After thinking about it awhile, since you are interested in budget properties, I would look closely at the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Citi ThankYou Premier. But you need to get moving on these to get the minimum spending done before your deadline.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...irst-year.html

Both have more flexible points than high-end branded cards like the Hyatt Hilton Marriott etc.

I just went to both the Chase Ultimate Rewards website and the Citi ThankYou web site, with Harrisburg as an example (not to say you live there).

My almost 57,000 UR points are spendable up to $700 through their travel web site, which should get several nights at Super 8, Howard Johnson, America's Best Value, etc. To be clear you have to book through Chase's UR website (I don't think you can access it until you get a UR account); however their prices seem un-inflated vs. a normal budget motel/hotel.

Same thing at Citi's ThankYou website. 50K points will buy several nights at Howard Johnson at 6,492 points each night.