The best hotel rewards programs

  • Drew Macomber

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

    Not all hotel chains are created equal. Some have better five-star selections; some are more ubiquitous; some give better elite perks; some have more valuable points; some offer better hotel credit cards.

    So which ones are best? Which fits your travel style and globetrotting goals?

    Many of the most valuable points are transferable point currencies like Chase Ultimate Rewards that give you have the option to transfer to various hotel brands like Marriott, Hyatt or IHG. One of my favorite of these cards is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Or, if you’re looking to top up some of your point balances, both the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card and the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card have great welcome bonuses right now. Also, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card is a great choice if you need more Marriott points.

    The information for the Hilton Surpass has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

    Just like all hotels aren’t created equal, all hotel points are not created equal. (Image courtesy of Hilton)

    Best hotel reward program by:

    Number of hotels

    Let’s start with the most important aspect of a hotel chain. Think about where you want to travel and which hotel chains have properties nearby. If hotel points are the most valuable on our list but you can’t use them anywhere you want to travel, they’re effectively worthless to you.

    Although 100,000 Hyatt points will generally go a lot further than 100,000 Hilton points, if there’s not a Hyatt hotel in the cities you want to visit, it’s not going to matter how many you have.

    Below are the hotels with the biggest global footprint. The higher the number, the more locations you can use your points! We’ve also ranked the hotels with the most five-star options.

    1. Wyndham = 9,200+
    2. Marriott = 7,400+ (Most five-star locations)
    3. Choice = 7,000+
    4. IHG = 5,970+ (3rd most five-star locations)
    5. Hilton = 6,200+ (5th most five-star locations)
    6. Accor = 5,000+ (2nd most five-star locations)
    7. Hyatt = 1,500+ (4th most five-star locations)

    Earning free nights

    A big addendum here is that you can earn free nights by maximizing hotel promotions. But paying closer attention to the ease of earning points combined with the gamut of reward night prices, let’s take a look at some data.

    Below are the amounts you’ll need to spend with each hotel chain to earn a free night at their least and most expensive hotels. There are a few exceptions, such as off-peak dates, select hotel brands that offer a points return that is less than normal, etc. that aren’t accounted for here.

    I’ve outlined the five hotel chains that are competitive in this area.

    Hilton

    Without a Hilton credit card:

    With the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card:

    IHG

    Without an IHG credit card:

    With the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card:

    Marriott

    Without a Marriott credit card:

    With the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card:

    Hyatt

    Without a Hyatt credit card:

    With the World of Hyatt Credit Card:

    Other status benefits

    Here are the three hotel chains that have elite status perks worth striving for.

    Hyatt also offers “Milestone” rewards (perks you’ll get after staying a certain number of nights) that aren’t accounted for here. For example, you’ll earn a free night at a Category 4-14 hotel after staying 30 nights, and a free night certificate at a Category 1-7 hotel after staying 60 nights. These two certificates alone can save you $1,000+ depending on where you stay.

    Similarly, Marriott gives you a free night (up to 40,000 points) after you hit 75 nights. If you choose this, it’ll be instead of five suite night awards.

    Suite upgrades

    Hyatt and Marriott are the only two popular chains that provide some form of suite night upgrade to help you guarantee a suite instead of relying on the benevolence of the front desk at check-in.

    Let’s be clear: Hyatt is better than Marriott. By far.

    Hyatt upgrades:

    Marriott upgrades:

    As you can see, four Hyatt upgrades could be worth 28 nights, and 10 Marriott upgrades are worth 10 nights. You even need one your 5th night on the 5th-night free benefit.

    Note that while it takes longer to earn the Marriott certs, Marriott has an exponentially larger footprint than Hyatt, so accruing Marriott elite night credits is an easier task.

    Bonus free nights on award stays

    Also, I think one great benefit of some of these programs is the 4th and 5th night free benefits, represented below.

