, pharmacy products and pet supplies. (Superstores, convenience stores and warehouse clubs are NOT considered supermarkets.)

NOTE: For the purposes of calculating your expected rewards, we are assuming that the spend you put in "Hotels" is all spent at Hilton portfolio hotels and resorts. If some is spent at other hotels, your actual rewards will be slightly lower.

Perhaps the best "starting out card" in miles and points.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred has a low annual fee, unlocks transfers from this and any linked Chase Ultimate Rewards-earning card to airline and hotel partners, comes with excellent built-in trip delay insurance, primary car rental CDW coverage and earns 2x points on travel and dining.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Earn Rate:

• 5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points on Lyft rides though March 2022
• 2X Ultimate Rewards points on travel and dining
• 1X Ultimate Rewards on all other purchases

Chase Will Let you “Pay Yourself Back”

Chase Sapphire Preferred cardmembers can always use their points to book travel via the travel portal where they get 1.25 cents per point.

Now, you can redeem in the same manner for grocery stores, home improvement stores and dining, including restaurants, takeout and eligible delivery services. Instead of using a “portal” to make the purchases, you just pay as you normally would and then go into the Chase website to “pay” for that purchase with points. You will get the same 1.25 cents per point in value as you get booking travel. The feature is branded “Pay Yourself Back^SM“. 

The only requirement is that the merchant category be in one of the specified categories and you must “Pay yourself back” within 90 days of purchase. This feature will be on the card until at least April 2021.

Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers get the same opportunity, but at a higher 1.5 cents per point cash-out rate.

If you apply for a Chase credit card and don't get an instant approval, you may want to call the Chase reconsideration line.

Note: You will only be approved for a Chase credit card if you have applied for fewer than 5 personal credit cards within the last 24 months from any issuer. (Business cards do not count against the total, except for Capital One and Discover, but are subject to the policy). Learn more about the 5/24 rule here.

You also cannot be approved for a Sapphire Preferred if you currently have this card or a Sapphire Reserve card and/or if you have received a bonus on this card in the past 48 months.