Which hotel credit card is the most rewarding for spending?

Co-branded credit cards, and hotel cards specifically, are often frowned upon as a place to put regular spend, especially in comparison to bank cards with transferable currencies and sexy bonus categories.

That said, hotel cards can be both rewarding and fun in the right circumstances. The reason is that they tend to have a ton of perks that are offered for holding onto the cards and also for spending on them. These usually include some combination of points bonuses, elite status, elite-qualifying nights and/or free night certificates. We collectively refer to these cash carrots as “Big Spend Bonuses.”

The purpose of this post is to take a closer look at the top hotel cards with big spend bonuses in order to get a rough estimate of the return on each one…and in doing so find out which might be worth pursuing. The answers might surprise you.

Comparing hotel credit cards with “big spend bonuses”

Hotel points, in general, aren’t worth as much as most airline miles and transferable currencies, which is the primary reason that they usually aren’t recommended for spend. Getting 3x Hilton points everywhere sounds pretty good…the $395 Capital One Venture X only gets 2x, after all. However, we only value Hilton points at around 0.5 cents each, whereas Capital One miles are closer to 1.5 cents each, making the 2 Capital One miles “worth” about 50% more. Heck, since Hilton points are often on sale for 0.5 cents apiece, you could even put spend on a 2% cashback card and then buy Hilton points, effectively earning 4x Hilton points per dollar.

However, the various treats that banks and hotel chains give us to stay interested can be very tasty, indeed. In order to give you a reason to put regular spend on their cards, these companies offer a whole plethora of “big spend bonuses.” Earning 3x-6x Hilton points per dollar isn’t terribly compelling, but throwing in a free night certificate good at almost any Hilton property in the world changes the equation.

But by how much?

That’s what we’re going to try and examine here.

What we’re comparing…and what we aren’t

There are a few parameters to lay out first:

• We’re not factoring in anything you get just by holding the card, just what you get from spending on the card. Many cards can be worth holding and paying the annual fee simply for the perks the card bestows, be it anniversary bonuses, elite status or regular coupons credits (I see you, Amex). Since you’d get these regardless of whether or not you put a dime on the card, we’re not including them as part of the spending analysis.
• We’re not factoring in elite nights or status gained from spend. Hotel cards often provide the ability to gain elite nights and/or status by reaching various spending thresholds. Getting two elite nights per $5k on the World of Hyatt card might be incredibly valuable for someone who needs them for a Milestone Reward or to qualify for top-tier Globalist status. However, for someone who’s only staying at Hyatt properties a couples times a year, they’re essentially useless. Although we’ve left them out here, if they’re valuable to you, it might make spending on one card or another much more noteworthy.

The only thing that we ARE trying to compare is the total value of the points and free night certificates that you get from reaching the big spend thresholds on the cards below.

How we value hotel free night certificates

At Frequent Miler, we value free night certificates based on their maximum point value and then reduce that value by a “fudge factor” to account for the fact that free night certificates expire and are less flexible than actual points…thus, they’re slightly less valuable.

Below are the fudge factors that the team developed, along with a brief explanation of each one. These are numbers less than 1.0, so they can be multiplied with the maximum value of a certificate in order to calculate value.

• Hilton: 0.85
  • These are the least restrictive certs since they are uncapped and can be used any day of the week.
• Hyatt: 0.8
  • Unlike with Marriott or IHG, Hyatt doesn’t allow adding points to book higher category hotels. On the other hand, Hyatt’s certs work just as well with hotels that are peak priced as those that are standard or off-peak
• Marriott: 0.80
  • While Marriott offers the ability to add points to top-off a free night certificate, they cap this at a maximum addition of 15,000 points per night

Based on these “fudge factors,” we’ve arrived at the following values for the certificates that are included in this post:

• Hyatt: Category 1-4: 15k points x 0.80 fudge x 1.7 RRV = $204
• Hilton: 120k points x 0.85 fudge x 0.48 RRV = $498.60
• Marriott:
  • 35K certs: 35k points x 0.80 fudge x 0.7 RRV = $196
  • 50K certs: 50k points x 0.80 fudge x 0.7 RRV = $280

Note that we’re using 120k points for the Hilton certs, even though they can be used for properties that cost up to 150k/night. There are only a handful of those 150k properties, however; 95k-130k is much more common. So, we’ve decided to keep the “points maximum” for determining that value at 120k.

The Contestants

Hilton Aspire (Amex)

• Bonus categories: 7x on US dining, flights and car rentals
• Base earning rate: 3x
• Big Spend Bonus: Free night certificate (FNC) after $30k calendar year spend
• Big Spend Bonus Value: $489.60

Notes: The Hilton free night certificate is the most valuable one out there, as it can be used for a standard room at almost any Hilton property in the world…even one that costs as much as 150,000 points per night. However, as a standalone proposition, the certificate that comes with the Aspire provides quite a bit less return than its lower-cost sibling below. There’s one, big reason for that…you have to spend a whopping $30k to get it.

