The Best Hotel Credit Cards of 2019

The Best Hotel Credit Cards of 2019

Apply for the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express here before it closes applications forever on Feb. 12!

If you’re a road warrior loyal to a particular hotel chain, a hotel cobranded card can be a no-brainer, since it often grants you complimentary elite status, along with bonus points and potentially even on-property credits. If you like to switch it up between Marriotts, Hiltons and smaller properties, a co-brand card might not make as much sense, but you should still get a card that earns you bonus points for your hotel stays — and luckily, there are some great options that you’ll want not just for hotel spending but for general travel purchases as well.

Here are the Best Hotel Credit Cards of 2019: Best for Marriott: Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card and the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express Best for Hotels.com: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Best for earning on hotels and travel: Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve Best for Hilton: Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express Best for Hyatt: The World Of Hyatt Credit Card Best for IHG: IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card Criteria

These card picks are based on numerous criteria: the points program value, welcome bonus, perks and more. Popular features on some of these hotel credit cards include complimentary elite status, free award nights and statement credits. Be sure to read the fine print for each offer.

Finally, when choosing the right hotel credit card, always take into account the spending requirements for the welcome bonus, since you won’t want to miss out on that — but should only apply if you’re able to comfortably meet the required spend.

Best Hotel Credit Cards: Detailed Rankings

Below you’ll find detailed analysis of each individual card on the list, including the annual fee, welcome bonus, earning rates and more in-depth specifics.

Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express 

Annual fee: $95 (waived the first year) (See Rates & Fees)

Welcome bonus: Earn 75,000 miles after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months.

Earning rates: 6 points per dollar at Marriott and SPG properties, 2 points per dollar on everything else.

If you want a card that earns you bonus points for booking Marriott stays and a few elite perks but you don’t want to pay the $450 annual fee of the SPG Luxury Card (See Rates & Fees), the SPG Amex is worth a close look. Especially because it will be closing for applications forever on Feb. 12. Starting in February after the card’s no longer available to new applications, it will switch to the new Marriott Bonvoy program branding and be renamed the Marriott Bonvoy Amex.

In addition to earning you 6x points on Marriott stays, this card offers a free night award at properties that cost up to 35,000 points per night each year after your account anniversary. You also get complimentary Silver elite status, which comes with a few benefits like a 10% bonus on points and priority late checkout, and you can upgrade to Gold status after spending $35,000 on the card in a calendar year.

Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card

Annual fee: $450

Welcome bonus: 75,000 points after you spend $3,000 in the first three months.

Earning rates: 6 points per dollar at Marriott and SPG properties; 3 points per dollar at US restaurants and on flights booked directly with the airlines; 2 points per dollar on everything else.

This card can be quite valuable if you have plans to book stays at properties in the Marriott program. The card includes perks like up to $300 in statement credits each year of card membership for eligible purchases at Marriott and SPG hotels, and a free award night every year after your account anniversary for properties that cost up to 50,000 points. The SPG Amex Luxury Card also gets you complimentary Gold elite status in the Marriott program, plus the ability to earn Platinum status after you spend $75,000 on the card in a calendar year.

Note that starting on Feb. 13, 2019, this card will have updated Marriott Bonvoy branding. At that point, it will be renamed the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex and will be available with a limited-time welcome bonus of 100,000 points after you spend $5,000 in the first three months. Starting on Mar. 28, card holders will also get a $100 luxury credit for eligible stays at St. Regis and Ritz-Carlton properties.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Annual fee: $95 (waived the first year)

Welcome bonus: Earn 50,000 miles after you spend $3,000 within 3 months from account opening.

Earning rates: 10 miles per dollar on Hotels.com bookings, 2 miles per dollar on all other purchases

While the Venture Rewards card offers a decent return of 2% on all spending, it’s become much more exciting for those of you looking to book hotels. Now, it will get you 10x miles on hotel stays booked and paid through Hotels.com, specifically at the Hotels.com/venture URL — equal to a 10% return. But pair that with the one free night that the Hotels.com Rewards program offers you for every 10 nights you book through the site, and you’re looking at a total of 20% back on hotel stays. The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card also offers 10x miles at Hotels.com — and keep in mind with both that this bonus is available through January 2020.

This card won’t be the best choice for everyone booking hotel stays, as making purchases through online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Hotels.com generally disqualifies you from earning night and/or stay credits toward hotel elite status, and you might not enjoy benefits that come with any current status you hold on stays booked through OTAs, either. But if you’re simply looking for the best possible return on hotel bookings, you can’t beat the Venture and VentureOne. Plus, you can now transfer Venture miles to a variety of airline partners, including Aeroplan, Avianca and Etihad, so you can get more than the flat 1 cent per mile in value that you’d get by redeeming miles to cover travel purchases (though that’s still an option).

