Other than a short period of time last summer when the Wells Fargo Choice Privileges Mastercard and Mastercard Select cards had welcome offers of 70,000 and 100,000 points respectively, the bonus points you could earn when applying for the cards have been 40,000 and 60,000 points respectively.
There’s currently a limited time increased offer on the no annual fee card, taking its bonus up to 60,000 bonus points.
The Offer & Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $379 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 60K Points Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. 60K after $1K spend in first 3 monthsNo Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Choice members may be targeted for a higher offer Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: Decent bonus for a no-annual fee card, but not a great keeper unless you value the Choice Gold Status Earning rate: 5X at Choice Hotels ✦ 3X at gas stations, grocery stores, home improvement stores, and phone plans ✦ 1X everywhere else Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Wells. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Automatic Gold status ✦ Cell phone Protection ($25 deductible, $800 max per claim) |
Quick Thoughts
Earning 60,000 bonus points after only $1,000 spend in three months is a pretty good offer for a card that has no annual fee and comes with automatic Gold status each year. Having said that, if you’re in the market for Choice Privileges points, you have several other options that could make more sense.
One of those is the Choice Privileges Mastercard Select card. That card’s offer is currently unchanged and so offers the same 60,000 bonus points, but it requires $3,000 of spend in three months and has a $95 annual fee. You might therefore be wondering why that could make it a better option. One reason is that although it has a $95 annual fee, you earn 30,000 points at renewal each year. That’s effectively buying the points for 0.32 cents per point which is a superb rate. That card also comes with automatic Platinum status; given this is Choice we’re talking about that’s not worth much, but it is something. The card also comes with a $100 Global Entry or TSA Precheck credit every four years which could be handy for someone who doesn’t have that benefit on any other cards, 10x earnings when paying for Choice stays with the card and 5x on gas, groceries, home improvement and phone service plans.
Two other cards that could be good (ahem) Choices are the Citi Strata Premier and Wells Fargo Autograph Journey cards. Both those cards currently earn 60,000 points in their respective transferable currencies and have a $95 annual fee. The reason those cards might appeal to a Choice Hotels aficionado is that both transferable currencies transfer to Choice on a 1:2 basis, thereby turning their 60,000 points into 120,000 Choice Privileges points – double the number you can get from either Choice card themselves.
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It’s worth mentioning that, unless things have changed, the Wells Fargo Choice Privileges Mastercard and Mastercard Select card cannot be held simultaneously. So, if you hold one card, don’t waste a possible hard pull on your credit file by applying for the other.
Thanks. I was just going to ask about this