moretimeoffguy

Are any other hotel chains currently offering deals as good, or as nearly as good, as the "two nights anywhere at any time (no blackouts)" Hyatt one? I've owned a Starwood and Choice Privileges cards in the past so I wouldn't qualify for those.

Specifically, I'm wondering if there are any great bonus offers from:

* Hilton
* Marriott
* Intercontinental

And other chains.

Since I don't know what are historically good deals for the other above hotel chains, I don't know if there are any "good" offers out there presently. Although people seem to think the Hyatt deals was fabulous--and I agree (my wife and I applied this morning for the Hyatt card and were approved).

My goal here is to not jump on other hotel card offers if the current deals are not historically good, e.g. I'm glad I waited and got, for example, the 100K BA card versus the 50K one they're offering now (although 50K is still a great deal; just not relatively speaking to the 100K one).

Since people seem so excited about the Hyatt offer, I can only assume most of the other cards' reward nights have blackout periods (or may be difficult to book for those without elite status). I don't have elite status with any hotel chain's loyalty program.

Finally, the chains' cards I've spot-checked (still don't know if the deals are historically good) seem mostly to be with Chase, e.g. Marriott and Intercontinental. Are there banks other than Chase offering hotel cards? Since I currently have two Chase cards (including the Hyatt I just obtained), I don't know if Chase will give me another 2-3 other cards... What about Citibank, Barclays, and others?

sdsearch

When did you owned the Choice Privileges card? Was in the BofA era (before mid-2009), or recently (post mid-2009) in the Barclays/Juniper era?

The reason is that BofA dropped Choice in 2009, and then Choice started up a new credit card with Barclays/Juniper. So if it was the BofA Choice that you had before, you are eligilbe for a brand-new one with the sign-up bonus (and then, if you want extra, first stay bonus too).

The Priority Club (Intercontinental) bonus seems to vary. If you're already a Priority Club member, you've probably been targeted for a 60k or even 80k points bonus, which is fantastic. But if you aren't a Priority Club member yet, you may only qualify for the public 30k bonus, not sure about that.

There are two issues of Hilton cards, and you can get both cards since they're from different banks and get the bonus from each. Citi has one card, and the Amex has two. To get the most bonus from Amex, you may need to apply for the no-annual-fee one first (and again, the bonus amount may vary, so you may have to look around), satisfy all that, then get offered the Surpass card for even more bonus with the addition of an annual fee. (I don't know whether you'd get as much by going for Surpass straight off or not.)

I dunno much about Marriott.

WyndhamRewards hotels tend to need inflated numbers of points for a night, compared to, say, Choice, but the bonus points are no better, so the bonus you get for signing up for a WyndhamRewards card is not necessarily worth more than one night. (And it's the same bank as Choice, so I wouldn't risk it until you've got the Choice in hand, in case they don't let you apply for two cards in short order.)

Best Western is a similar story: Inflated numbers of points for a night compared to Choice, and so the bonus points are no better, and again it's same bank as Choice.

moretimeoffguy

Wow, thanks sdssearch! My records show that I had a Choice card issued by BofA that I canceled on Dec 1st, 2009. I will definitely add Choice to my list. Had no idea Choice switched banks. I do have one Barclays card active (US Air), but a second shouldn't be a stretch, right?

No, not a Priority Club member yet. Would it be wise strategy to join and wait for a targeted offer? I'm sometimes reluctant to simply join a loyalty program "randomly" because I've missed free points in the past for new loyalty program member sign-up bonuses--those typically aren't very generous though.

That's perfect, thanks! I'm already an HHonors member. Don't have a ton of points, but it would be terrific to grab two cards with bonus offers.

Thanks again for the low down there.

I appreciate your reply a lot sdsearch. Very helpful!

satori

Hotel Rewards Credit Cards Comparison of Benefits (September 1)

Marriott and Priority Club have the benefit of a free night every year rather than just a sign-up bonus.

Hilton AMEX Surpass is best for Diamond elite status if you spend $40,000.

Hyatt has great signup bonus but comparatively weak to some other cards on regular cardmember benefits.

moretimeoffguy

Thanks Satori. Any idea if Marriott is offering any good deals right now? Or what a "great" deal might be from them? I've been seeing a "four nights free" offer for the past 6 months or so; I'm sure the four nights are at the lowest tier and possibly difficult to get. Sounds too good to be true. But I wonder if it is. Never held a Marriott card, so I'm wondering historically if better deals have been offered and might be again.

With lots of issuers seeming to now do the "one bonus per card per customer per lifetime", I'm trying to be careful about which cards I sign up for and when since I tend to benefit more from initial sign ups than the ongoing benefits.

tassojunior

The "4 free" is just 22,500 points.

The 50K Marriott offer link still works- I just got it and the points & free night were on in just over a week.

https://applynowdc1.chase.com/FlexAp...ID=&PROMO=DF01

thegrailer

Coins + Hilton Amex Surpass = Diamond for as long as the mint sells dollars at cost.

The great benefit of the Hyatt card is the two free nights if you can leverage them. More so if you are a Hyatt Diamond which gets you 2 free nights in a suite. In the PH Vendome Paris or PH Tokyo that converts into a huge benefit. And who knows what the 2nd year may bring?