    BrandRequirementBenefit
    IHG Ambassador$200BOGO certificate
    HiltonSilver5th night free (on reward nights)
    Marriottany member5th night free
    IHGwith IHG Premier credit card4th night (reward night)

    Deep dive into the top hotel rewards programs

    World of Hyatt

    Hyatt hotels possess a number of different hotel brands, such as Park Hyatt, Miraval, Hyatt Regency, Andaz and many more.

    The best aspect of Hyatt is its abnormally high-quality hotels, even its cheapest options. I’ve never had a Hyatt horror story, nor am I acquainted with anyone who has. Not all Hyatt hotels are fancy, but they’re always pristine. If you want a safe choice, Hyatt is the hotel for you.

    Hyatt’s also got some of the most aspirational hotels in the miles and points hobby. At the top of the Hyatt award chart are properties such as:

    These are stunning celebrity-getaway type hotels and resorts with which you can save $1,000+ per night, depending on the season.

    With only 1,500+ locations worldwide (thanks to Hyatt’s partnership with SLH – not all bookable by points, I might add), this is a chain that is more difficult to find along your travels. If you’re visiting small town U.S.A., don’t count on finding a Hyatt nearby. They’re mostly in popular tourist destinations or larger cities.

    This is the biggest downfall to the Hyatt brand. However, they’ve been working hard to partner with other hotel chains to give you the ability to use Hyatt points at more places around the world. For example, you can now redeem Hyatt points for free award nights at many partner Small Luxury Hotels (SLH). And Hyatt partners with MGM resorts, so you can stay at their properties with points, too.

    The Palacio Duhau — Park Hyatt Buenos Aires. (Photo by Caroline Lupini)

    Also, Hyatt does not offer you the opportunity to earn additional free nights during award stays (e.g. fourth or fifth night free on consecutive award nights). They are the only hotel chain on this list that doesn’t offer such a perk.

    You can get incredible value with your Hyatt points. Standard award nights start as low as 5,000 Hyatt points and Category 8 hotels can be booked for just 40,000 points. So regardless of how frequently you travel, it’s easy to earn enough Hyatt points to make good use of the program. And while Hyatt isn’t my favorite chain, I’ve gotten some insane value from my Hyatt points. One of my favorites was a two-night, $1,000 stay at the Palacio Duhau, Park Hyatt Buenos Aires for only 50,000 Hyatt points. That rate of 2.0 cents per point is a pretty standard Hyatt points value.

    It’s easy to earn Hyatt points, too. You can collect points directly with a hotel credit card, the World of Hyatt Credit Card. And, you can also earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points with certain Chase credit cards and then transfer those points at a 1:1 ratio to Hyatt.

    Read our in-depth post on the best use of Hyatt points to help you decide if they’re for you.

    Hyatt status tier

    Hyatt status is one of the most valuable hotel elite statuses to hold. Here are some of the highlights of what you’ll get with each tier.

    Discoverist:

    Explorist:

    Globalist:

    Marriott Bonvoy

    Whereas Hyatt’s Achilles heel is its small global footprint, Marriott excels wildly in this category. There are more than 7,400 hotels under Marriott’s umbrella, making an appearance in about 130 countries — including 32 brands like the glamorous St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, Luxury Collection, W, and JW Marriott hotels. No matter where on this planet you want to go, Marriott is more likely to be there than any other hotel chain on this list. The ease in which you can redeem your points adds huge value to the Marriott Bonvoy program.

    Additionally, when you redeem your Marriott points for long stays, you’ll get every fifth night free. That means that if you always redeem your points in five-night increments, you’ll essentially be getting a 20% discount on all of your award nights. My favorite Marriott stay to date was at the St. Regis Maldives, which costs as little as 56,000 points per night (choose off-peak dates and book a five-night reward stay to get the fifth night free).

    And here’s a unique upside to Marriott points: You can choose to transfer them to airline partners for award flights at a decent rate. Marriott points are the best hotel points for flights because you can transfer them to every major alliance, including some airlines that don’t partner with any other flexible points program. Check out our post on which points transfer to each airline for more details.

