My spouse and I spent the opening night of our recent driving getaway at a Courtyard hotel in Athens, Georgia. We strolled into downtown for Indian food and enjoyed drinks on the roof of the Georgia Theatre. The room was tidy, the pool area pleasant and the hotel included a bar. Our out-of-pocket: $0.
After a couple of days exploring Greenville, South Carolina and chasing waterfalls in North Carolina, we reached Savannah, Georgia for our final night. We booked a suite at the Andaz downtown, right across from the waterfront. At check-in we were handed complimentary glasses of wine, and the suite came stocked with free snacks, juice and soda.
From our balcony we watched kids playing in the fountains in the plaza below while horse-drawn carriages rolled by on the street. The living room featured a massive TV and the bedroom had a smaller one. The bathroom included a deep tub, a separate shower and dual sinks. There were robes and slippers, plus an outdoor pool on the second level. Our cost: $0.
Want to land deals like these? It’s time to learn how to identify the best travel credit cards and how to squeeze the most value from them.
Seek Out Free Hotel Nights
My new Marriott Rewards Visa included a complimentary night at one of the many brands owned by Marriott — up to category four. That’s what I used for the Courtyard by Marriott in Athens.
The offer also featured 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on the card within three months. I paid our homeowners insurance and a few regular bills to hit that threshold. We can redeem points for up to seven additional free nights, although we’ll likely get about three nights at category three properties — the tier we usually pick (15,000 points each).
Altogether, we’ll get four free hotel nights that normally go for more than $100 per night, simply by putting some bills on a credit card — not a bad return. The Marriott Rewards card is among the top hotel cards. The annual fee is $85, but there’s no fee the first year, which leads to the next question…
Is Paying an Annual Fee Worth It?
To avoid the Marriott card fee, I could burn the points and cancel the account. Yet the card also grants an “Anniversary Free Night” each year when you pay the fee. Since we usually book hotels that average around $85 per night even when we pay, keeping the card might be logical.
Consider the Hyatt Credit Card, which is what we used for our Andaz stay in Savannah (an Andaz property is part of Hyatt). Spend $1,000 on the card within three months and you earn two free nights at any Hyatt worldwide. That’s a strong welcome bonus, though there’s a $75 annual fee after the first year.
Pay the fee.
Each year you receive a free night at a category one to four property. We used an anniversary night at the Hyatt Regency in Lake Tahoe, and it was one of the most luxurious stays we’ve had (sadly it’s since been bumped to category five). At the time, the best online price was $239 per night, so the $75 yearly fee was easily justified. We also used points for a second night.
Other Excellent Travel Credit Cards
Some of the top travel cards carry no annual fee and offer 1.5 points per dollar spent — the equivalent of 1.5 cents back as travel credits. If you charge $10,000 a year to such a card, you’d effectively save around $150 in travel credit.
But the sign-up bonuses can be substantial too.
I recently met the $1,000 spend on my VentureOne Rewards Card, which earned me a $200 travel statement credit usable toward flights, hotels or other trip costs.
How Will This Affect Your Credit Score?
What happens to your credit score when you open and close accounts to chase travel bonuses? BankRate notes that having ample available credit rarely harms your score. But closing cards can ding your rating slightly, especially if you shutter older accounts.
Conversely, my score climbedwhen I began regularly opening and closing cards. I think this happened because the new credit lines reduced my utilization ratio, outweighing any negative effect from closures. I outlined this method for boosting your credit score in a prior piece.
It can help to learn how to cancel credit cards without harming your credit. For instance, consider spacing out new account applications by a couple of months (which is often necessary anyway to meet each card’s spending threshold). That lowers the chance of multiple hard inquiries affecting your score.
Know Which Card to Use When
Besides signup bonuses, you also earn points as you spend on travel cards, but the earning rate varies by card and category.
For instance, the Hyatt Credit Card awards one point per dollar on general purchases and three points per dollar at Hyatt locations. The Marriott Rewards Visa gives five points per dollar at Marriott properties. It’s sensible to charge meals or drinks at the hotel to the hotel-branded card.
Issuers sometimes offer other perks to encourage using their cards. For example, the VentureOne Rewards Card touts “complimentary upgrades and special savings at hotels, resorts and spas,” so booking with that card might yield extra benefits.
Many travel cards provide added protections like lost luggage coverage if you reserve the flight with that card. Read each card’s benefits guide and note which card is best for particular purchases.
Finally, if you don’t have another strong reason to choose one card over another, go with the card that awards the most points for that specific travel expense. Some cards grant double or triple points for car rentals, flights or hotels.
On the same trip, I might use my Hyatt card while staying at the Hyatt to earn triple points, another card for dining, and my American Express business card for gas because it gives triple points for fuel.
Know the Right Time to Redeem Points
Your points or miles aren’t worth the same amount in every situation.
For instance, it may cost 25,000 miles from a Delta SkyMiles Credit Card to cover a $99 flight. But if a ticket runs over $200, you might be able to use only 10,000 miles to get $100 off. That means you shouldn’t waste miles on cheap short flights if you plan to take pricier ones down the road.
Also, if you travel frequently, you might want to pay cash for hotel rooms in low-cost cities instead of using points, saving your free nights for locations where rooms are steeply priced.
And note: a category four Marriott or Hyatt can be double the price in one city compared with another. Categories don’t always align directly with typical room rates.
More Tricks to Maximize Travel Cards
We once complained about trash near the hot tub at a Hyatt in Coral Gables, Florida, and the clerk apologized by crediting 6,000 points to our account — almost another free night. So if something’s amiss, speak up!
Here are a few additional strategies to extract more value from travel cards.
Choose Credits Over Cash
You may have multiple redemption options, and you should evaluate them carefully.
For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card might give you $400 cash back for 40,000 points, but redeeming those same points through Chase Ultimate Rewards could yield a $500 credit toward airfare.
Compare Cash Costs of Redemption Alternatives
If you can redeem points in several ways, check the cash price of each alternative.
For example, the Starwood Preferred Guest card from American Express lets you redeem for flights or hotel stays. If you need both a flight and lodging and you only have enough points for one, compare current cash prices and use points for whichever would cost more in cash.
Weigh Value According to Your Needs
The value of redemptions also depends on what those options mean for you and your plans.
For instance, you can trade 30,000 Marriott Rewards points for two nights at a category three property or for a $100 gift card from select retailers. If you regularly shop at one of those stores, that gift card is basically cash.
So if you have no travel plans involving Marriott hotels, or you typically stay in $29 motels (ouch), that gift card might be the smarter move.
Keep Track of Your Points
If you intend to use bonuses and points and then cancel the card, monitor balances closely to maximize returns. You don’t want to cancel and forfeit 7,000 points when you could have charged a few bills to reach 7,500 points — the threshold for another free night — before closing the account.
Is Chasing Points Worth the Effort?
Yes, I do spend some time applying for cards and tracking spending and balances, but it isn’t overly time-consuming. I earned more than $1,000 last year by pursuing credit card bonuses. And for what it’s worth, credit card bonuses that require meeting spending thresholds aren’t taxable as income.
This year I’ll collect at least $1,500 in cash and equivalents. By June, travel cards alone had delivered more than $600 in cash and complimentary hotel nights. So for me, it’s worth investing a little time to identify and use rewarding travel credit cards.
Want to learn more about top travel credit cards? Join theTravel Hacking Cartel, a community of savvy travel hackers.
Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the credit card offers shown here are from card issuers that compensate this site. That compensation can influence how and where products are displayed (for example, their order). We don’t list every available card offer or every issuer.
