Best hotel credit cards of April 2024: Free nights and more

Redditors in the r/TravelHacks community recommended the following hotel chains for travel throughout the year: 

• World of Hyatt is well-liked for its high earning potential, but it is noted that they don’t have as many locations as other hotel chains
• IHG has great discounts and additional points opportunities that lend themselves to great redemption value without rewards for members having to stay extensively at the hotel.

It should be noted that the comments were in response to a user who anticipated spending 60 nights per year at a hotel. If you find yourself not staying at a hotel as frequently, you may need to expand your search to more programs and see which has the best overall value and which chain is one you regularly use. You can also check out which credit cards earn rewards on Airbnb or other short-term rentals.

*The quotes and citations included on this page have been verified by our editorial team and are accurate as of the posting date. Be sure to check the issuer's website/terms and conditions for all up to date content. Outlinked content may contain views and opinions that do not reflect the views and opinions of Bankrate.

Hotel programs aren’t always the strongest redemption option for credit cards, especially compared to airlines. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not worth it. Many hotel programs hover around 0.7 or 0.8 cents per dollar in value. However, the rates of points or miles you earn with hotel cards are much higher. For general travel cards, you can typically earn 2X to 5X points/miles while co-branded cards typically offer more.

For example, Amex Platinum card rewards earn 5X points on prepaid hotels. Let’s say that you use this card for a $500 stay at a Hilton hotel. You would earn 2,500 points, worth $15 in redemption value, according to Bankrate’s estimate of 0.6 cents value for the Hilton Honors program. If you used the Hilton Honors Amex for this stay instead, you would earn 3,500 points, worth $21 in redemption value. Take a close look at your points values and redemption opportunities so you can better understand where you can get the most value. 

Make the most of elite status perks

Complimentary elite status with a hotel loyalty program or a fast-track to elite status is a valuable feature available on several hotel rewards cards. After all, kickstarting your elite status journey could give you a boost toward incredibly valuable perks like improved rewards rates, exclusive upgrade privileges, extra award nights or other discounts.

Qualifying for elite loyalty status usually centers around frequent card use, but a credit card might carve you a shortcut toward elite status if it carries an automatic status offer. Here’s a list of popular cards that offer complimentary elite status to cardholders and Bankrate's estimated point values for each program:

It’s free to sign up and these programs will provide you with extra resources on how to get the most out of your booking. As both a loyalty member and co-branded cardholder, you’ll earn extra points on top of your card’s rewards rate. For instance, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card earns 6X points on over 7,000 hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy. If you become a Marriott Bonvoy loyalty member, you earn an additional 10X points on stays. Plus, your automatic Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status – complementary on the Boundless card – adds an additional point to the category, boosting your Marriott hotel rewards rate up to 17X points.

Your new hotel credit card will give you big point totals for hotel purchases, but not necessarily on everything else. Use your hotel card alongside high-earning cash back cards, other travel cards or one that allows you to transfer points to your preferred hotel chain.

You usually receive extra value by booking your room through the hotel’s website or an issuer’s shopping portal, like Chase Ultimate Rewards. Booking through third-party sites may not qualify for the expected rewards rate.

While it can be tempting to hoard points for a huge payout, it may be smarter to redeem more frequently. Award night pricing may change often, especially for hotels that have dynamic pricing. You may get more value from your rewards by spending them on stays throughout the year than by saving them all for a trip during peak vacation season when your points carry the least value.

The primary criteria for a rewards-earning card’s rating is its rewards value. This includes the card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we first calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories and how closely its categories align with the average person’s spending habits. In other words, we assess whether the card earns rewards at a high rate in the most popular spending categories. 

We use consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to get a reliable third-party measure of people’s spending habits. The most recent BLS data estimates average total spending in 2021 was $66,928 per consumer. From here, we determine a “chargeable” spend (which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards). After subtracting expenditures like housing, vehicle purchases, education and healthcare, we get a total “chargeable” annual spend of around $22,500.  

This includes the following spending by category:

• Groceries: $5,200
• Dining out: $3,000
• Entertainment: $2,500
• Gas: $2,100
• Apparel and services: $1,700

Using this data, we are able to assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 23 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. 

