Thank you, sdsearch. This is exactly the kind of information I am looking for. We will travel to Oslo, the county of Telemark, Bergen and maybe a trip up north to Mo i Rana. We are visiting the places where our ancestors lived (except Bergen which we will visit for its beauty and as a "gateway to the fjords and west coast").

I'm glad to hear Club Carlson is coming out with a credit card later this year. It will be interesting to see what their initial sign up bonus will be.

My husband travels some (but not a lot) for work. Could he stay at Choice hotels under my Choice Privileges account or under a joint account so he could earn free nights for me with his stays?

I will investigate the Discover America promo of purchasing Choice points.

I actually prefer to stay in locally owned inns, B&B's, etc. in Europe. But to save some money I thought that if I could pay for a handful of nights with points, that would help the trip budget.

Your post has been very helpful. Thank you!