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How Long Can You Live on Hotel Card Sign-Up Bonuses

Caroline Lupini

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June 30, 2020

There are quite a few different hotel credit cards out there all offering lucrative sign-up bonuses. Some offer a number of free nights while others offer a certain number of points. It’s pretty clear how many nights you can stay for free with the first type of sign-up bonus, but the cards that offer points are a bit more tricky. Here are the main hotel credit cards currently available and the number of free nights you can get — plus the total number of nights you could live out of hotels if you got all of these cards at the same time (which I totally don’t recommend)!

Marriott/Ritz-Carlton

Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card
These credit cards offer 80,000 points each for their sign-up bonuses after completing minimum spending requirements. Marriott’s reward chart starts at 6,000 points per night for a Category 1 PointSavers hotel. The upper end is 45,000 points per night for a regular Marriott hotel, but you can also redeem your Marriott points for uber fancy Ritz-Carlton hotels. Top tier Ritz-Carlton hotels cost 70,000 points per night. This means that the sign-up bonus for each Marriott credit card could get you as few as one night or as many as 13!

Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card

Of all of the cards on this list, this one is the most straight forward. When you apply for the Ritz-Carlton Rewards card, you’ll earn two complimentary nights at a Category 1-4 Ritz-Carlton property after completing minimum spending requirements.

Hilton

Hilton Honors Card from American Express

The Hilton Honors card has a 50,000 Hilton point sign-up bonus after completing minimum spending requirements. Hilton’s award chart starts at 5,000 points per night but can go to 95,000 points per night (or even higher!) just for a basic room. That means this sign-up bonus is worth anywhere from less than one free night to 10 free nights at Hilton properties.

Hilton Honors Surpass Card from American Express

The Hilton Honors Surpass card has a higher 75,000 point sign-up bonus after completing minimum spending requirements. Since we’re still talking about Hilton with rooms starting at 5,000 points to over 95,000 points for a free night, this sign-up bonus is worth up to 15 free nights at Hilton properties.

Hyatt

Hyatt Credit Card

Hyatt’s credit card used to come with a fixed two nights at any Hyatt property worldwide, but was recently changed to have a 40,000 Hyatt point sign-up bonus after completing minimum spending requirements. Free nights at Hyatt properties can cost as little as 5,000 points and as much as 30,000 points for a standard room. This 40,000 sign-up bonus could get you as many as eight free nights at Hyatt properties or as few as one with some points to spare.

Starwood Preferred Guest

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

The Starwood Preferred Guest credit card offers 75000 SPG points after completing minimum spending requirements. SPG’s hotels start at just 2,000 points per night and can cost as many as 35,000 points per night. This sign-up bonus could get you anywhere from not-quite-one to 15 free nights at SPG properties.

Starwood Business Credit Card from American Express

If you’re looking for a business credit card, the Starwood Business card gets even 15,000 more points for its sign-up bonus for a total of 100,000 SPG points after completing minimum spending requirements. SPG points can be used for hotel stays, but they can also be transferred to airline frequent flyer programs. If you convert your points into airline miles, you will get the 5,000 miles bonus for transferring 20,000 SPG points.

InterContinental Hotels Group

IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card
When you apply for the IHG Rewards Club Select credit card and complete minimum spending requirements, you’ll earn 60,000 IHG points. IHG Reward nights start at just 5,000 IHG points for PointBreaks properties and can cost as much as 60,000 points per night for top-tier properties. This sign-up bonus is worth anywhere between one and 12 nights at IHG properties.

What’s the total number of nights you can get for free from hotel credit card sign-up bonuses?

The total number of hotel nights you can get out of the sign-up bonuses from hotel credit cards varies a lot depending on what category of hotel you want to stay in. If you’re looking to stretch your points as far as they can go, you can book as many as 100 nights at hotels (with a few points left over) from the sign-up bonuses alone! On the other hand, if you only redeem your points at top-tier properties, you’ll max out your free nights at less than a week with only six free nights with a decent number of points left over.

In reality, if you got all of these cards all at once or spread out over a few months or years, you would probably redeem the sign-up bonuses for somewhere between six and 100 nights at hotels. Additionally, you’d have a few more points at your disposal considering you have to spend money (and would therefore earn points) in order to earn the sign-up bonus.

Other options?

In addition to the credit cards listed above, many other smaller hotel chains offer credit cards with some type of sign-up bonus. Additionally, credit cards that earn transferable points currencies like Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, and Citi ThankYou points can also be utilized for free hotel nights by transferring to hotel partners and redeeming directly.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

UGC Disclosure: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Best Credit Cards For Hotel Elite Status

Jason Steele

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July 2, 2020

There are few travel experiences as annoying as arriving at a hotel after a long trip, and being forced to wait in a line to check in. On the other hand, it’s gratifying to bypass the line and receive immediate service when you have elite status with a major hotel chain.

On top of that, guests with elite status can enjoy other perks like room upgrades, late check-outs and even free breakfast. Finally, having elite status means that you’ll earn more reward points for every dollar you spend.

