1) Starwood Hotels
American Express SPG Credit card has been my All Time favorite card for various reasons as listed below under Remarks. If I am not using another card to meet the spending requirements for a sign-up or promotion bonus, this is the card that I use. Also there hasn’t been any points devaluation since I’ve been using the card (7 plus years now), unlike my airline miles credit card, which keeps inflating the number of miles needed to be redeemed for any decent flight.
Card Name: American Express Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Credit card
Card Link: American Express Starwood Preffered Guest
Sign-on Bonus Points: 25,000 Starpoints as Sign-on Bonus wherein you get 10,000 points after your first purchase and remaining 15,000 points after spending $5,000 in 6 month time period. (SPG usually comes out with 30,000 Bonus Starpoints one or twice every year so you could watch out for that and then apply for higher bonus points.)
Spending Requirements: Basically you get 10,000 points after your first purchase and remaining 15,000 points after spending $5,000 in 6 month time period. (Their website says that Starpoints will be credited to your account 8-12 weeks after you reach the spend threshold but in my experience you get it on the next billing date once you have reached the spend threshold.)
Annual Fees: $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $65 each year.
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Remarks: These are some of the reasons why I this is my all time favorite card
- Airline transfer options: You can transfer to various airlines including American, Delta, and US Airways.
- Award Redemptions:
- Free Night Awards with No Blackouts - You can use your Starpoints for Free Night Awards without blackout dates or extra point charges on standard rooms regardless of your member level.
- Fifth Night Free - Redeem five nights and your fifth night is free at various hotels. Check out their website for more details.
- High value redemption - High value redemption when using the “cash and points” option for hotel redemptions. More on that later.
- Member-to-Member Transfer - Members of the same household can move Starpoints between accounts. Simply fill out the form here and click “Transfer.” Please note that it may take up to five business days to complete transfers.
- Note: SPG Member addresses must be the same, and must have been same for at least 30 days otherwise your transfer request will be Denied.
- Other Benefits - Starwood and American Express keep coming up with cool one-of-a-kind reward experiences for their members. Couple of months back they came up with the Tribeca Film Festival (I could not attend this one, though it sounds awesome). I have attended the US Open and New York Fashion Week in past which was offered to their members.
- Customer Service - Their Customer Services is first-class, Best in the industry.
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2) Hyatt Hotels
Card Name: Chase Hyatt Credit Card
Card Link: Chase Hyatt Credit Card
Signup Bonus: 2 free nights at any Hyatt after 1st purchase.
Spending Requirements: None – Just use it one time for any purchase.
Annual Fee: $75 annual fee NOT Waived.
Points Earning: Earn 3 Hyatt points per $1 spent at Hyatt & 1 Hyatt point per $1 for everything else.
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Remarks:
- On Every Anniversary, you get 1 Free night in any category 1 to 4 of Hyatt (max up to $200 value) easily making up for the annual fee.
- 2 free nights are valid for 12 months only at any Hyatt.
- You can maximize the value for 2 Free nights by using them at top Park Hyatt’s locations in Paris, Maldives, and other locations worldwide.
- No foreign transaction fee.
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3. Hilton Hotels
This is actually Virgin Atlantic Card by Bank of America. Now you must be wondering why I am listing an Airline Card in the Hotel section? Well, the reason is that you can transfer the Virgin Atlantic Miles to Hilton Honors Points in 1:2 ratio and get an easy 100K Hilton Honors points.
Card Name: Bank of America Virgin Atlantic card
Card Link: Bank of America Virgin Atlantic card
Signup bonus:
- 20,000 Flying Club bonus miles after your first retail purchase.
- 25,000 additional Flying Club bonus miles after you spend $2,500 in qualifying purchases.
- Earn up to 5,000 Flying Club bonus miles when you add TWO authorized users to your Card.
Spend Requirements: $2500.
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Annual fee: $90 annual fee NOT waived the first year.
Points Earning: Earn 3 miles per $1 spent directly on Virgin Atlantic purchases and 1.5 miles per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Remarks:
- If you need the largest hotel signup bonus out there, then this card is for you. Be aware that you will have to pay hefty annual fees of $90 which is Not waived.
- You can also earn up to 15,000 additional bonus miles after qualifying purchases–you get 7,500 miles by spending $15,000 within the year, and 7,500 more if you hit a threshold of $25,000 in spend. Not worth by any means. I would strictly advise you against spending so much on this card. Checkout the Hot Deals section for much better cards.
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4) Marriott Hotels
Card Name: Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa
Card Link: Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa
Signup Bonus: 70,000 bonus points + 1 free night (Expired). 50,000 bonus points + $75 statement credit + 1 free night.
Spending Requirements: None.
Annual Fee: $85 annual fee waived for 1st year.
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Points Earning: Earn 5 points for every $1 spent at over 3,400 Marriott locations. Also earn 2 points for every $1 spent on eligible dining, airline and rental car purchases and 1 point for every $1 spent on everything else.
Remarks:
- You can achieve Elite Status Faster with this Card - 15 Nights Credit toward your next Elite membership level every year upon account anniversary. You also earn 1 Elite Night Credit for every $3,000 spent.
- 1 free night immediately in any category 1 to 4 Marriott Hotels on card approval.
- No foreign transaction fee.
- You also get 1 free night in any category 1 to 5 Marriott Hotel on every anniversary pretty much making up for the annual fee.
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More Hotel Credit cards coming soon….
This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express.
i hope you keep posting those wonderful articles, thanks a lot.