    We find that Marriott points value tends to average 0.8 cents each. That’s significantly less than what Hyatt points are worth – though you have the potential to earn them at a higher rate. While Marriott is a Chase transfer partner, it’s almost always a bad idea to transfer Chase points to Marriott, because of their low value.

    They’re incredibly easy to earn from Marriott credit cards like:

    Marriott Bonvoy credit cardWelcome bonusBest card for
    Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card For a Limited Time Only! Earn 60,000 Bonus Points after spending $2,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Best no annual fee Marriott card
    Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit CardEarn three free nights (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first three months from account opening. Best mid-tier Marriott credit card
    Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® CardEarn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first three months of card membership. Plus, earn up to $200 in statement credits for eligible purchases made on your new card at U.S. restaurants within the first six months of card membership.Best Marriott card for benefits and perks
    Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points after you use your new card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening.. Offer ends 5/18/22. Best Marriott card for small businesses

    You can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Amex Membership Rewards to Marriott. Be sure to read our post on the best ways to use Marriott points for details on how to maximize your points for stunning vacations.

    Marriott status tier

    Here are some highlights of the benefits you’ll receive with each Marriott status tier.

    Silver:

    Gold:

    Platinum:

    Once you’ve earned 50 elite-night credits in a calendar year as a Platinum member you’ll get an annual gift of one of the following:

    Titanium:

    Once you’ve earned 75 elite-night credits in a calendar year as a Titanium member, you get another chance to choose from the Platinum annual gifts

    Ambassador:

    Hilton Honors

    Hilton has many pros, my favorite of which is the ability to earn points with little effort. The Hilton Honors rewards program gives points away like no hotel chain you’ve ever seen. Their credit card welcome bonuses are generous (up to 130,000 points after meeting spending requirements), they constantly have bonus points promotions, they give you tons of points for having even mid-tier elite status, and their credit card spending on everyday expenses arguably nets more than other hotel credit cards.

    Hilton is also one of the largest hotel chains, giving you tons of options just about anywhere with 6,200+ hotels and 15 hotel brands like Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Embassy Suites, and many more. Hilton rewards start at just 5,000 points per night — though don’t count on finding one near you. They’re quite rare.

    Another plus (though some may think it actually detracts from the program) is that you can earn top-tier elite status just by opening a credit card. This makes you eligible for upgrades to suites when available, and some other good stuff which we’ll talk about shortly.

    You can use Hilton points to stay at the Conrad Koh Samui. (Photo courtesy of Hilton)

    I find Hilton points to be the most difficult to actually use because the Hilton award chart doesn’t exist anymore. Points prices fluctuate due to many different factors. You may be able to book a night on points just about any time, but if the base rooms aren’t available, you may have to pay triple or quadruple the amount of points to stay in an upgraded room or a suite. It’s almost never worth it.

    It’s possible to get decent value out of Hilton points, but it takes more work.

    We value Hilton points around 0.5 cents each. That’s quite a low value, but as I say, earning Hilton points is a breeze. Here are the current card offers:

    CardIntro bonusBest for
    Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express150,000 Hilton points after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. Terms Apply.Best for obtaining Hilton elite status
    Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® CardEarn 130,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the card in the first three months of card membership. Best mid-range card
    The Hilton Honors American Express Business CardEarn 130,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the card in the first three months of card membership. Plus, you can earn up to $130 in statement credits on eligible purchases made on the card at any of the Hilton family hotels in the first 12 months of Membership. Offer expires 7/6/2022. Best for small business owners
    Hilton Honors American Express CardEarn 100,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the card in the first three months of card membership. Plus, you can earn up to $100 in statement credits on eligible purchases made on the card at any of the Hilton family hotels in the first 12 months of membership.Best for those who don’t want to pay an annual fee (see rates and fees)

    The information for the Hilton Aspire card has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

    You can also transfer Amex Membership Rewards points to Hilton at a 2:1 ratio (and Amex sometimes even runs transfer bonuses). This isn’t generally a great way to use Amex points, however.

