direction to start
 

Hello,
I am new and trying to get a handle on where to start. I am looking for a credit card to gain rewards to use for vacation hotel stays. I do travel frequently and would like to get highter points for travel. I fly mostly Delta. The hotels available to me when I travel are usually small non-chain hotels or Holiday Inn and La Quinta, so I can't gain points that way.

I am thinking the Starwoods or Marriot credit cards might work. But since I won't be staying there for work travel should I be looking at something else?
Is the Chase Sapphire preferred a good way to save for hotel points? I guess I just need to know if I'm looking in the right direction.

Thanks

Welcome to FlyerTalk. Please explain a bit more about your thinking. If you primarily stay at Holiday Inn or La Quinta properties why would you want st start with cards issued by other chains? There may be a reason, but we need to understand what you are trying to achieve.

For vacation stays I like to stay somewhere a bit nicer than where I stay for work. That is why I was looking at Marriot, Starwood, etc.. Although when we travel with the kids Holiday Inn and La Quinta are fine. I don't generate a lot of points from those hotels as I am usually in quite remote areas that don't even have those. I guess what I mean to say is that I am interested in finding a way to have free or reduced hotel stays generated by my business credit card use even though I don't gain a lot of points from the work hotel stays on their own.

Thank you for the clarification. I would start by looking at the Marriott and Starwood redemption charts and work backwards. Beyond the initial signup bonus, calculate how much spending would be required to generate a meaningful reward, check the number of points the cards earn per dollar for general spending, and see how that compares with the amount you expect to charge.

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/poin...dType=Standard

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefer...ee_nights.html