These Are the Best Credit Cards for Scoring Savings on Hotels, According to Points Experts

From points to sign-on bonuses, these are some of the best credit cards that will essentially pay for your next trip.

With the right credit card, spending can turn into earning perks for travel.

Specfically, when it comes to maximizing rewards from your accommodations, there are a few questions to consider. Do you tend to stay in hotels or vacation rentals like Airbnbs? Do you prefer a specific hotel chain, or do you switch around based on rates? 

These days, experts like the founder of Max Miles Points, Max Do, recommend that consumers ditch brand loyalty and instead opt for a card that can be used across several hotel groups and types of accommodations. 

“My strategy is that the more flexible you are, the more options you have and the more chances you’ll be able to redeem your miles and points for maximum value,” says Max Do, founder of Max Miles Points. “A variety of different hotel programs will open up more doors to potentially get the travel deals or the travel that you want.”

Having a flexible card versus a chain-specific card can also insulate consumers from devaluations (when points required for a purchase increase, therefore decreasing their value), Do says. He recommends keeping it simple and instead focusing on a card that will best align with your lifestyle. 

“There’s so many different ways that you can slice and dice and plan and strategize, but the more simple you keep it, the easier it is to kind of redeem your points,” Do said.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card came heavily recommended by points experts, due to its earning potential. With 5x points per dollar on travel purchases such as flights through the Chase Travel site, 3x points on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x points on all other travel purchases, and 1x on all other purchases, it’s nearly impossible to avoid making money back with this card. Plus, with a $95 annual fee, this card is attainable for all types of travelers. 

Cardholders can also cash in on a $50 annual travel hotel credit. And when it’s time to use some of your points, you can get 25 percent more value when you redeem for hotels, airfare, and rental cars through Chase Travel. Additionally, trip cancellation and travel insurance are free and included with every purchase through their site. 

“A more intermediate move for hotel stays would be to transfer points from a flexible points program,” Julia Menez, founder of Geobreeze Travel, told T+L. “Some of my favorite ways to use flexible points for hotel programs include using Chase points or Bilt points for Hyatt hotels. You can do this with the BILT card or popular Chase products like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Ink Business Preferred, and more.

For that reason, this card is a catch-all for hotel points, and works well for travelers who chase the best rates, not follow the same chain. 

“If you aren’t loyal to a specific chain and don’t plan to be, I recommend people start with a Chase Sapphire Preferred,” Katie Holden, a content creator and founder of Katie’s Travel Tricks, added. “This gives you the flexibility to use your points to book hotels via Chase Travel — or also transfer points to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio and book hotel stays.”

Capital One Venture X Rewards

Elite perks that come along with this card more than make up for its $395 fee. Capital One Venture X Rewards cardholders can enjoy unlimited 10x points per dollar on hotels and rental cars and 5x points on flights booked through Capital One Travel, plus 2x points on all other purchases. Points are easily transferred to 15+ different travel loyalty programs. 

Cardholders can also elevate their hotel stay from the Premier or Lifestyle Collections with a suite of benefits, including an experience credit, room upgrades, and more.

It also has a very attractive signing bonus where cardholders can earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months, equal to roughly $750 in travel. Cardholders also receive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, plus 10,000 bonus points every year, starting on your first anniversary.

Menez recommends using your Capital One points at Wyndham Vacasa properties, which are like AirBnbs, and start at 15,000 points per night. 

And, when it's time to leave, this card will give you unlimited complimentary access to over a thousand airport lounges, including Capital One Lounges and the Partner Lounge Network, for you and two guests. Cardholders also receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, making it an all-around excellent travel card.

The World of Hyatt

While Hyatt does not have an extensive network of locations compared to other large chains, the value offered by their World of Hyatt Visa card is incomparable. If you can be a regular at Hyatt, the high point redemption values, perks, and one free night stay per year will cover the $95 annual fee. 

Cardholders can earn up to 9 points per $1 spent at Hyatt, 4 bonus points per dollar when used at Hyatt hotels and up to 5 base points per dollar from Hyatt as a World of Hyatt member. Cardholders also earn 2 points per dollar at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airlines, local transit, and fitness club or gym memberships. 

Hyatt also gifts an annual free night on the anniversary of your membership, plus complimentary World of Hyatt Discoverist status. 

This card is an excellent way to achieve status within the Hyatt network. Cardholders receive 4 tier qualifying night credits towards status after opening the account and each year after that for as long as the account is open. Earn an extra free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel for spending $15,000 in a calendar year, plus 2 night credits towards tier status every $5,000 spent on the card. 

And, earn 30,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of membership. Cardholders can also earn up to an additional 30,000 bonus points by earning 2 points total per $1 spent in the first six months of membership on purchases that normally earn 1 bonus point. 

Hyatt is one of the few hotel programs that still utilizes a category system. For example, Hyatt could say that a Category 1 hotel will cost 5,000 points most days. Most other hotel programs like Marriott, Hilton or IHG, have more of a revenue-based system wherein the number of points required to stay per night is directly related to how much money it would cost to stay that night at that hotel. 

“When [other hotel chains] do that, it’s harder to get a lot more value out of your points,” says Menez. “With Hyatt, if a particular hotel is going to cost 30,000 points per night, it doesn’t really matter if there’s a sports game or a concert in town and you’re seeing a lot of surge pricing from the dollar price. You’re still going to pay relatively about the same number of points if you want to use points for that hotel. And that’s how you can really, really get a lot of value out of these points.” 

American Express Gold

With an annual fee of $395, the American Express Gold card can be intimidating, but rest assured, the rewards pack a good punch. Cardholders earn 4x points on dining at restaurants (on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year) and U.S. supermarkets (on the first $25,000 in purchases per year), plus a $120 dining credit. 

The card’s 60,000-point intro offer gives you a solid base to start utilizing points. And, cardholders can explore over 1,000 hotels worldwide and receive a $100 credit to use towards charges including food and beverages, spa treatments, or other hotel charges through Amex Travel. 

While this card does not label itself as a travel or hotel card, its ability to maximize earnings on everyday grocery and dining purchases makes it an excellent go-to lifestyle card, says Owen Beiny, a content creator and founder of The Points Partner. 

The bottom line? Earning points is one thing – correctly using them is another.  “But the earning of these points is only 25 to 30 percent of what matters,” Beiny said. “Seventy percent of what matters is what you do with those points once you've got them.” 

That’s why it’s important to stay on top of offers, transferability programs, and timing, he added. If you’re utilizing your points correctly, typical lifestyle spending can make it so you pay nothing for travel.