Best Card for Hotel Stays

The Hilton Aspire is Hilton’s top-tier co-branded card and offers strong value for travelers who are loyal to the brand. The annual fee is high, but frequent Hilton guests can easily justify it through the card’s benefits. Everything about the Aspire feels premium. You receive a free night certificate each year that is uncapped, starting in your first cardmember year and again upon renewal. The card also comes with complimentary Hilton Diamond status, which includes free breakfast, late checkout when available, premium Wi-Fi, executive lounge access, and room upgrades, including suites, along with a fifth night free on award stays. Cardmembers receive $400 in Hilton credits, issued as $200 twice per year, plus a $100 on-property credit when staying at Waldorf Astoria or Conrad hotels. When you pay with the card at Hilton properties, you’ll earn 14x points on Hilton purchases. The standard signup bonus is strong, but since this is an Amex card, it can be worth waiting for an elevated offer due to Amex’s 1/7 bonus rule.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve has gone through changes that haven’t been universally popular, but its value for hotel stays has improved in the process. It’s one of only two Chase cards that still transfer Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt at 1:1, which immediately makes it a strong contender. A high signup bonus also gives you a solid base of transferable points to use for Hyatt award nights. You’ll earn 4x points on hotel bookings, further accelerating point accumulation. The addition of two annual $250 Edit Hotel credits, which can be stacked, along with the $300 annual travel credit, makes it possible to offset much of the card’s high annual fee with credits alone. Beyond the statement credits, bookings made through the Edit Hotel Collection include perks like free breakfast, a $100 property credit, and room upgrades, early check-in, and late checkout when available. The main drawback is that each Edit Hotel booking requires a two-night minimum to earn the credit and benefits, and because many of these are luxury properties, you’ll most likely have to pay something out of pocket, either in points or cash.

We rank the Amex Platinum highly among transferable points cards for hotel stays, primarily because of the Fine Hotels + Resorts program. Amex’s Fine Hotels + Resorts is similar to Chase’s The Edit, but it has been around longer, includes a larger portfolio of properties, and offers more guaranteed benefits. The Amex Platinum provides $600 in annual hotel credits, split into two $300 credits, that can be used with Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection. Unlike The Edit, a single-night stay qualifies when booking an FHR property, while The Hotel Collection requires a two-night minimum. Unlike the Edit, these cannot be stacked and must be used once from January to June and once from July to December. With either option, you’ll receive free breakfast, a $100 property credit, and room upgrades and early check-in when available, along with guaranteed 4pm checkout on FHR bookings. Amex also transfers to Leaders Club, Hilton, and Marriott, with Leaders Club offering the strongest opportunity for high-value hotel redemptions. Platinum cardholders also receive complimentary Leaders Club Sterling status, adding another layer of value at participating Leading Hotels of the World properties. The standard signup bonus is already strong, but because of Amex’s 1/7 Rule, it can make sense to wait for an elevated offer.

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant is the top-tier card in Marriott’s lineup. The annual free night certificate, valid for properties costing up to 85,000 points, goes a long way toward offsetting the card’s high annual fee. You can also top up the certificate with up to 25,000 additional points to book a stay costing as much as 110,000 points. The card includes complimentary Platinum Elite status, which comes with benefits like 4pm late checkout, enhanced room upgrades, lounge access where available, a welcome gift, and a 50% bonus on eligible Marriott spending. You’ll also receive a $100 property credit when staying at Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis hotels. Marriott award pricing is high, so a typical signup bonus may not stretch very far on its own. Since this is an Amex card, waiting for an elevated offer is often worthwhile. We have seen welcome offers as high as 185,000 points.

The IHG One Rewards Premier Select is now IHG’s top personal card and earns a spot on this list for travelers who stay with IHG regularly. Its 60,000-point anniversary free night can be topped off with additional points and is worth about $360 based on our IHG point valuation, which could offset the annual fee on its own. The card also includes automatic Platinum Elite status, 20 Elite Night Credits each year, and up to $300 in annual IHG Food & Beverage Rewards, though these have to be used quarterly in $75 increments. When redeeming points, you’ll get the fourth night free on stays of four or more nights, while paid IHG stays earn 12x points from the card before factoring in points earned as an IHG member and from elite status. The higher annual fee makes it harder to justify for occasional IHG guests, but travelers who stay with IHG several times per year can get substantially more value than they would from the lower-tier Premier Card.

The Bilt Palladium is the top card in Bilt’s lineup and earns a spot on this list largely because of Bilt’s partnership with Hyatt. It is the only Bilt card that offers a signup bonus, and when paired with 2x points on all purchases and the ability to earn points on housing payments, it creates a clear path to building a sizable balance of points to transfer to Hyatt. Keep in mind that Bilt’s Hyatt transfer ratio drops from 1:1 to 4:3 starting January 1, 2027, which will reduce the value of those transfers. The card also includes $400 in annual hotel credits, split into two $200 credits. Each credit requires a two-night minimum stay, which is a drawback, but the value can be improved by stacking it with Bilt Cash. As a Gold member, you can redeem up to $100 per month in Bilt Cash toward hotel stays, and Gold status is included with the card for the year you earn it and the entire following year. Combining the hotel credit with Bilt Cash can effectively create a $300 discount twice per year, making this benefit far more compelling.

While Citi’s hotel partners aren’t the most obvious names, the Strata Elite earns its place thanks to the value and variety it offers. The Strata Elite adds $300 in annual hotel credits, which must be redeemed through Citi’s portal with a two-night minimum stay. Citi’s version of Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Edit is The Reserve, which includes benefits like a $100 experience credit, daily breakfast for two, and room upgrades when available. Citi transfers to Preferred Hotels at a 1:2 rate and to Choice Hotels at a 1:1.5 rate, offering decent value on the right redemptions. Citi also partners with Leaders Club, where points can be worth around 1.6¢ each and bookings include perks like upgrade priority, daily continental breakfast for two, and early check-in and late checkout when available.

The World of Hyatt Card is a relatively inexpensive hotel card that is easy to justify keeping long term. Its annual Category 1-4 free night certificate can easily offset the card’s low annual fee, and complimentary Discoverist status adds modest benefits such as late checkout and preferred rooms when available. Hyatt points also remain among the most valuable hotel currencies for award stays, so points earned through the card can go a long way. However, the card itself is less compelling than the premium hotel cards above. Its signup bonus is relatively modest, Discoverist is only entry-level status, and the annual free night certificate is limited to Category 1-4 properties. For travelers who regularly stay with Hyatt, it remains a solid keeper, but it doesn’t offer the same level of hotel-specific benefits as the cards ranked above it.