In the US, most hotel credit cards are worth their annual fee whereas most airline credit cards are not. That statement is a gross oversimplification, but I believe that it trends true. With both airline cards and hotel cards, the annual fees are worth paying only if you make good use of their included perks. With hotel cards, the most valuable perk is often a free hotel night. With airline cards, the most valuable perk is often free checked bags. I believe that most of us are more likely to get good value from the former rather than the latter.
In this post I’ve sought to identify the hotel cards that offer the best value over and above the annual fee. In this post, you won’t find a comparison of the hotel cards’ welcome bonuses. If you’re primarily interested in earning a huge bonus after signing up for new hotel cards, see: Top 10+ Hotel Credit Card Offers (this is continuously updated as offers change).
Table of Contents
Best Hotel Credit Card Contenders
The contenders for this challenge include:
- Hilton: Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
- Hyatt: Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card
- IHG: Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card
- Marriott Cards
- Ultra Premium Cards (50K free night each year)
- Premium Cards (35K free night each year)
- Radisson: Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Card
- Wyndham: Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card
The above cards were chosen for this comparison because each includes a free night or bonus points that alone may make the card worth its annual fee. Marriott offers four different $100-ish cards that offer a 35K free night each year. The perks are essentially the same, so these are treated as one below.
Best Hotel Cards, Ranked
#1) Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
What I like: Combination of perks far exceeds this card’s annual fee. Sure, $450 is a lot to spend on a credit card, but the perks that come with this card are worth it, and then some. Each year, you get a free weekend night which can be used at almost any Hilton property worldwide. If you use it each year at a very expensive property, this perk alone can justify the annual fee. But wait, there’s more… a lot more. You also get free top tier Diamond Elite status which means free breakfast, free hotel lounge access, and free room upgrades. You also get up to $500 in statement credits each year: $250 for any spend at Hilton resorts + $250 in airline incidental fee credits (see: Amex Airline Fee Reimbursements. What still works?).
What I don’t like: Free night certificates are usually limited to weekend use only (but the certs are temporarily usable any day of the week due to COVID-19). Also, this card is not very rewarding for spend outside of its bonus categories. Additionally, the included Priority Pass membership doesn’t offer free meals at Priority Pass participating restaurants.
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
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#2) Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card
What I like: Free authorized users each can get their own free Priority Pass membership. And this is the best version of Priority Pass that is available from any credit card: each Priority Pass member can bring along unlimited guests and restaurants are included. Additionally, the combination of the annual 50K free night certificate and $300 annual airline incidental fee credits can more than justify the $450 annual fee. And, for those who don’t have the Sapphire Reserve card, it’s great that the Ritz card offers equally excellent travel protections (see: Ultra-Premium Credit Card Travel Insurance).
What I don’t like: Ever since Marriott introduced Peak and Off-Peak award pricing, it has become harder to use these certificates at category 6 properties which cost 50K Standard or 60K Peak. I’d also prefer a general $300 travel credit instead of one that is supposed to only work with airline incidental fees (see: Chase Ritz-Carlton Visa airline fee credits: What works?). Additionally, this card is not rewarding for spend other than with Marriott properties
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
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#3) World of Hyatt Credit Card
What I like: I’m a huge fan of Hyatt’s top tier status and so I love that this card can be used to get to status through spend (earn 2 elite nights for each $5K spend). Also, Hyatt has some very nice hotels and resorts that can be used with the annual category 1-4 free night certificate. Plus, unlike Marriott certificates, these are tied to the hotel’s category rather than it’s point price. This means that once Hyatt implements peak award pricing, we’ll still be able to use these certificates at category 4 hotels even when they are peak priced.
What I don’t like: After spending $15K per year to earn a second free night certificate, this card is not very rewarding for spend outside of its bonus categories. If Hyatt were to offer 1.5 points per dollar for base spend, I’d be much more excited about spending my way to elite status with this card.
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
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#4) Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card
What I like: Combination of 50K free night certificates and $300 Marriott hotel credits can more than justify the $450 annual fee.