We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various [issuer, airline and hotel] rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases — as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other rewards cards.

The better these values, the higher its score will be, making it more worthy of inclusion in our list and increasing its potential ranking.

We also score cards based on how much it costs to keep them in your wallet or carry a balance. 

To start, each card is scored based on whether it offers an intro APR and how its ongoing APR compares to the rates available on other rewards cards. However, the latter rating only has a slight influence on the card’s score and whether the card is included in our list, since rewards card users generally try to avoid carrying a balance.

More important to both a card’s score and its inclusion in our list is how its annual fee influences its overall value. We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. 

Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value. However, if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score and a spot in our list even if it carries a high annual fee. After all, the highest rewards rates and most valuable perks are often found on cards with annual fees. 

With this in mind, we rate a card based primarily on how its ongoing rewards value and ongoing perk value (such as annual credits or bonuses) stack up against those of other cards in the category when you subtract annual fees.

That said, we strive to include as many no-annual-fee options in our list as possible since many people would rather not worry about offsetting fees, even if a card carries impressive rewards and perks.

Rewards cards may make it easy to earn a lot of points, miles or cash back, but how easy is it to use those rewards? Co-branded hotel cards tend to have the best redemption value for hotel stays and purchases, but many offer other redemption options, too. It takes a ton of effort to redeem rewards or you can only redeem rewards in a couple of ways, a card may be more trouble than it’s worth. 

As such, we rate each card’s flexibility based on the restrictions it imposes on earning and redeeming rewards. We factor this rating into a card’s overall score and consider it when deciding on a card’s inclusion in our list. 

Flexibility factors include whether a card only allows you to earn a high rewards rate on only a small amount of spending or requires you to meet a certain earning threshold before you can redeem rewards. We also examine whether your points are worth less when you opt for some redemption options over others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to travel partners. 

We also score each card’s set of features – its perks and benefits — against five tiers of features to provide a rating. 

We break down these tiers as follows:

• Tier 1 includes fewer features than even standard credit cards (for example, an ultra-streamlined card that offers basic utility and next to nothing in the way of ancillary benefits). 
• Tier 2 includes the benefits you’d expect on standard Visa or Mastercard credit cards, such as free access to your credit score, car rental insurance and $0 liability for fraudulent charges. 
• Tier 3 includes “prime card” or better-than-average card features like cellphone insurance, lost luggage insurance, concierge services and purchase protection. 
• Tier 4 includes luxury features such as airport lounge access, elite status with an airline or hotel and credits for expedited security screening membership programs. 
• Tier 5 includes the sort of exemplary benefits you’ll find on top-tier luxury cards, such as high-value travel credits, free hotel award nights, cardholder memberships and other unique and valuable perks.

In evaluating the best cards, we tend to favor cards that offer at least Tier 3 benefits, unless they include other unique features that could make up for less-impressive perks.

That depends on how often you stay at hotels. If you travel frequently and stay with a particular hotel group every time, a co-branded hotel credit card for that chain can offer a lot of value. If you don’t always stay in hotels or you often switch up the hotels you use, a more general rewards card may prove a more valuable choice.  

Most hotel credit card issuers recommend applicants have a good to excellent credit score, or a FICO score above 670.

Hotel rewards points don't usually expire if your account is open, active and in good standing, although terms and conditions vary by program. The reason for expired points is often the consumer, not the company.

Here's a chart with rewards expiration policies for several popular hotel loyalty programs:

Keep in mind that "qualifying activity" is pretty broad. While the exact terms vary by program, usually any sort of account activity will keep your account active — including earning points, redeeming points and transferring points.

Reimbursement for canceling a hotel reservation depends largely on:

• The hotel chain
• Which card you booked with (or if you booked with rewards)
• The advance notice you're giving before cancellation
• The circumstances of your cancellation

It may be difficult to get your money back if you cancel your accommodations at the last moment simply because you changed your mind. However, should you need to cancel your trip due to circumstances beyond your control, you may have a better chance of being reimbursed if your hotel card offers trip cancellation or interruption insurance.