Hotels - Points/freestay
 

I'm sorta of new to the hotel industry and I would like to know the best way or if someone can show me where to read some info.

I do a lot of flying and use aa citi cards and I collect the millage, I also collect a lot of points via Amex but I never have the option of using points in a hotel or getting a night free and I want to start doing it.

I travel a lot around the US on business and I just usually go to kayak.com to book the cheapest hotel rates. Is it better to use a certain type of credit card to book hotels stays to get better benefits? Also is there a certain chain I should look for that can give me more benefits as well so if I ever make a trip over seas then I can have like 4 nights free?

Any help would be mostly appreciated.

Tell us you're not using the AA cards to book the travel. Especially if you're not flying on AA. Please.

Hotel chains offer elite status, similar to what airlines offer, as well as points for free stays. If you want the elite benefits, you'll need to stick with one or two chains in order to accumulate enough nights. Each chain has a section on their website talking about requirements and benefits for elite status.

If you only want free stays, you can do very well alternating between chains to earn quarterly bonuses. For example, this summer Marriott offered a free night voucher for every two stays, limit 2 vouchers. You could have then switched to, say, Priority Club, and earned at least one free night from your next 12-15 nights.

To maximize, you want to book directly with the hotel chain's website, preferably after following a "cash back" site link, and pay with that hotel's branded credit card.

Perhaps you could tell us more details about your travel patterns and goals?

If you want to learn about virtually all hotel programs and hotel credit cards, then go to:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/

Most people find priceline.com to be much cheaper if you are going to pay for hotel stays yourself.

Most people also switch between the major hotel chains depend on the promotions each on of them is having.

You should only get a specific hotel credit card if you stay at those hotels often.

With the exception of the starwood card.
If you need a referral pm me.

With the possible other exception for a hotel credit card with 0% forex fees and no "net annual fee". Such as, for example, the Priority Club Select Visa from Chase, which has (after the first year) a $49 annual fee but more than offset by an annual (after the first year) free night certificate. Plus you can get 60K PC points with the open (non-targeted) ongoing signup offer.

But there can be even other reasons, espeically worth considering if the card has no annual fee ever:

1. The signup offer alone, if big enough, may be worth it, even if you stay just "sometimes" rather than "often".

2. Some hotels give much bigger bonuses, during promotions, if you use their hotel credit card than if you don't. BW is one of those, and even if you only stay at BW just enough to max out there highly capped promos, it could be worth it as it would sometimes double the points you get from the promo.