    Read this post on the best use of Hilton points to understand their potential.

    Hilton status tier

    Here are some of the top benefits you’ll get with Hilton status:

    Silver:

    Gold:

    Diamond:

    Hilton offers members with any level of elite status their fifth award night free. It’s not hard to snag Hilton status because you get it just for carrying a Hilton credit card. Here’s the status that comes with each card:

    IHG Rewards

    IHG Rewards and Hilton have around the same number of hotels worldwide, but I find that IHG points are easier to use, and IHG has a few more international properties than Hilton. With more than 5,900 hotels in total, IHG hotel brands include InterContinental, Kimpton, Six Senses Hotels & Resorts Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and many more.

    Despite the IHG award chart being abolished, prices aren’t offensively higher than they were before. In fact, many of the hotels I’ve priced actually cost fewer points now! Additionally, if you have the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card, you’ll get a fourth night reward on award stays. That greatly increases your value per point if you can manage to always redeem in three-night increments.

    IHG doesn’t have a blackout policy. That sounds like a good thing, but it’s not — each hotel can restrict the number of rooms they make available for reward nights with no explanation whatsoever. This is the worst “policy” in the industry.

    Elite status is also not great, though easy to earn. You can get Platinum elite just by holding the right credit card (I’ll explain in a second). Plus, IHG doesn’t have many vibrant flavors in its portfolio. If you’re a luxury travel seeker, IHG doesn’t have nearly as many five-star brands to offer you as the other chains on this list.

    IHG points are worth about 0.5 cents each. You can earn IHG points from cards like:

    You can also transfer Chase points to IHG, though that’s not the best idea. You’re almost certainly better of just booking your stay through the Chase Travel Portal with Chase points instead.

    Read our post on the best uses of IHG points for details of how you can maximize these points.

    IHG status tier

    Here are some of the benefits you’ll get with IHG status:

    Gold:

    Platinum:

    Spire:

    Ambassador (specifically for InterContinental hotels):

    You must buy this status for $200 or 40,000 IHG points each year.

    Honorable mentions

    Wyndham

    Technically, Wyndham is the most prolific hotel chain in that it’s got 9,200+ hotels around the world. It resides in more than 80 countries and appears in just about any small town in the U.S. You’ll recognize Wyndham hotel brands like Ramada, Microtel, Super 8, Days Inn, Howard Johnson, etc. Wyndham isn’t touted for its fancy five-star resorts (though it does have some), but rather the road warrior on a budget.

    Accor

    Accor hotels are right the opposite of Wyndham. They’re scarce in the U.S., but dominate Europe and much of Asia. They run the gamut between budget and five-star, and their brands such as Fairmont, Raffles, and Banyan Tree scratch your itch for glitz. Accor points are worth about 2.2 cents each toward hotel stays which is quite high compared to other programs. However, due to points being more difficult to earn and Accor’s limited property footprint, it can be hard to redeem for free nights in the U.S.. You can transfer Capital One miles to Accor at a ratio of 2:1.

    Choice

    With 7,000+ locations, Choice is another largely budget hotel chain (though they also have their share of luxury hotels). Brands like Comfort Inn, Sleep Inn, Quality Inn, and Clarion serve those who desire small-town stays, perhaps for visiting friends or family during the holidays. One sweet spot of Choice hotels are in Northern Europe, namely Scandinavia, where hotels are exorbitantly priced when using cash. There are plenty of Choice hotels to choose from, and their reward prices are terrifically reasonable. You can transfer Amex points to Choice, although you’re usually going to get better value when transferring to one of Amex’s airline partners.

    Bottom line

    The first step in knowing which hotel points are the most valuable is knowing which hotel points you can actually use. Yes, some hotel chains offer higher-quality hotels than others, but not all hotel brands are in every location. Even the most valuable hotel points won’t be right for everyone’s travel style. The best hotel loyalty program really comes down to your preferences.Let us know your favorite hotel brand and why!

    For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors Amex card, click here.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
    Exit mobile version