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card You can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott and redeem for award stays.

Annual fee: $0 for the first year, then $95

Welcome bonus: Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. That’s $625 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Earning rates: Earn 2x points on travel and dining at restaurants and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases worldwide

If you frequently spend on travel — in general, not just at hotels — and dining, and you want to use your points to book travel with partners like British Airways and Hyatt, a Chase Sapphire card is a no-brainer. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great pick for newbies since its fee is waived the first year and it earns valuable bonus points on broad travel and dining categories.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve has the same bonus categories of travel and dining, but it earns 3x points on these purchases, and it includes several more perks like a $300 annual travel credit and an application fee credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry. It has a $450 annual fee, but that’s effectively lowered to $150 when you factor in the $300 travel credit.

Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express

Annual fee: $450 (See Rates & Fees)

Welcome bonus: Earn 150,000 points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months.

Earning rates: 14 points per dollar at Hilton hotels; 7 miles per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly from select car rentals and at US restaurants; and 3 points per dollar on everything else

Hilton released three new cards with Amex in early 2018, and the Aspire is now the most rewarding option in the co-brand lineup. It earns you the most Hilton points per dollar on paid stays with the brand (14x points), and also offers some pretty sweet annual travel credits. You get a $250 Hilton resort statement credit each year for eligible on-property purchases, plus an annual credit of up to $250 for incidental airline fees such as baggage charges. Other benefits include complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond status, a free weekend night each year upon your account renewal and the ability to earn an additional free weekend night by spending $60,000 on the card in a calendar year.

World of Hyatt Credit Card Park Hyatt, Bangkok.

Annual fee: $95

Welcome bonus: 25,000 points after you spend $3,000 in the first three months. Plus earn an additional 25,000 points after you spend $6,000 total on purchases within the first six months.

Earning rates: 4 points per dollar at Hyatt properties; 2 points per dollar on local transit and commuting, at restaurants, on airline tickets and on fitness club and gym memberships; 1 point per dollar everywhere else

This card was relaunched with a higher welcome bonus and additional bonus categories, such as 2x for gym memberships. It offers automatic Discoverist status in the World of Hyatt program, plus 5 qualifying nights toward your next tier status every year, and 2 additional qualifying night credits toward your next tier status for every $5,000 you spend on the card. You’ll receive one free night at any Category 1-4 property every year after your account anniversary, and can earn another free night after you spend $15,000 in a card member anniversary year.

IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card Intercontinental Hong Kong.

Annual fee: $89

Welcome bonus: 80,000 points after you spend $2,000 in the first three months.

Earning rates: 10 points per dollar at IHG hotels; 2 points per dollar at gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants; and 1 point per dollar everywhere else

If IHG’s portfolio of properties aligns with your travel plans, this card could be a great pick. In addition to a generous sign-up bonus, you get a free night after each account anniversary, which can alone outweigh the annual fee. Unfortunately, when IHG introduced this card it also announced that the annual free night would limited to properties that cost 40,000 points or less, but there are still plenty of great options for redeeming it. Plus, as a card holder you also get automatic Platinum elite status, and a fourth night free on award stays.

Best Hotel Credit Cards: Full Details

Card	Bonus for Hotel Purchases	Return on Spending (Based on TPG Valuations)	Limitations
Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express	6x	5.4%	6x only at Marriott and SPG properties
Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card	6x	5.4%	6x only at Marriott and SPG properties
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card	10x	10-14%	Must book and pay through Hotels.com link
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card	2x	4%	None
Chase Sapphire Reserve	3x	6%	None
Hilton Amex Aspire	14x	8.4%	14x only at Hilton properties
World of Hyatt Credit Card	4x	7.2%	4x only at Hyatt properties
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card	10x	6%	10x only at IHG properties

If you’re trying to decide on a hotel chain to commit to and earn elite status with, check out our in-depth analysis of The Best Hotel Loyalty Programs in the World.

On the other hand, if you don’t want to commit to one hotel chain, a card that earns transferable points, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred, could be the best pick for you. It earns Ultimate Rewards points, which you can move over to Hyatt, IHG and Marriott to redeem toward award stays, so you have plenty of options. You’ll also earn 2 points per dollar on the card for a wide range of travel purchases and dining purchases, which equals a 4% return based on TPG’s valuations.

Finally, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card also offers a wide range of travel protection benefits and primary car rental insurance, which can save the day when you’re traveling. Note, however, that the Chase Sapphire Reserve card could be an even better pick for frequent travelers. And if you can stack the 10x miles on Hotels.com bookings with the one free night for every 10 nights through Hotels.com Rewards, the Capital One Venture Card could be a great option as well.

