Benefits of a Hotel Credit Card
by: Tom Tessin

Many people think the best credit card out there is an airline rewards card. However, lodging is often times more expensive over a period of time than a flight is. Because of this, you ought to consider hotel credit cards. There are many benefits for travelers that can make their vacation even better than they had imagined.

Free Nights

The first benefit is obvious and it is free lodging. When you use one credit card then all of the money you spend you will be given rewards for. This means that in the course of a year, or even a few months, you can rack up some free nights at your favorite hotel. When hotel rooms cost $100 to $150 per night and you have several days free you can really drop the overall price of your vacation!

No Annual Fee

Another benefit of hotel credit cards is that many of them do not charge an annual fee. There are of course some that do, but many of them don’t and you need to do the research so you know which ones offer a no annual fee card and the ones that do charge a fee. For example, the American Express Hilton HHonors Platinum card and the Visa Platinum Priority Club Rewards card do not charge any annual fee.

Many to Choose From

There are a lot of different hotel credit cards to choose from. That means you can be picky and determine which one you like the most. Check out the different cards that offer rewards for the hotels you like the most. Then, you can apply for the one that has the best offer. It is really a good idea to have only one hotel credit card because you want all of your spending to go to maximize your reward. If you have several, you may get a few free nights in one hotel and then a night or two in another. Changing hotels mid vacation might not be what you had in mind.

More than Just Free Nights

The cool thing about many hotel credit cards is you can accrue points for more than just hotel rooms. You can also use the points for parking, spa treatments, meals, and other items like golf clubs, jewelry, and more. When you apply for one of these credit cards and use it the first time you will almost always receive some bonus points. There are some credit cards that will give you as many as 10,000 points after the first use. Look out for hotel credit cards with great offers like this.

These are just some of the benefits of hotel credit cards. Some cards have more while others have less. You need to do the research to determine which card has the right kind of rewards program for you.