Originally Posted by
Ispolkom
I haven't paid attention to Choice Privileges in a couple of years, as my travel rarely allowed using Choice properties.
I have kept the Choice Visa card for several years because it gave Gold status, which allowed me to reserve rooms on points further out. I don't find it a worthwhile card to put any spend on, except perhaps at Choice Hotels themselves.
I see that as of last year every level of Choice Privileges now can book award rooms 100 days out.
With this change, I now cannot see much extra utility from having either Gold status or the Choice Visa card. (Well, other than that one time in a Sleep Inn in Davenport, Iowa, where I was thanked for my status and given a bottle of water and a tiny bag of Cool Ranch Doritos.)
Am I missing something?
If you have no use for the card otherwise, I agree, it's fairly worthless now. With the prevalence of the 2-stay/8K points promotions, the 10% bonus for Golds is not much, and status gets you nothing extra on a booking window. And status recognition at the hotels has never been a reason to have status in the Choice program. It's a no-fee card so there's no annual cost, but on the other side of the coin, cancelling it may improve your chances of getting the card in the future if they run a 40K points offer. In fact, responding to your post has made me seriously consider canceling the card myself!