To recap our selections… Here are the Best Hotel Credit Cards for 2019 Best for Marriott: Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card and the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express Best for Hotels.com: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card Best for earning on hotels and travel: Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve Best for Hilton: Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express Best for Hyatt: The World Of Hyatt Credit Card Best for IHG: IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card

For rates and fees of the SPG Luxury Card, please click here.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Aspire Card, please click here.
For rates and fees of the SPG Amex Card, please click here.

Featured photo by Eric Helgas for The Points Guy

This is The Points Guy’s permanent page with the best currently available hotel credit cards, so you can bookmark it and check back regularly for updates. Keep in mind you may see some reader comments referring to older offers below.

11 Ways to Meet Credit Card Bonus Minimum Spending Requirements

Many credit cards feature excellent bonuses once you make a particular amount of purchases, oftentimes $4,000 or $5,000, within a certain time period. A question I get frequently is: how do I hit the minimum requirement if I don’t normally spend that much on credit cards? Obviously you don’t want to make unnecessary or extravagant purchases just to meet the minimum spending threshold. So, today I want to go through my list of 11 tips to ensure that you hit that threshold and earn the bonus.

Before getting into my list, there are two critical reminders I have to point out. First, note that paying the card’s annual fee usually does not count toward the required minimum spend amount. Second, make sure to read the fine print regarding eligibility for the sign-up bonus. Some cards restrict sign-up bonuses to those who have never had the card before or to those who haven’t opened or closed a card within the card family within a particular amount of time. Other cards exclude certain types of purchases from counting toward the required minimum spend. The last thing you want to do is apply for a card, get accepted, believe you’ve made the minimum spend and then miss out on the bonus — so be sure to read the fine print.

So how can you accelerate your progress toward meeting a large minimum spending requirement? Here are some suggestions:

1. Pay Your Rent or Mortgage

The first method to consider utilizing is to pay your rent or mortgage using your new card. Finding a landlord, apartment complex or bank that will accept this payment without charging a fee is relatively rare, but it may be worth paying a fee to a service like Plastiq if this will give you the extra spend you need to earn the sign-up bonus.

Paying your rent or mortgage could help you earn a sign-up bonus, and it could even be worth paying a fee to do so. (Photo by Rawpixel via Unsplash) 2. Pre-Paying Insurance, Utilities or Other Regular Expenses

Another way to boost your spending to hit a minimum spending threshold is to investigate prepaying certain expenses. Many utility and insurance companies will bill you monthly, and you can often choose the size of the payment you make to cover that month’s bill. You could add an extra $100 to your utility bill payment for the first three months of card membership, or you could prepay three or even six months of insurance to ensure you’re reaching the amount needed to earn the sign-up bonus. Just be sure that you’re accounting for these expenses and can afford to pay your monthly balance off in full — the first commandment for travel rewards credit cards.

Another option would be to pay an annual or biannual bill early (again, as long as you can afford to pay the entire statement balance in full). If you’re struggling to hit a spending requirement, it could make sense to look ahead and see what bills are coming due soon that could help get your across that threshold.

If you have regular monthly bills, think about prepaying some of them for future months. (Photo by Sean Patrick Murphy via Unsplash) 3. Offer to Pick Up the Tab When Dining Out With Friends

An easy way to generate “free” spending is when you’re dining out with a large group. Even though I’ve sung the praises of travel rewards credit cards and the fantastic awards they unlock, many of my friends and family members still use cash or even debit cards when we’re at a restaurant. I’ve also run into situations where the waiter or waitress is unwilling to split a check.

Enter you with your new card and your desire to hit its minimum spend. Offer to put the entire meal on your card and have them either give you cash on the spot or send it via an online service like PayPal or Venmo. Because you receive the funds to cover their portion of the bill, your only true out-of-pocket expense is your meal. Of course, you may not want the hassle of chasing your less-than-reliable friends who don’t pony up immediately, but if you’re all right with that wrinkle, this can be a nice boost toward the minimum spend requirement.

A dinner with friends can help you reach your minimum spend. (Photo by Dan Gold via Unsplash) 4. Donate to Charity

Although a lot of people tend to give cash or write checks to their favorite charities, it’s usually possible to make these donations using a points-earning credit card. Some credit cards even give category spending bonuses on charitable donations, like the U.S. Bank Flexperks Travel Rewards Visa, which earns 2 points per dollar on most donations. If you’re looking to finish off a minimum spend, making a donation to your favorite charity is a great way to do so.

If you want to help others while hopefully getting your money back, you could use your new credit card to make no-interest microloans through Kiva. Of course, there’s always a risk that your loan will default and you’ll lose your money. But, this is relatively rare, especially if you use KivaLens to filter your options.

