I hope I don't sound like a broken record but just to repeat the caution: the $45 version of the card does not normally come with an anniversary free night. See hhoope's link above: that's the typical signup offer we usually see for the $45 card.

If you have a promotion that is promising that, keep a copy of the promotion...print it or save it on your hard drive because it might be gone a year from now when you need to reference it. Make sure you have the underlying promotion code attached to the offer. I can easily see something going wrong and the anniversary night *not* posting automatically like it does with the $85 card.

The upfront points and nights will probably post with no troubles at all. It's the anniversary free night certificate that I'd worry about most.

And I totally hear you on Priority Club: for a serial roadtripper, that's probably the best program out there in terms of having motels in places that Fairfield, Hampton, and 4Points don't. The newer HIX builds are typically pretty good. And they always have good (and stackable) promotions so you're always earning piles of bonus points.