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best hotel credit cards
5 Jun 2019

The 10 Best Hotel Credit Cards of 2019

There is an art to picking the right credit cards. And the first challenge is that there are so many out there to choose from.

Choosing the wrong card can have serious consequences, such as having to take out an installment loan just to pay it off.

Even when you narrow that down to the list to only hotel credit cards, rather than airline credit cards or travel cards, there is still an abundance of them to consider.

So it can be daunting to make the leap and pick one or two as your go-to hotel credit cards.

If you’ve been in that situation, where you feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of cards out there, you’re in the right place.

In this post, we go over the top 10 best hotel credit cards out there.

We’ll give you a rundown of each of their pros and cons, and you’ll have a much better sense of which ones are right for you.

Sound interesting? Keep reading to find out more!

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

What’s in your wallet? Well, potentially this great hotel credit card. It’s a great choice as a flat-rate hotel card.

For starters, once you spend at least $3,000 on the card within the first three months, a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles kicks in. That’s a value of $500 in travel, which isn’t too shabby.

Then you’ll earn 2X miles for purchases of any kind. Not to mention 10X miles when you spend at 1000’s of hotels around the world. And these miles never expire for the life of the card, nor is there a limit to how many you can accrue. This isn’t all that the Venture Card offers.

You can use the miles for any airline or hotel with no blackout dates. There’s no annual fee for the first year, and then it’s $95 per year after that.

And for the globe trotters out there, there are no foreign transaction fees. Plus qualifying cardholders can get things like upgrades, shopping discounts, and concierge services.

There’s a reason this card was named CNBC’s best travel card last year!

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Once you spend at least $4,000 on this card within the first three months from starting the account, a one-time bonus of 60,000 miles kicks in. When you redeem them through Chase Ultimate Rewards, it comes out to a value of $750.

Using the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, you’ll then earn 2X miles for travel purchases and on dining at restaurants all over the globe. Beyond that, you get one point per every dollar you spend on other purchases.

If you need to transfer points, this is a great card to do it with. There’s a 1:1 point transfer to hotel loyalty programs, as well as airline programs.

There are no foreign transaction fees, an this is also a card that doesn’t put travel restrictions on you or blackout dates.

There’s an annual fee of $95, and the APR for this card is between 18.24% and 25.24%. And you need excellent credit to get approved for this card.

Plus, cardholders get perks like extended warranty coverage and a damage waiver for auto rental collision. They also get insurance benefits for both trip cancellation and trip interruption.

Hilton Honors American Express Card

This is a card with a lot of great points options.

When you spend at least $1,000 on this card within the first three months of card membership, a one-time bonus of 75,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points kicks in.

Then you can earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for every dollar of eligible purchases that you make within the Hilton Honors list of hotel brands.

On top of that, you’ll get 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for every dollar of eligible purchases that you make at supermarkets, gas stations, and restaurants in the United States.

And you’ll get 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for every dollar of every other kind of purchase you make on your card.

That’s a lot of bonus points!

The Hilton Honors American Express Card also has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. The APR is 17.99% – 26.99%, and you generally need good or excellent credit to get approved for the card.

You’ll get complimentary Hilton Honors Silver status just by being a cardholder, and if you spend $20,000 on eligible purchases in any one calendar year, you’ll be upgraded to Hilton Honors Gold status through that calendar year.

Other bonus elements are damage insurance and car rental loss, as well as insurance for travel accidents.

The Platinum Card from American Express

With the Platinum Card from American Express, when you spend at least $5,000 within the first three months of card membership, you’ll get 60,000 Membership Rewards points.

There is also a cool link with Uber, where you get Uber VIP status plus up to $15 in free Uber rides. And a bonus $20 in December for your holiday travel. All in, that’s up to $200 in Uber savings every year.

You’ll get 5X Membership rewards on any prepaid hotel purchases you make on amextravel.com, as well as flights booked directly with American Express Travel (or directly with the airlines.)

Another great perk for travelers is the Platinum Card from American Express gets you access to the Global Lounge Collection. This grants you access to more than 1,100 airport lounge locations globally.

And the travel benefits don’t stop there. You’ll also get a $200 Airline Fee Credit, which means up to $200 every year to cover baggage fees on qualifying airlines. And also a $100 fee credit for TSA Precheck or Global Entry.

There’s an annual fee of $550, but that’s also countered by an average of $550 worth of benefits at Fine Hotels & Resorts.

And at those hotels and reports, you’ll get a late checkout and early check-in. You’ll also receive daily breakfast for two, complimentary Wi-Fi, and available room upgrades.

Bank of America Premium Rewards Credit Card

With the Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card, when you spend at least $3,000 in the first 90 days of card membership, you’ll get 50,000 bonus points.

Then you’ll earn two points for every dollar you spend on dining and travel purchases, not to mention unlimited 1.5 points per dollar spent on any other kind of purchase.