Hilton Surpass (Amex)

• Bonus categories: 6x on US dining, US fuel and US grocery
• Base earning rate: 3x
• Big Spend Bonus: Free night certificate (FNC) after $15k calendar year spend
• Big Spend Bonus Value: $490

Notes: The Surpass gives you the exact same free night certificate that you get with the blingier Aspire card, but at half the required spend. Most folks will find the bonus categories easier to exploit as well, although there’s some people out there that would sooner have a hole in the head than use the Surpass at a grocery store.

IHG Premier/Premier Business (Chase)

• Bonus categories: 5x on travel, dining, and gas stations
• Base earning rate: 3x
• Big Spend Bonus: 10K bonus points + $100 statement credit after $20K calendar year spend
• Big Spend Bonus Value: $162

Notes: The IHG Premier and Premier Business are mirror images of each other when it comes to their bonus categories and big spend bonuses, so we’ll treat them as the same card here. There’s no certificate involved, so we’re valuing the statement credit at face value and the 10k points as being equivalent to ~$62.

Marriott Bevy and Bountiful (Amex/Chase)

• Bonus categories: 4x on restaurants & Supermarkets on up to $15K spend per year (Bevy is limited to US purchases for supermarkets, Bountiful is not)
• Base earning rate: 2x
• Big Spend Bonus: 50K free night certificate after $15K calendar year spend
• Big Spend Bonus Value: $280

Notes: Although they’re issued by different banks, the Marriott Bevy and Bountiful cards are also very similar in their bonus structures and identical in their big spend bonuses. The only difference is that Amex limits the 4x supermarket bonus to US locations and Chase does not.

Marriott Business (Amex)

• Bonus categories: 4x on restaurants worldwide, U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased from U.S. suppliers and on U.S. purchases for shipping
• Base earning rate: 2x
• Big Spend Bonus: 35k free night certificate after $60K calendar year spend
• Big Spend Bonus Value: $196

Notes: Since the Marriott Business card offers a “big spend bonus,” we felt like we needed to include it in this post. That said, this is undoubtedly the dog of the bunch (no offense, Truffles). The 35k cert that comes with this card requires a whopping $60k in spend. I’ll expect that we’ll learn that this should be kept in the drawer, firmly underneath the socks.

Sonesta Travel Pass Mastercard (Bank of America)

• Bonus categories: 2X on airfare, car rental and dining
• Base earning rate: 1x
• Big Spend Bonus: 30K bonus points with $7.5K cardmember year spend
• Big Spend Bonus Value: $318

Notes: Sonesta has an slightly different bonus for big spenders: 30,000 Sonesta points. It also has the lowest required spend on this list at only $7,500. Effectively, this means that you get between 5x-6x Sonesta points per dollar for the first $7,500 in spend (assuming you actually hit the threshold, but don’t go much beyond it).

World of Hyatt Visa (Chase)

• Bonus categories: 2x on restaurants, airlines, transit and fitness clubs
• Base earning rate: 1x
• Big Spend Bonus: Cat 1-4 free night certificate after $15K calendar year spend
• Big Spend Bonus Value: $204

Notes: Along with the Hilton Surpass, this is probably the common big spend bonus that “points and miles people” go for. The cert can be used at any Category 1-4 Hyatt property, regardless of if whether it’s at peak, standard or off-peak pricing. Because of this, it could be used for a hotel that costs up to 18k points/night.

Wyndham Business Earner Plus (Barclays)

• Bonus categories: 8x on gas stations; 5x on marketing, advertising, and utilities
• Base earning rate: 1x
• Big Spend Bonus: None
• Big Spend Bonus Value: None

Notes: What the heck is this doing here? What might be the FM team’s favorite hotel credit card is lacking something that every other card in this comparison has: a big spend bonus! That said, this is generally considered the hotel credit card with most valuable bonus categories, earning 8x Wyndham points on gas and 5x on utilities. Given that, we wanted to include it to see how the return compared to all of these other cards with big spend bonuses.

The Results

RRV = Our Reasonable Redemption Value.

Bonus Value = The approximate cash value of the big spend bonus (also listed above).

Total Value = Value of points generated through spend + cash value of bonus.

Return = Total Value / Total spend required for big spend bonus.

Return when doing all spend in category bonuses

As expected, the Wyndham Business card tops the list as the most rewarding when using its 8x bonus category (although it would drop lower if splitting its 8x and 5x categories). The next five cards fall into two, reasonably close, groupings: Sonesta and the Hilton Surpass at just over 6% return and World of Hyatt, Hilton Aspire and the Marriott cards just below 5%. No one will be surprised that the Surpass ranks so highly when you spend $15k in its 6x categories…but the fact that the Sonesta card actually ends up being slightly more rewarding despite only having a 2x category bonus is less expected. Also surprising, for me anyway, was the relative strong performance of the Marriott cards. We make a lot of fun of the Bevy and Bountiful…and rightly so. They’re bizarre cards with a range of perks that doesn’t match their annual fees. However, if you do get one for a welcome offer, spending to reach the free night cert isn’t terribly far-fetched.