What I don’t like: Ever since Marriott introduced Peak and Off-Peak award pricing, it has become harder to use these certificates at category 6 properties which cost 50K Standard or 60K Peak. Also, this card is not rewarding for spend other than with Marriott properties. Additionally, Priority Pass membership doesn’t include free meals at Priority Pass participating restaurants.
50K Free Night Award each year upon renewal ⚬ $300 Marriott Rewards statement credit per membership year ⚬ Gold Elite status ⚬ 15 elite nights credit ⚬ Priority Pass Select with 2 free guests ⚬ Global Entry fee credit ⚬ Free premium internet at Marriott properties
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
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#5) Marriott Cards Offering Annual 35K Free Night
What I like: In past research, I’ve found that the 35K free night certificates are easily worth $200 or more (see: What are Marriott 35K certificates worth?). This certificate, then, can easily justify any of these Marriott cards that cost around $100. Additionally, for those seeking Marriott elite status, holding any one of these consumer cards offers 15 elite nights towards status each year. Plus, holding a business card offers another 15 elite nights towards status each year.
What I don’t like: Marriott’s Peak pricing often makes the free night certificates unusable at category 5 hotels which are priced 35K Standard or 40K Peak. I also hate how complicated it is to get more than one Marriott card! See: Are you eligible for a new Marriott card?
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
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#6) IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card
What I like: The card’s annual 40K certificate is more usable than in the past thanks to IHG moving to dynamic award pricing. Almost all properties are now at least sometimes available for 40K points or less (see this post for details). Platinum status, 10X earnings at IHG, and 4th Night Free award stays are also good perks of this card.
What I don’t like: The fee-free IHG Rewards Club Traveler Credit Card offers the same 4th Night Free benefit, so this perk shouldn’t be considered a reason to keep the IHG Premier card. Also, outside of 10X earnings at IHG properties, this card offers poor value for spend.
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
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#7) Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card
What I like: Instead of a free night, you get 15K points per year. This is great because it doesn’t require finding an excuse to stay at a Wyndham property each year to justify keeping this card. The pot is sweetened with automatic top-tier Diamond status (which matches to Caesar’s Diamond), and surprisingly strong earnings at Wyndham properties, gas stations, and utilities (telecommunications, cable, satellite, electric, gas, heating oil and water).
What I don’t like: Wyndham is dominated by low end brands. Aspirational properties can be hard to find.
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
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#8) Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Card
What I like: Instead of a free night, you get 40K points per year. This is great because it doesn’t require finding an excuse to stay at a Radisson property each year to justify keeping this card. You also get Radisson Gold status, the ability to earn a free night (usable in the US only) for each $10K spend (up to $30K), and very strong earnings for spend (10X at Radisson properties, and 5X everywhere else).
What I don’t like: In my opinion, Radisson has very few desirable properties in the US. Additionally, the card’s 3% foreign transaction fee means that it’s a very poor choice for spend outside the US.
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
How are Radisson and Wyndham points a better perk than a free night? It seems like neither would be useful if you don’t intend to stay there. Can they be used for something else?
No, they’re not particularly useful for other things. The reason I prefer points over free nights is that free nights expire within a year whereas points can be kept around forever with Radisson (but only 4 years with Wyndham). Eventually I’ll have a good use for the points but I don’t have to have a good use right away as I would have to with free night certificates
Again I challenge you to find a $200 opportunity with a 35K certificate at any of Marriott’s 529 properties in California. For next Tuesday, let’s say. Last time you were able to rustle up Ritz Half Moon Bay in a minute!
True, I couldn’t find anything that fits for next Tuesday, but I think that more people will want to use the certs on a weekend, so I looked at this coming Friday night and found:
That said, in my past Marriott research I did find that Marriotts in California seemed to be particularly inflated in point-price. My understanding is that this happens when a place is popular for redeeming points: Marriott ups the category.
