Credit Card Reward Redemption Overview: Part Two {Hotel Specific}

If you're new to the credit card points game, some of the first things you'll need to understand are the varying types of reward redemptions available. "Reward redemption type" simply refers to the method by which you are able to cash out for travel-related purchases. This varies greatly by brand and card type, and it can affect when and how you travel. This series will focus on the basic differences between them so you can determine which cards fit your goals and spending style. If you missed it, you can catch Part One here.

Hotel Specific Cards

One of the fastest and most efficient ways to earn free hotel stays is by racking up points on a specific hotel's branded card. Previous to learning about sign up bonuses, I believed that the only way I could earn a free hotel night was by staying ten or more nights with the same hotel, over and over. Not so! You can earn multiple nights of hotel rooms without ever staying at a property even once.

Hotel rewards programs vary greatly, and you'll want to research the chains you're specifically wanting to stay in. I can personally speak only to the one I've tested so far, but I'll provide some links at the end if you're interested in others.

Let's start with my current fave--the InterContinental Hotels Group {or IHG}. This group of hotels covers a wide range of properties all over the world and at all price points. It includes baseline hotels like Candlewood Suites and Holiday Inn Express, all the way to more upscale digs like Hotel Indigo and InterContinental Resorts. You really do have so many options when staying with IHG, and I love its versatility.

Currently, IHG's rewards offer is an 80,000 point sign up bonus when you spend $1,000 within the first three months and a $50 statement credit after your first purchase. Those 80,000 points can really go a long way!

When booking with rewards, you essentially are using your points as a form of currency. Each property will cost a certain number of points and you simply checkout using your points as payment. Additionally, if you don't quite have enough points to cover the entire stay, IHG offers a points and cash method. Below, you can see a sample of the different options available:

Point values will vary depending on hotel brand, location, and time of year. Don't expect to pay only 20,000 points for a similar Holiday Inn Express in Times Square:

With the 80,000 bonus you can stay in some pretty amazing properties. When we stayed in Rome, one of the five star hotels would have cost us $350 cash per night, but we paid 45,000 points which meant that we had plenty of points left over to use for less luxurious hotels in our travels that were closer to home. Side note--it was one of the more amazing experiences of my life. We had a private rooftop patio overlooking the city, access to a Turkish bath and spa, and an exclusive taxi service in a BMW. Don't worry though, we couldn't get too used to it because the front desk staff totally looked at us like we were American trash. You could see they were wondering how we could have afforded to stay there, ha!

Enjoying some handmade chocolates and complimentary water at Hotel Indigo Rome.

I haven't even mentioned the best part about this card yet. The $49 annual fee is waived the first year, but even with that, this is a card I will probably keep in my wallet from here to eternity because of one major perk--the annual free night on your card anniversary. This is a digital voucher that can be used on any IHG room in the world. Any of them. This means that the {gorgeously breathtaking} $514 room that we stayed at previously in Rome cost us $49. {Seriously, go ahead, take a look, and get to planning!} Even if you plan on only traveling domestically, $49 for any hotel room is still a pretty amazing deal.

Bonus--when you hold the IHG credit card, you are automatically bumped up to Platinum Elite status which means room upgrades when available. Every time I have checked in, I've always been upgraded. It makes me feel a little bit like a rock star.

Hyatt is another really great brand. Although it does have fewer properties than IHG, I feel the hotels do tend to be nicer. The reward redemption is a little bit trickier because it is a Chase card and Chase uses its own system for booking rewards with its points {that's our next topic}. If you sign up for the Hyatt card directly, after spending $1,000 within the first three months, you earn two free nights that you can use anywhere in the world! The card's annual fee is $75, waived the first year, and on your anniversary you earn a free night. However, unlike the sign up bonus, the free night can only be used on select properties. Specifically, rooms that fall in their Categories 1-4. You can see a list of these here.

However, another way to redeem for Hyatt rooms is by transferring points earned on any Chase card {called Ultimate Rewards}. If you did this, you could potentially earn up to ten nights {on the lowest priced standard rooms} by opening one Chase card that offered a 50,000 Ultimate Rewards bonus because the points transfer straight across. You can see the points values in the chart below:

If that all sounds too complicated, don't stress! We'll cover it in more detail in the next post. I don't hold a Hyatt card yet, so while I understand the concept, I don't know all of the details about it. If you are seriously interested in this chain, I encourage you to do a little more research and decide if it's right for you.

Starwood Hotels {SPG} and Marriott are two other popular choices. However, an announcement was recently made that the two are merging. Any info I offer here may be moot shortly, but you can read more about the acquisition here. Until that all gets sorted, I'm putting my SPG applications on hold.

Go forth, earn points, and let someone else make your bed and change your towels for a day!

#basics