The best credit cards for hotel stays are simple, straightforward and at least partially free. Whether you’re a frequent traveler or just looking for some free perks, there’s a hotel credit card that can earn good rewards for your next stay.
It’s worth noting that airline-branded credit cards can also be a great way to earn rewards on your next vacation, especially if you fly with one airline frequently. The credit cards below are designed specifically for hotel stays, but we recommend checking out our list of the best airline credit cards to see if any of those might be a better fit for you.
You can also view our picks for the best travel credit cards.
The number of hotel points and airline miles awarded per dollar spent is different for every credit card. The 20 cards on the list below are broken into two categories: hotel cards that award the most points in their respective loyalty programs and general travel cards that award the most points or miles per dollar spent on hotels, among all categories.
Hotel cards with the best rewards:
1. SPG Luxury Credit Card from American Express (Starwood Preferred Guest)
2. Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card
3. Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express
4. IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card
General travel cards with the best rewards:
1. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
2. Capital One VentureOne® Rewards Credit Card
3. Barclaycard Arrival® Plus World Elite Mastercard®
If you travel often, a credit card with a good sign-up bonus can help you save on rooms for free nights.
But these cards also offer ongoing rewards for hotel stays, and depending on how frequently you stay in hotels throughout the year, one of them could help you earn a meaningful number of points or miles over time. Here are some of our favorites.
1. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
2. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
3. Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card from Chase
4. The World Of Hyatt Credit Card from Chase
5. IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card from Chase
6. Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
7. Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
8. United℠ Explorer Card
9. Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
10. Citi Prestige® Credit Card
A hotel credit card can get you a free night’s stay or even a free flight. NerdWallet’s credit card experts rank the best hotel cards for free nights and luxury perks.
The catch: You have to spend thousands of dollars to earn points. You must also be comfortable paying an annual fee.
The perk: Spending $4,000 on the card in the first 90 days gets you 80,000 bonus points, which is worth two free nights at most Marriott properties. Plus, you earn five points per dollar at Marriott locations, two points on other travel purchases and one point on everything else. This is also a good card for travelers who want to check their bags for free: Cardholders receive one free checked bag when flying Delta.
Annual fee: $450
Intro APR offer: None
Rewards rate: Three points per dollar on Delta purchases; one point per dollar on all other purchases
Foreign transaction fee: None
Benefits include access to more than 900 airport lounges worldwide, a $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Precheck and an annual companion ticket for round-trip domestic coach travel if you buy your ticket with the card. The Citi Prestige earns three points per dollar on airfare and hotels and
The Capital One Venture Card is a flat-rate travel credit card, which means you earn the same number of rewards points per dollar spent, regardless of what you buy. This makes it ideal for people who don’t care about rotating bonus categories or having to activate anything.
There are plenty of other perks to keep in mind with this card, too. You can use the miles you earn toward any travel purchase, from flights and hotels to trains and rental cars. And if you redeem your miles for hotel stays through Hotels.com/Venture, you get a free night’s stay after every 10 nights. Furthermore, cardholders receive up to $100 in credit toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fees (which saves time when going through airport security).
The Capital One Venture Card also charges no foreign transaction fees, so you can use it overseas without worrying about accruing extra charges on top of what you spent.
Traveling is something we all love. But, the only thing that prevents us from traveling as much as we want to is the high cost of airline tickets. Airlines are not always offering flight deals and one must be vigilant in searching for cheap flights. This is where a cheap flight scanner comes in handy.
What is a Cheap Flight Scanner?
A cheap flight scanner is a software application that helps you find airfare deals by scanning hundreds of travel sites to see what the price variation is between them. You can even set the price limit and it will notify you when the flight ticket drops below your desired price. So, if you are someone who travels a lot, this software can help you save a lot of money.
Some of the best cheap flight scanners include Google Flights, Skyscanner, Momondo, Hopper, Hipmunk, etc. They are considered to be some of the best cheap flight scanners available because they offer a wide range of features which include:
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