Normally, you earn elite status by being a frequent guest at hotels within a chain. But in addition, there are many hotel credit cards that offer you elite status just for being a cardholder. Many of these cards also feature additional nights or stay credit towards reaching the next level of status.

Here are the best credit cards for earning elite status with a hotel chain:

The Platinum Card from American Express and The Enhanced Business Platinum® Card from American Express OPEN.

These cards give you elite status with three different hotel programs. First, you receive Gold elite status with the Hilton HHonors program, which normally requires 20 stays, 40 nights or 75,000 HHonors base points. It offers benefits such as late checkouts and even free breakfast at some properties. It also offers you Gold status in the Starwood Preferred Guest program. And since Starwood was acquired by Marriott in 2016, you now get Gold status in the much larger Marriott Rewards program as well. There’s a $450 annual fee for these cards.

Earn elite status with the Platinum Card from American Express — Earn hotel elite status with the Platinum Card from American Express

Citi® Hilton HHonors Reserve Card.

This card offers you HHonors Gold status from day one, as well as top-tier HHonors Diamond status if you use the card to spend $40,000 within a calendar year. There’s a $95 annual fee for this card.

Hilton HHonors™ Surpass® Card from American Express.

Like the Citi HHonors Reserve, the HHonors Surpass features instant HHonors Gold status and top-tier HHonors Diamond status when you use the card to spend $40,000 within a calendar year. There’s a $75 annual fee for this card.

Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Visa Signature® Card.

This card offers low-level HHonors Silver status immediately, and a fast-track offer for mid-tier HHonors Gold status after you complete four stays within your first 90 days of account opening, or if you make $20,000 in purchases within a calendar year. There’s no annual fee for this card.

Hilton HHonors™ Card from American Express.

This card features complimentary HHonors Silver status, but let’s you earn Gold status through the end of the next year when you spend $20,000 in a calendar year. There’s no annual fee for this card.

The Hyatt Credit Card from Chase.

This card offers you instant Platinum status in the Hyatt Gold Passport program, which is soon to be rebranded as World of Hyatt. Also, it offers two stay credits and five night credits toward Diamond status when you spend $20,000, and an additional three stay credits and five night credits when you . Spend $40,000 in a calendar year. There’s a $75 annual fee for this card.

IHG® Rewards Club Traveler Credit Card from Chase.

This card offers Platinum Elite status to all cardmembers and has $29 annual fee.

Starwood Preferred Guest card from American Express.

This card offers Starwood Gold status after you spend $30,000 on it within a calendar year. You also get credit for five nights and two stays each year toward elite status each year. And since Marriott purchased Starwood, you also get Gold status in the Marriott Rewards program. There’s a $95 annual fee for this card.

Marriott Rewards card from Chase.

This card grants Silver elite status to all cardholders, plus another night’s credit for each $3,000 spent. This card also gives you elite status with Starwood because of the merger. You need 50 elite night credits to reach Gold status and 75 to reach Platinum. There’s an $85 annual fee for this card.

The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Credit Card.

This card offers complimentary Gold elite status the first year and each year following one that you spend $10,000 on your card. You also receive Platinum status when you spend $75,000 in an account year. Ritz-Carlton is part of Marriott, so you status applies to both the Marriott Rewards program and the Starwood Preferred Guest program. There’a $300 annual fee for this card.

The United Club card from Chase.

A little known benefit of this airline card is Platinum status in the Hyatt Gold Passport program, soon to be rebranded World of Hyatt. This card features United Club lounge access and has a $450 annual fee.

The Wyndham Rewards® Visa® Card from Barclaycard.

Wyndham recently added Platinum status as a cardholder feature offered to new applicants. Platinum status offers preferred rooms, early check-ins, late checkouts and free Wi-Fi.

Which is the best?

With status in three programs (four if you count Ritz-Carlton), there’s no doubt that the American Express Platinum cards, both business and personal, are the ultimate in offering hotel elite status. Coming up next are the cards from both Starwood and Marriott, which each feature status in both programs (and Ritz-Carlton). The Starwood card requires a sizable annual spending of $30,000, but Starwood points are incredibly valuable. Marriott offers low-level status for free, and one night stay after each $3,000 of spending, but earning only one Marriott point per dollar spent on most purchases is a poor value.

Other good deals include the Citi® Hilton HHonors Reserve Card, and the Hilton HHonors™ Surpass® Card from American Express, which both come with mid-tier Gold status and let you earn top-tier Diamond status for spending $40,000. This is a lot of money, but it’s not out of the reach of many business travelers. Earning mid-tier Hyatt status from the Hyatt card or the United Club card is also very valuable.

The least valuable is the low-tier Silver status offered by both the Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Visa Signature® card and the Hilton HHonors™ Card from American Express. It offers late checkouts and complimentary Internet service, but little else of value. Finally, the Wyndham Rewards program can offer exceptional value for your points redeemed, but Wyndham Gold status doesn’t offer much more than the possibility of a slightly better room.

By understanding which credit cards offer hotel elite status, you can choose the best one for your travel needs.

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