On Facebook you say there was a clear #1 and then it was difficult to rank the rest. To me there’s a clear top two (aspire and ritz), and it kind of surprises me that you don’t consider the ritz in that top echelon. The free AU’s with priority pass with restaurants is a monumental benefit, imo, plus the superior travel protections. Further down, it’s strange to me that you don’t consider the standard Marriott cards the same as the standard Hilton cards. You pay ~$100 and get a free night with some minor auxiliary benefits (10 priority pass visits, lower level status, big spend bonus, etc). Even though we all love hyatt, it’s essentially the same situation with that card. To me, the IHG card is better than any of these standard ~$100 cards due to its 4th night free benefit. In that sense, the no fee IHG card is a no brainer like the no fee United card. Both have benefits for just putting them in the sock drawer. Likewise, the Radisson and Wyndham cards have clear benefits for just putting them in the sock drawer. I’ll probably get a bunch of pushback for this, but I would rank:
1/2 (in some order): Aspire and Ritz
3: Radisson
4: Wyndham business
5: IHG no fee
Then it’s just all the 1 night free ~$100 cards, including the bonvoy brilliant, in some order. I guess I’d put the WOH card at the top of that group though.
Interesting read. Thanks for writing. Looking forward to hearing Nick’s roast.
First, I don’t even a little bit understand why Radisson is #3. And I’m a Radisson card holder – but what?!?
As to the Ritz, I would say that free AUs with Priority Pass with restaurant access is only “monumental” if you or someone you would add as an AU regularly travel through airports with Priority Pass restaurants. I’ve gone out of my way to try to use that benefit and I’ve used it a handful of times, but it isn’t a thing at the vast majority of airports I would ordinarily transit. That’s not to say that I don’t think it’s a valuable benefit. Indeed it is. And I’d consider it monumental for me if my home airport had a restaurant….but it doesn’t.
I suspect the same is true for Greg. It’s awesome when it works out and is defintiely worth something, but only huge for some people.
Fair enough. My current local airport has 3 lounges and 2 restaurants, so we utilize them very regularly.
The simple reason for Radisson at #3 is that the card pays you more in points than the annual fee. I know there aren’t lots of good Radissons around in the U.S., but if you get the card and stick it in a drawer, you’ll have a bunch of points on the cheap the next time you need them. I’d prefer that over an annual cert you have to use within a year, and especially right now during Covid times. After the Aspire and Ritz, the way I see it is that you can either get outsized value on a card that gives a cert or outsized value on a card that gives you points. Despite the fact that the cards offering points (Radisson and Wyndham business) don’t have an incredible footprint, imo the flexibility of getting points overcomes the limitations of a specific brand’s cert for the general population.
That said, each person will obviously be different and will have their own preferred hotel chains. For someone who loves Marriott, for example, they’d probably find more value from one or two Marriott cards. But in terms of which cards have awards that could benefit anyone at some point, to me, everyone could benefit from getting the Radisson and Wyndham cards and sticking them in a drawer until you need the points.
I think that Nick captured my reasons for Ritz not being a clear #2. I will say that I definitely missed some things in my analysis. I left out fee-free cards. Otherwise the IHG card would definitely be there. I also left out cards that don’t offer annual free nights or points (like the $100-ish Hilton cards) but they belong in there too. If/when I redo this post, I think it will look very different.
Another problem with Wyndham – don’t points expire at 48 months even with activity?
Yes. That is an issue
True. One reader though says that she called Wyndham when her points were about to expire and they immediately reissued them for four more years.
Interesting, although is that a temporary COVID concession? Probably not something we can count on.
How do you compare between Wyndham rewards and Best Western? New Wyndham rewards business card is definitely better than the other Wyndham rewards card, but how does it fare with the New Best Western card?
New Best western card comes with 80,000 points after spending $3,000 in 3 months and 40,000 points when you spend $5,000 every 12 billing cycles, the card also offers platinum status.
I haven’t researched the Best Western card, to be honest. It sounds to me that it has a good signup offer (I see 70K). And I see 20K bonus points when you spend at least $5,000 during each 12 billing cycle period. Where did you find one that offers 40K?
Good wrap up and review. could be good to add the little things like MS on amex may limit your ability with their. Ards, etc.
Where Sonesta stands in your ranking?
I felt like it was too specialized to warrant inclusion in the rankings.
Nothing like waking up to the smell of hot sizzling post roast material.
It is interesting to not see any of the other Hilton credit cards, in light of their popularity.
