Other Credit Card Programs - Best hotel-affiliated MC?

I use a United M+ Visa for most of my purchases, but Sam's Club doesn't take Visa. Anyone got a recommendation for a Mastercard that will earn points toward hotel stays?

Thanks in advance

Moving this thread to the FT Other Credit Card Programs. Please follow there.
Thanks...
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Get an AA card. You can transfer AA mile to HHonors on a 1 AA to 2 HHonors.

For AA you also get a 25K sign-up bonus that can become 50K HHonors.

I use a United M+ Visa for most of my purchases, but Sam's Club doesn't take Visa. Anyone got a recommendation for a Mastercard that will earn points toward hotel stays?
How much do you spend at Sam's Club?

While there are a lot of cards that will earn toward hotel stays, they do that very slowly (when the card is not used at the hotel chain in question), so if you only use them at one merchant, unless you spend tons at that merchant, you'll never to get to an award threshold, unless you pick a hotel program you already use (and then just use the card to increment your points a little faster than from stays alone).

The AA cards mentioned above will indeed let you convert to Hilton HHonors. However, you have to get to a high threshold to do so. Meanwhile, if you want to earn AA miles, it's virtually irreleant whether you use the card at Sam's club or not (except for satisfying the $750 minimum spend in first four months), because unlike Chase, Citi still allows you to churn AA MCs (for 25k each). But the value of the hotel points vs miles is dubious: Two such card apps will get you 50k points, which is a non-peak coach flight to Europe, or transfer to 25k HHonors points, which is one night at maybe a $200ish hotel. I can't see how a non-peak coach flight to Europe (or two domestic coach fligths) could be worth as little as 25k HHonors points are. At any rate, the way you earn AA miles from CCs is not be spending the "normal" way, but by churning cards for bonuses as fast as you can do the $750 minimum spend over and over (limit one or two apps every 60 days).

For completeness, I'll mention Diners Club. It has a high annual fee ($95), but it does let you transfer to a variety of hotel and airline programs (although UA is no longer one of them), and has the best rental collision coverage of any card (truly primary, no matter what other insurance you have). DC cards issued in the US are accepted as MCs worldwide. (But with the annual fee, I don't know if it would make sense for you if you're only going to use it at Sam's Club.)

But the value of the hotel points vs miles is dubious: Two such card apps will get you 50k points, which is a non-peak coach flight to Europe, or transfer to 25k HHonors points, which is one night at maybe a $200ish hotel. I can't see how a non-peak coach flight to Europe (or two domestic coach fligths) could be worth as little as 25k HHonors points are. At any rate, the way you earn AA miles from CCs is not be spending the "normal" way, but by churning cards for bonuses as fast as you can do the $750 minimum spend over and over (limit one or two apps every 60 days).


AA miles convert to HHonors points as follows: 1 AA mile = 2 HHonors points. So two card apps equals 51,500 AA miles (50k bonus + $1500 spend total for both cards). If you convert those AA miles to HHonors points you will get 103,000 HHonors points (not 25,750). Depending on the category of hotel you're looking at you can do a lot with 103k HHonors points (about 4 nights at a category 3 hotel, more nights for a lower category and less nights for a higher category).

Buy gift cards at Wal-Mart, which does take Visa/MC/Amex. Wal-Mart cards can also be redeemed at Sam's.

So, it seems there is no strictly hotel affiliated MC card? I need a MC, but don't really need airline points and prefer to redeem points at hotels. I am Hilton Diamond, and have HH Amex and Visa, but occasionally need a MC (like when Hyatt has the faster free nights promo). It seems the SPG Mastercard is Canadian only, but that is what I am looking for, a MC whose points are redeemable for nice high end hotel stays.. without a conversion penalty.

I'm not sure it's what you're looking for, but what about a Citi Mastercard with Thank You Points? It's not the best points value in the world (only a penny a point), but you can redeem TYP for hotel certificates with Ritz-Carlton, Hyatt and Marriott, as well as using TYP to book hotels with Expedia.

I have a Citi Mastercard that earns TYP and although it's not my primary card (that would be my Hilton Amex in the first half of the year and then my Marriott Visa in the 2nd half), I accumulate enough TYP to get some useful hotel certificates. There are some good sign-on bonuses for TYP cards, you can supplement your account by making purchases from internet retailers through the TYP earnings mall, and if you get a Citi card that also gets you flight points for airline tickets, you can accumulate quite a nice pile of points for hotel stays (and still have the flexibility to use the points for tickets if that suits you).

The only hotel MC I know offhand is Wyndham (not a recommendation, as I know little about it).

So, it seems there is no strictly hotel affiliated MC card? I need a MC, but don't really need airline points and prefer to redeem points at hotels. I am Hilton Diamond, and have HH Amex and Visa, but occasionally need a MC (like when Hyatt has the faster free nights promo).
Best Western is MC too (in addition to the WynhamRewards already mentioned).

But you'll earn points so slowly on a BW or WR card that unless you have tons of MC-only spend it might not be worth it (especially if you don't already stay at those hotels regularly, in which the card spending would just "top off" points you mostly earn other ways).

And neither BW nor WynhamRewards will get you into "nice high end" hotels.

You could get a DinersClub, which in the US/Canada is an MC. But there you'll have to pay a signficant annual fee (though you can pay it with points, if you wish, though that tends to be a bad value). DC, like Amex, lets you transfer into a variety of hotels, so you can use it to "top off" hotel programs you earn points with other ways. (But again, if you only use it for the occasional Hyatt stay, while you'll be able to use your points, you may not be able to justify the annual fee.)