The PC card looks good too with an 80K sign on. That equals 2 IC nights (eg., Paris Le Grand) or 3+ Crowne Plaza nights in, for example, Times Square. Again, a great deal if leveraged correctly. And then the freebie every year.

Cheers -

moretimeoffguy

Thanks Tasso! I hadn't seen the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa card. The difference there seems to be a $65 annual fee (not waived for the first year) but lots more points. The offer I'd found (Marrriott Rewards Visa) has an annual fee of $30 that is waived the first year. Sounds like it might be worth it to pay the $65 and get double the points. Especially if they are true to their word on "no blackout dates." Does the current 50K offer have an expiration date? Wonder how long I have to figure this out.

What's the best way to play this? Since they are two different cards, could I apply for both at the same time? Or are they mutually exclusive? Should I get the 22.5K one first, wait 6 months to a year, then go for the 50K card? Really want to get the 50K card first, but not if it kills my chances to also get the 22.5K one.

moretimeoffguy

Thanks thegrailer. So, should I join PC and wait to see if I get a targeted 80K bonus offer? Sounds like the 80K offer is targeted. Anyone have a link showing otherwise?

sdsearch

I would think you should join Priority Club and wait to see if you get a 60k or 80k offer. Then if you get the 60k, wait more. I had to ignore several 60k offers over many many months before they targeted me with the 80k. To me it smelled like "we can't seem to convince this person to bite on this card with 60k, let's try 80k", but that was just my perception, it could have simply been the timing of when the 80k offer became available.

I also don't know if just joining Priority Club but never staying in their hotels will trigger any targeted offers or not. For all I know, they could be triggered by them seeing that you're staying in Priority Club hotels but charging to another type of card (in my case, an MC whereas the Priority Club credit card is a Visa). Maybe you don't get targeted if you use another brand of Visa? I don't know at all what makes them target some people and not others.

Per a thread in the PC forum, some people who didn't get a targeted 80k email were able to call in and get themsevles targeted, but others weren't. And I don't think enough data was gathered to figure it all out. But you'd really have to wade through the entire "80k" thread over at the PC forum (pretty much always on the first page there) to figure out more about it.

Btw, Priority Club is one of the fastest programs in which to earn lots of points on just a few stays, but is a slow program (other than a one-time card bonus) to earn points with no stays. The reason: Over in the Priority Club forum, there's a Master Promo Thread, where you can find lots of codes for promotions. Often those promotions can be stacked on each other. So for example you might be able in the middle of February on three stays to get the 3000 points "publicly announced" bonus, as well as a "new member" bonus, as well as a "welcome back" bonus, as well as a couple other bonuses, all posting on the same few stays. Then on top of all that you can do a "stay 4 get 5000 bonus points" or "stay 7 get 10000 bonus points"! (Tho obviously those may take a couple more stays to pay out.)

tassojunior

The cards aren't exclusive, the biz deal just isn't as hot as the 50K which could disappear. (Hotel bonuses aren't escalating like airline ones).

The Premier card costs $65 but you get a cat 1-4 free night certificate worth more than $65. Plus every year if you keep it you get a cat 1-5 certificate. But some people have churned this card- at least for the miles if not the free night. The really good Marriott rewards are the 7-night plus airline miles packages that start at 200K. Those stack up against the best of any hotel reward.

https://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morepack.mi

The normal Premier bonus is 30K but this 50K worked for me last month.

There's also a free Gold Level Marriott Rewards for 90 days here:
http://www.joinmarriottrewards.com/hsbc/en/

Here's the chart to find hotels in each category:

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/poin...dType=Standard

Although Marriott has "Pointsavers" for many hotels.

The 5th Night is always free on Marriott Rewards.

The airline transfer is 70K MR to 25K American.

moretimeoffguy

Thanks for all the help everyone. I joined Priority Club today and will wait and see there.

Will be looking closely at Hilton and/or Marriott cards for the near term and hope a better PC offer comes along. Also don't want to apply for too many cards at once.

moretimeoffguy

I just noticed what might be a targeted offer from Hilton in my email box. It's for a no annual fee HHonors Amex. The offer is:
* 20K points after 1st purchase
* 30K additional points after a $500 spend within 3 months.
So that's 50K total.

That's more points than I see with the HHonors Surpass card offer:
40K points on first purchase with non-waived $75 annual fee.

Noticed the Citi HHonors no annual fee card which is offering 30K after a $600 spend in 4 months.

The targeted offer seems great. What about the Surpass and the Citi one? Should I jump on all three? Or maybe do the targeted no annual fee Amex first and grab a Marriott card. Again, don't want to get greedy (too quickly) and be denied cards due to "too many inquiries." Not a good feeling.

moretimeoffguy

Also wondering if Four Seasons has a loyalty program and credit card. Couldn't tell from their web site. That would be out of budget for me though unless they have a card offering free bonus nights.

jk2

I have a Marriott Rewards Premiers Card since 2006. May I apply for another MR Premier Card with 50K MR bonus? Or should I cancel my old one before applying? I know that AMEX allows to have 2 similar cards (like AMEX Gold Premier Rewards cards).