Return when doing only half bonused spend

There’s a back-and-forth to consider when spending in hotel bonus categories, because it theoretically could take bonused spend away from other cards that might provide a greater return. Looking at the return when doing half of the required spend at base levels, we effectively see the same groupings we saw before, just at less attractive levels.

Return when doing all non-bonused spend

When doing all of the required spend at base levels, things start to look pretty bleak for everything except for the Sonesta card and the Hilton Surpass. It’s impressive that Sonesta stills maintains a 5%+ return even when doing all the spend at 1x…but given that you’re effectively getting 5x everywhere because of the 30k bonus, it makes sense. The Hilton Surpass also maintains some appeal even when doing the required $15k at 3x, in fact it’s about the same as spending exclusively in bonus categories on the World of Hyatt, Hilton Aspire and Marriott cards. The bottom-dwelling Wyndham Business shows why you should never put regular spend on the card even though you happily lap up its bonus category riches.

Winners

• Sonesta Mastercard – For me, the Sonesta card is the biggest winner out of this comparison. Greg and Nick covered this card during a recent “Coffee Break’ episode and, when discussing the 30k bonus, ended at “huh, might be interesting.” Turns out, it’s more than interesting, it’s the most rewarding personal hotel card out there, regardless of whether you maximize the categories or not. Offering a 5% return on the non-bonused spend knocks the socks off every other card not named “Hilton Surpass.” I have two of these in my household and plan on spending the $7.5k on both of them.
• Hilton Surpass – The Aspire card gets a ton of justifiable love because of its extremely compelling mix of credits along with Hilton Diamond status, but the star for spend is the Surpass. Whether doing all the spend at 3x or mixing in bonus categories, this is the only other card besides Sonesta that hovers near 5%. The Aspire is a great card to product-change to and/or hold for the perks. The Surpass is worth spending on.

• Wyndham Earner Business – By no means should anyone put any unbonused spend on this card. That said, I think everyone should have it for gas and utilities…and its 15,000 point anniversary bonus, automatic top tier Wyndham status and 10% discount on award stays. It doesn’t offer a big spend bonus…but it doesn’t have to. The return on bonus category spending is better than any other hotel card out there.

Loser

• World of Hyatt Visa – The Hyatt card is worth having and holding. You get a category 1-4 cert every year for paying a $95 annual fee, as well as five elite night credits. Totally worth it. That said, I’ve long been a bit skeptical of the conventional wisdom that everyone should be spending $15k to get the additional free night certificate. You do get six elite nights for that $15k as well as the FNC, which could certainly swing the needle for folks pursuing Globalist status or milestone rewards. For the rest of the world? Maybe not. There’s a lot of things you can do with $15k.

Bottom Line

Have we been taking a siesta on Sonesta? Over the last month or so, we’ve found that Sonesta Travel Pass has the second most valuable hotel currency, is the most rewarding program on paid stays and has the most rewarding credit card on which to pursue a big spend bonus. Not only that, but the Sonesta Mastercard currently has the most valuable credit card welcome offer of any personal card besides the Amex Platinum. For a program we barely gave a thought to until recently, that’s quite a statement…and a fun comparison to see.

That said, it doesn’t mean that everyone should start moving all of their points-earning and paid stays to Sonesta. The program has some serious limitations: it’s limited primarily to North America geographically, is heavily weighted towards budget properties with little aspirational appeal and, once you get the credit card, there’s not a lot of ways to earn large quantities of points outside of the 40-45k you can get by pursuing the big spend bonus. For me, it holds a lot of appeal as a supplemental program, and there are some very nice properties out there, but my main earning and burning will still be via Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and Wyndham.

This brings me to a point that I want to reemphasize. There are many reasons to spend on a hotel credit card. I’d probably still put $15k on the World of Hyatt card, despite the poor returns, simply because the six elite nights that I’d earn in addition to the free night would make it worth it for me. I’m sure that the same would true for other people as well.

Hotel programs, credit cards and travel rewards in general need to fit you, how you travel and where you travel. Brands like Hyatt and Sonesta that are more limited geographically are incentivized to make their programs more rewarding as a carrot to keep folks interested when the massive and far-ranging portfolios of Marriott, Hilton and IHG beckon. Simply because something is more or less “rewarding” doesn’t mean it’s more or less valuable to you. Hopefully this post provides a good template for a way to examine how you spread out your own spend, and perhaps some ideas for further exploration.

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