Your points don’t ever expire, and there’s no limit to how many you can accrue. And if you are a Bank of America Preferred Rewards client, you are eligible for a rewards bonus of anywhere from 25% to 75% on every purchase.

You can also redeem your points in a number of ways. You can get it as cash back as a statement credit or have it directly deposited into your Bank of America account.

You can also use them as a credit to eligible Merrill Lynch accounts, or towards gift cards or purchases at the Bank of America Travel Center.

There’s an annual fee of $95, and an APR of 18.24% – 25.24% for purchases and balance transfers. But the fee is easily offset by the many perks offered by the card.

You won’t pay any transaction fees while traveling globally, and you get up to $200 in credits for airline fees, and TSA Precheck or Global Entry fees.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card

This is a card meant to reward people who stay at hotel and resort brands within the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program.

There’s a huge (limited time!) bonus offer when you sign up. You can get 100,000 in bonus points when you spend $5,000 within the first three months on the card.

And then you earn 6X Bonvoy points per dollar spent on any Marriott Bonvoy hotels. And there are more than 6,700 participating ones!

Plus, you can earn 2X Bonvoy points for every dollar you spend on other purchases.

Every year you get a free night away, which comes out to 35,000 points, and you get automatic Silver Elite status on your card anniversary as well.

That translates to priority late checkout, free in-room Wi-Fi, and 10% bonus points on stays at eligible hotels. And if you make $35,000 of purchases each year, you get bumped up to Gold Status.

There’s an annual fee of $95, and an APR of 18.24% – 25.24%. And every calendar year you get 15 Elite Night Credits.

The card also provides travel perks, like no foreign transaction fees, lost luggage reimbursement, and concierge service.

IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card

With the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card, there’s a two-tiered bonus point system when you open an account. First, when you spend at least $2,000 within the first three months of card membership, you’ll get 80,000 bonus points.

Then, when you spend a total of $5000 over six months, you’ll get 40,000 more points!

You get 10 points for every dollar you spend at an IHG hotel, and then two points per dollar when you buy at grocery stores, restaurants, and gas stations. Beyond that, you get 1 point for every dollar spent elsewhere.

Every year on your card anniversary, you get a free night at eligible hotels. Plus when you redeem points for a stay for 4 or more nights, you’ll get an additional free reward night.

As long as you remain a Premier card member you get Platinum Elite status, and you also get a credit to TSA Precheck or Global Entry of up to $100 every four years.

The benefits include baggage delay insurance and protection again theft or damage. It also includes trip cancellation and interruption insurance.

There’s a yearly fee of $89, and an APR of 18.24% – 25.24%.

Uber Visa Card

This card has smaller bonuses, but they are also a lot easier to obtain.

When you spend at least $500 on this card within the 90 days of card membership, a one-time bonus of $100 kicks in.

And then after that, you get 4% back on both eating at restaurants as well as taking food out. This applies to bars as well. And you get that 4% back on, of course, UberEATS.

You get 3% back for airfare and hotels, and this also includes vacation rentals. And 2% on online purchases like shopping, music streaming services, videos, and Uber. Finally, you get 1% back on every other purchase.

Also, when you spend $5,000 on the card in a given year, you receive up to a $50 credit for online subscription services.

And if you pay your cell phone bill with your card, you can get up to $600 to cover damage or theft of the phone.

There’s no annual fee, and the APR is 17.24%, 22.99% or 25.99%, based on your credit details.

Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Card

This card is obviously geared towards people who stay at Radisson hotel properties. You’ll get 10 points for every dollar you spend at the Radisson Family of Hotels. And you get five points for every dollar you spend elsewhere (on eligible purchases).

After your very first purchase with the Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Card, you’ll get 50,000 bonus points.

Then, once you spend at least $2,500 on this card within the first three months from starting the account, you’ll get 35,000 more.

Then you get 40,000 more bonus every year you renew the card! And you also can get up to three free nights by earning one every time you spend $10,000 and then renew the card with an annual fee of $75.

The card is also good for travelers, with lost luggage reimbursement, and a car rental accident damage waiver.

The World Of Hyatt Credit Card

On the other hand, if you’re partial to Hyatt-brand hotels, then this is the card for you. With the World Of Hyatt Credit Card, there’s a two-tiered bonus point system.

First, when you spend at least $3,000 within the first 90 days, you’ll get 25,000 points. Then when you spend a total of $6,000 within the first six months, you get 25,000 more!

And though there’s an annual fee of $95, you pretty much get that amount right back every year on the anniversary of your membership, in the form of a free night at a Hyatt hotel/report that’s category 1-4.

You even get an extra night if you spend $15,000 during the year. And you get automatic World Of Hyatt Elite status as long as you keep your account active.

The Best Hotel Credit Cards

As you can see, when it comes to the best hotel credit cards, there are some pretty great options out there.

But hopefully, this post has narrowed down some of your choices, and helped you figure out which hotel card or cards make the most sense for you!

If you have questions or would like to know more, be sure to contact us today!

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