Make change by using your credit card when donating. (Photo by Kat Yukawa via Unsplash) 5. Pay Your Taxes

Figuring out your taxes and how to pay them? Well, if you’ve been doing it by check or cash, you’ve been wasting points. For property and state taxes, you can use Official Payments as a third-party service. For federal taxes, check the IRS list of tax payment service providers as many of these providers accept payment by credit card. Just be sure to consider the convenience fees since these may negate the value of points you earn — though if it’s for earning a massive minimum-spend bonus, it can certainly be worth it. For a guide on paying taxes with credit cards, check out this post.

Pay your taxes — the American way! (Photo by Neonbrand via Unsplash) 6. Pay for Tuition

Tuition for day care, private school and university can be expensive, but paying this tuition with your new credit card can be an excellent way to quickly hit your minimum spend. When it comes to paying tuition with a credit card, you’ll usually face one of three situations:

Tuition cannot be paid with a credit card (like Wake Forest). Tuition can be paid with a credit card with no fee (like the University of Nevada-Las Vegas). Tuition can be paid with a credit card with a fee (like the University of Florida).

You’re obviously out of luck with the first category (unless you can use Plastiq), while the second category is a no-brainer. For the third, it’s once again up to you to crunch the numbers and determine if paying a fee makes sense. If you have no other feasible way to hit the minimum spend threshold, paying a small fee on these tuition payments may be worth it. However, if you can use any of the other fee-free tips mentioned above, that will keep money in your pocket.

If you can pay for tuition using a credit card instead of a jar of change, that can help you hit your minimum spend. (Photo via Shutterstock) 7. Use Plastiq to Pay Bills

Does your landlord, university, day care, gym or utility company not accept credit cards? You may still be able to pay for these expenses using the Plastiq bill payment service. You’ll pay fees around 2.5% for the ability to do so, but using the service can still make sense if being able to pay for these expenses using your new credit card will let you hit your minimum spending threshold.

You can use your credit card to pay for a service to pay those pesky bills for you. (Photo via Shutterstock) 8. Purchase Points or Miles

Here at The Points Guy, we usually don’t recommend purchasing points or miles unless you have a redemption for which you plan to use said points or miles. But, purchasing points or miles can be a good way to hit a minimum spending threshold — especially if you’ll be able to use these points soon. And, if you happen to be working toward the bonus on the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, Points.com purchases usually code as 3x.

9. Put a Down Payment on a New Car

If you’re in the market for a new car, this can be another great way to ensure you meet the minimum spend. You may not be as lucky as Senior Points & Miles Contributor Richard Kerr, who was able to charge an entire car to the Platinum Card® from American Express, but you could still get a sizable chunk of your minimum spend out of the way with a down payment. Many dealerships will let you put $2,000 to $5,000 on a card, but it’s best to confirm a final deal with the salesperson before discussing the possibility of swiping your card. This way, the dealership can’t tack on extra fees for the privilege. Of course, this is only a good idea if you were already planning on purchasing a car.

If you’re purchasing a car, be sure to put the down payment on your new credit card. (Photo by Grant Ritchie via Unsplash) 10. Get Reimbursed for Business Expenses

Though I recommend getting a business credit card to help keep your personal and business expenses separate, if you’re in a pinch and have a limited time window to meet minimum spending on a new credit card, it could be worth using a personal credit card for business expenses and getting reimbursed. Or, if one of your new credit cards is a business card like the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card or Capital One Spark Miles for Business, then you should start putting your work purchases on it immediately anyway. Check in with your employer to see if that is possible, and be very careful not to bite off more than you can chew since it can take a while to get reimbursed by a corporate accounting department and you’re the one who’s going to get stuck with the bill until that check comes through.

11. Purchasing Cash Equivalents

Purchasing gift cards, reloading account balances and using your credit card to send friends or family money through Venmo or PayPal are all tempting options for reaching a minimum spend. But, some credit card issuers exclude these types of purchases from counting toward minimum spend thresholds and/or earning points. For example, the terms and conditions for The Platinum Card® from American Express welcome bonus state:

The following eligible purchases do NOT count toward the Threshold Amount: fees or interest charges; purchases of travelers checks; purchases or reloading of prepaid cards; purchases of gift cards; person-to-person payments; or purchases of other cash equivalents.

So, although you might get away with purchasing some small gift cards from the grocery store or pharmacy and some issuers will allow these types of purchases to count toward a minimum spend, I wouldn’t count on these types of purchases. After all, it would be a shame to barely miss reaching a minimum spending threshold and there are many other reasonable options discussed earlier in this post.

Bottom Line

Hopefully you can use one or more of these tips to earn the full bonus on any cards you’ve signed up for recently even if you don’t normally spend enough on your credit cards to meet the minimum spend. Or perhaps now you feel confident enough in your ability to meet the minimum spending requirements on a card with a great bonus that you’ve been considering. But, if all this seems like too much work, you could always consider a card that provides the bonus after just one purchase.

Featured image via Shutterstock.

Additional reporting by Nick Ewen.