Choice Privileges® Visa Signature® Card review

Best for travelers loyal to Choice Hotels

• Rewards rate: 15X points at eligible Choice Hotel locations and 2X points on all other purchases
• Welcome offer: 32,000 bonus points if you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days.
• Annual fee: None
• Purchase intro APR: N/A
• Balance transfer intro APR: 0 percent intro APR for the first 15 months on transfers made within 45 days of opening your account
• Regular APR: 15.74 percent to 24.99 percent (variable)

The Choice Privileges® Visa Signature® Card is a great option for anyone who loves to travel and prefers to stay at Choice Hotels. The 15-point-per-dollar rewards rate is very high, so if you’re booking with Choice hotels often, you stand to earn generous rewards. However, the general rewards rate on all other purchases is pretty standard. If you prefer to stay at other hotels, you can likely get more value from another travel rewards credit card.

Current sign-up bonus

The current welcome offer from the Choice Privileges credit card is 32,000 bonus points after you make $1,000 worth of purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account. Free nights start at 8,000 points at participating Choice Hotel locations, so if you’re able to reach the $1,000 spending requirement, you could earn enough points to enjoy up to six free.

Rewards

Each dollar spent using the Choice Privileges Visa Signature Card earns you points. These points can be redeemed for free nights in Choice Hotels and more. Rewards are easy to cash in and can help you save money.

Earning rewards

Earn a hefty 15 points for every dollar you spend at Choice Hotel locations. Eligible Choice brands include:

• Ascend Hotel Collection
• Cambria Hotel
• Clarion
• Clarion Point
• Comfort Inn
• Comfort Suites
• Econo Lodge
• MainStay Suites
• Quality
• Rodeway Inn
• Sleep Inn
• Suburban Extended Stay Hotel

Cardholders can also earn 2 points for each dollar spent on all other purchases. Members that spend at least $10,000 per year will also earn 8,000 bonus points that calendar year, equivalent to a free night in a Choice Hotel.

Redeeming rewards

When you’re ready to redeem your points, simply head over to the Choice Privileges website. Log into your membership account and decide how you want to spend your rewards. If you are booking a hotel stay, enter your destination and travel dates, and you’ll be asked if you want to use your points or cash to pay. The site also has links to purchase gift cards, book luxury resorts and even donate back to your community.

Additionally, you can trade-in your Choice Privileges points for rewards with other programs. For example, choose from a lineup of airline partners to swap your points for miles or convert them into Amtrak rewards to earn rail fares.

How much are points worth?

The value of your points will vary based on how you use them, but 8,000 points should be enough to book one night in over 1,000 Choice Hotels. Other luxury hotels, including BlueGreen properties, can cost up to 16,000 points per night.

Benefits

This card also offers a few benefits that could be useful for those who often find themselves on the road.

Elite Gold Membership Status

Choice Privileges credit cardholders enjoy the perks of an Elite Gold Membership Status without having to meet the 10-stay requirement per year. Perks include 10 percent more points each time you stay at eligible Choice Hotels as well as dedicated phone lines for reservations and customer service and a free snack and drink at check-in.

Discount with ChoiceHotels.com

Over 7,000 properties are included in the Choice Hotels reward program. While using points to book these properties on ChoiceHotels.com or the mobile app, you’ll get exclusive discounts.

Points don’t expire

Members don’t ever have to worry about their points expiring. As long your credit account is in good standing, your points will be valid.

Fraud liability protection

If charges appear on your card that you didn’t authorize, you will not be held responsible.

Rates and fees

Choice Privileges Visa Signature Card has no annual fee, which means you can start reaping rewards without a price of entry. The low-end APR of 15.74 percent variable is competitive with other cards. However, depending on your creditworthiness, you could be assigned a rate as high as 24.99 percent variable.

Other fees include a 3 percent foreign transaction fee, a late fee of up to $40 and a returned payment fee, also up to $40. Additionally, If you take out a cash advance, you will incur either $10 or 5 percent of the transaction amount (whichever is greater) and a variable APR of 25.24 percent. Lastly, balance transfers will cost $5 or 3 percent of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.

How the Choice Privileges Visa Signature Card compares to other travel rewards cards

The Choice Privileges Card offers a solid 15-point-per-dollar rewards rate and a $0 annual fee. However, non-Choice purchases earn 2 points per dollar, which is more in line with other offerings.

For example, the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card also has no annual fee and offers 1.25 miles for every dollar you spend, without caps. New cardholders can also earn a bonus of 20,000 miles if they spend $500 on purchases within the first three months of opening their account.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is another popular option, offering 2 points for each dollar you spend on travel and dining and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. It does come with an annual fee of $95; however, you can earn a sizable 60,000-point bonus if you spend $4,000 within the first three months of opening your account.

Best cards to pair the Choice Privileges Visa Signature Card with

The Choice Privileges Visa Signature Card offers many redemption options but no cash back, so a good card type to pair it with is a cash back card like the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. The Freedom Unlimited charges no annual fee and offers attractive reward rates. You can get 5 percent cash back on Chase Ultimate Rewards travel purchases, 3 percent back on dining and at drugstores and 1.5 percent back on all other purchases.

Bankrate’s Take—Is the Choice Privileges Visa Signature Card worth it?

The Choice Privileges Card is a great choice if you travel frequently and stay in Choice Hotels. Choice Hotels offers over 7,000 hotel options all over the world, making finding a great hotel in your destination city easy. However, if you’d like to have the option to stay elsewhere and still earn rewards, or if you want more flexibility with how you redeem your rewards, you can likely find another travel credit card that’s a better fit.

Pros

• High rewards rate on Choice Hotel stays
• No annual fee
• Intro APR on balance transfers is rare among hotel cards

Cons

• No cash back rewards option
• Charges foreign transaction fees
• Not the best value if you don’t stay at Choice Hotels

The information about the Choice Privileges® Visa Signature® Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.