Registering for their credit card (if you don't already have one) will get you 8000 points on your first use (8000 more points later on your next paid stay as long as it's before June 30), but that won't appear until you get the card, use it, and then your statement cycles at least once. (That doesn't cost you anything other than the miles/points you lose from that one purchase that you might have put toward another card, because you're just "shifting" one purchase from however you'd normally make it to this card, not adding a purchase.) No annual fee. (If you already have the card, you simply need to "shift" more than just one small purchase to this card.)

Got an unpcoming car rental? You can earn 1000 choice points for each Enterprise rental, or 750 Choice Points for each 1-to-3-day Avis or Budget rental (and 500 or 750 bonus points respectively if by Jan 31 and mention coupon). This might not cost anything if you can get the same rate, and if it's a short rental you probably lose very few miles (at 50 miles/day with most airlines). I don't know how fast these post, but of course they can't post until you comnpete the rental!

There's also a Choice online shopping mall. It's similar (and similar stores) to all the airline malls. You simply need to "shift" enough purhcases (that you would have made anyway) to there. 8 points per dollar at Barnes & Noble, 6 points per dollar at Macy's, etc. As with all online malls, though, it can take months to get your points, because the merchants wait to see if you're going to return the merchandise in whatever time period they allow, before they even start the process of awarding you points. (And you have to be very careful to go through online mall link only -- rather than opening a separate window where you didn't come through mall --to not confuse the destination site about whether you came through the online mall or not.)

http://www.choicehotels.com/ires/en-US/html/GPPartners

You can earn 1000 points per referral through Refer-a-Friend, and that doesn't you anything, but it only happens once the person you referred has one qualifying stay post. (They get a bonus too, of 500 points.) I don't know fast you get the referral bonus, but it can't precede them having the stay and having it post.

http://www.choicehotels.com/ires/en-...l/ReferAFriend

... OTOH, the only two things that post really quickly cost: Buying points, or (if you have a Diners Club card already and have at least 1000 DC points) transferring from Diners Club. The lDC transfer costs even way less than $11, but it depends if you "expedite" or not ("expedite" only gets you a few days faster). (Diners Club card itself has an annual fee, but if you don't have it already, they apparently aren't taking applications for one right now anyhow.)

Btw, what is the points cost of the stay you're considering, versus the dollar cost of paying for the stay?