For me, the other Hilton cards didn’t warrant inclusion in the list. Where would you rank them?
The only real value other Hilton cards hold is for the SUB for stacking with Aspire.
That’s a great question. This really deserves an article but……For the Hilton CCs, an easy comparison would be against Marriott’s lineup due to it being Hilton’s biggest competitor and also because they have a somewhat similar lineup of cards. That being said, I’d rank both the Surpass and the Hilton biz higher than the Marriott CCs (not including the RC), #4 and #5.
Why? Well starting with #5 since they have similar AFs, the uncapped weekend night Hilton certs from Surpass and HH Biz are significantly more valuable than the 35k Marriott certificates. Yes they require $15k spend, but most of the readers here should be able to manage that, especially since the Surpass has a nice category bonus.
Now on to #4. I agree the Brilliant is a nice card, but once again I feel that the majority of the readers here should be able to get more value out of an uncapped weekend night cert with Hilton as opposed to a 50k cert with Marriott. And if we compare AFs… the Hilton cards still win here due to the Brilliant basically having a $150 AF if we give the Marriott $300 property credit face value.
As far as status, you can achieve top tier HH Diamond with $40k spend on the Hilton CCs, but it takes $75k spend on only the Brilliant to receive Bonvoy Platinum. Once again, Hilton wins here. Even without spend, the Hilton CCs give you a better status than what you get with the Brilliant (HH Gold vs Marriott Gold).
So since we’ve already gotten #4 and #5 out of the way, what about #3? Well I think that depends on the person and how much they will use the cards and stay at each chain. I like the Hilton weekend night cert better than the Hyatt cat 1-4 cert, but the ability to spend to Globalist with the Hyatt card is also very nice. In other words, this one will vary a lot from person to person, making this comparison kind of a tossup… like a swing state.
Thanks for giving me a chance to respond….I’ve left out a few things here due to this only being a comment, sorry.
Very good points. For my rankings, I heavily favored cards that offer value without any spend. One exception is the Hyatt card which I think offers good value without spend, but I wouldn’t have ranked it so high without the ability to spend to elite status. I should probably rename the post something like “best hotel cards for your sock drawer” and then move the Hyatt card down a bit 🙂
@Greg
I am aware of the Amex 4 CC limit – but are we allowed to hold more than one Aspire pp? Since they deliver over the top ROI.
I used a 5/24 slot last November on the FYF Aspire (would have picked it up for DW too but she added two CC in the previous 90 days).
She dropped an Amex CC last month to free a slot, DW has the Aspire now, so our FNC arrive the same week every year now. which makes them more valuable – esp if we can stack with resort credits on a stay.
Yes, through an upgrade strategy.
Nick (and Greg): when you guys roast each other’s posts, I’d love to see follow-up posts from the roaster’s point of view (such as “Nick’s best hotel credit cards”). I think that having multiple viewpoints on the same subject is great.
Good analysis. I prefer the Hilton Surpass due to lower fee and run over $40K on it (unbonused categories so the 1.8%, 3x my value of .006/point) compares to my Amex or CSR earning. I use this for gas outside of Hilton’s and unbonused spend.
Also have Marriott Chase card and IHG Premier. IHG Premier has cell phone insurance so I charge that but really don’t use (even at their properties) since my CSR gives better value. However free night is worth the annual fee
Which one of the eight are sponsors or affiliates of the blog that you get paid for?
We don’t have any sponsors, but we do currently have affiliate links for a number of Amex and Chase cards. The content here wasn’t in any way influenced by that fact. Amex and Chase simply have the best hotel cards IMO. We manage our affiliate links through a database that is separate from our editorial process. And the cards available to us with affiliate links comes and goes over time due to many factors including the fact that we always publish the best public offer for each card even if it means excluding our affiliate links. We do not EVER consider whether or not we have affiliate links when composing or editing post content.
This has always gone a long ways in helping your readers trust you and your team. Thank you!
Greg, that is the main reason your blog is the only one I recommend to my friends.
Which cards offer travel insurance on airline tickets?
Most of them offer some form of travel insurance, but the scope of it varies tremendously from one to the next. The travel protections with the Ritz card far outshine the others.