One of the most common questions I get from newbies is “which hotel points should I collect?” Reward programs, in general, are tough to crack, but there are really just a few key areas people should take into consideration when picking one: The number of hotels the program has worldwide, the ease of earning free nights through paid stays as well as credit card spending, award chart redemption rates, ease of earning elite status, elite benefits, and the ability to use points for air travel at a favorable ratio. So which hotel rewards program meets all of these criteria? No single program does, but pick the criteria that are most important to you and decide which program fits the bill:
The Number of Hotels the Program Has Worldwide
For a long time, I was hooked on Hyatt, booking as many of my stays with the chain as possible. However, Hyatt only has 600+ hotels worldwide. If I focused all of my point earning on this one program, I would have serious trouble putting them to use in certain places because of a lack of hotels in the area. So it’s very important to take into consideration the number of hotels a specific rewards program has around the world, to ensure you’re able to redeem your hard earning points when the time comes.
- Club Carlson: 1,000+
- IHG: 5,000+
- Hilton: 4,600+
- SPG: 1,300+
- Marriott: 4k+
- Hyatt: 600+
The Ease of Earning Free Nights Through Paid Stays
It’s not possible to always use miles for hotel stays. Sometimes paid rates are too low to justify a point redemption and other times a hotel simply has no award space. In these situations, you might find yourself redeeming Arrival Miles, in which case it’s nice to be able to earn lots of rewards in exchange for your investment. I’ve said it before, Club Carlson and Hilton HHonors are the best rewards programs for earning free nights through paid stays. It takes just $333.33 worth of paid stays for a non-elite Hilton HHonors member to earn a free night at a Category 1 hotel, while Club Carlson allows members to earn a top-tier Category 7 award night after just $3,500 worth of paid stays. Don’t forget about Wyndham Rewards – the program recently switched to a flat 15,000 point redemption requirement for all stays, so it takes just $1,500 worth of paid stays to earn a free night.
Award Chart Redemption Rates
Award redemption rates tie into the earning rate I outlined above. When looking at award charts, it’s important not to get discouraged by high redemption rates. Instead, take into consideration the number of points members earn on paid stays, as well as credit card sign-up bonuses and earning rates. For example, Starwood’s award chart looks reasonable at 2,000 – 35,000 points per night, but non-elite members earn just 2 points per $1 and the sign-up bonus on the Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express is currently just 25,000 points after $3,000 spent in 3 months. If you’ve got your eye on a top-tier award redemption, this sign-up bonus isn’t even enough to cover one free night.
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Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
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$0 first year
$95 after first year |
25,000 Bonus Starpoints® After you use your new Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months Read Review » |
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Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express |
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Another thing to take into account when evaluating award charts is whether the program offers a cash + points awards or a 5th-night free benefit. The fifth-night free benefit is especially important because it amounts to a 20 percent discount, making free nights more attainable.
Ease of Earning Elite Status
Other than free nights, a huge benefit of being loyal to a hotel chain is earning elite status. Low-tier status is pretty useless, but mid and top-tier status can make your hotel experience much better. The only mid-tier status worth getting (which also happens to be the easiest to attain) is Hilton HHonors Gold status, which is a benefit that comes with the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve and American Express Hilton HHonors Surpass cards. Hilton Gold members receive complimentary breakfast, bonus points, and room upgrades based on availability (side note: I’ve been upgraded on every single Hilton stay as both a Gold and Diamond member).
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Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card
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$95 first year
$95 after first year |
2 weekend night certificates After $2,500 in purchases within 4 months of account opening Read Review » |
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Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card |
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Hilton also makes it easy to earn top-tier Diamond status through credit card spending. Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve and Amex Surpass cardholders who put $40,000 worth of spending on their credit cards in a calendar year get upgraded to HHonors Diamond status.
Elite Benefits Offered
Top-tier hotel elite status is only as good as the benefits it comes with. I’ve gone over this topic in the past and determined that Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum offers the best top-tier hotel elite benefits. Hilton HHonors Diamond is a close second and since Hilton allows you to spend your way to elite status through two of the co-branded credit cards and there are four times more Hilton properties worldwide than Starwood, I’d go for Hilton Diamond elite status.
The Ability to Use Points for Air Travel at a Favorable Ratio
If you’re looking for a flexible hotel currency that allows for favorable airfare redemptions, both Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest make that possible. Starwood has the added advantage of allowing point transfers to airline miles. Not only do points transfer to popular airline rewards programs at a 1:1 ratio, but transfers of 20,000 points or more receive a 5,000 bonus. For me, Hilton wins out in most of these categories but everyone is different.
Which of these features do you take into account when choosing a hotel rewards program to earn points and elite status with?
[Image via Getty]