The Basics of Hotel Awards (MEGA POST)
Hotel Awards, a Topical Look at Most of Them
Booking hotels using points is an art. Focus too much on the fewest points for a retail value, chasing CPP (cents per point) and you can get yourself stuck in a suboptimal location on vacation.
Or if you do it right, can give yourself an unforgettable experience many tens of stories above an amazing city or in a beautiful resort next to the ocean. You can also save a hundred bucks here and there on your road trips. We have used our points and certificates for all of the above.
IHG - Intercontinental Hotels Group "I don't know man, that seems like a lot of points"
The Major Chains:
IHG - Intercontinental Hotels Group "I don't know man, that seems like a lot of points"
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(Credit Cards - Chase Mastercard: Public Link | Referral Link -- As of writing this post, they are the same, but sometimes one is better than the other)
The standard welcome offers for the Chase IHG Mastercards look enormous. Get 140,000 bonus points on Chase's IHG Business or Personal Mastercard with their tiered spending requirement of $4000 and $3000, respectively, in 3 months. Don't get too excited though, these points are generally worth only about half a cent each. That is, you're doing fine on your redemption if the cash rate of a hotel is $100 per night and you're spending 20,000 points per night.Search IHG.com for availability, be sure to select "Reward Nights" in the rate preference dropdown to get an idea of what is available in places you might want to visit.
I love IHG for their huge footprint and how easy the points are to earn. I generally use these for more budget-minded stays, such as a Holiday Inn, but IHG also includes Kimpton, Iberostar, voco, Garner, Crowne Plaza, and more.
Holding one of the credit cards helps you stretch IHG points, as they give you every 4th consecutive night free on stays paid entirely with points if you own either the business or personal version of the premier credit card.
Holding one of the credit cards helps you stretch IHG points, as they give you every 4th consecutive night free on stays paid entirely with points if you own either the business or personal version of the premier credit card.
Start your vacation on a Tuesday and with their dynamic awards, you will pay the points rate for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night, then the fourth night being a Friday, could easily be the most expensive night. Conversely, if you start it on a Friday, your 4th night is a Monday, probably the cheapest night....oops.
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Above is a comparison between a cash stay and a points stay at the Candlewood Suites Midwest City by IHG. |
The cents per point calculation on my above example is an impressive $0.0078 ($399.35 ÷ 51,000)
That is, until you realize that you're staying on the outskirts of Oklahoma City when you could be using your points to stay in Cancun.
The business and personal cards both give you an annual free night worth up to 40,000 points. Easy enough to find more than $100 in value. (Despite a certificate not counting towards 4th night free benefit.)
Hyatt - The CPP Champion
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Hyatt is a lower-volatility hotel chain with some great higher end options for what looks to be a small amount of points a lot of the time.
One thing I really appreciate about Hyatt is their predictable award chart. Hotels go from Category 1 through 8, resorts also have their own sub-categories using letters A-F. Each category has a points range and can only go so high. Category changes happen every spring, but Hyatt announces the category changes ahead of time, so you can book your stay at a property before their award price goes up, or you can cancel and rebook after their award price goes down.
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| The Zoëtry Casa del Mar Los Cabos is a delightful all inclusive property near Cabo, formerly a Category C resort, in 2023, changed to a Category E, nearly doubling the points cost and turning a points sweet spot into a waste of points. It's still a great resort if you can get a good cash deal. The category changes go both ways though, so opportunity may again present itself. |
I've found great rates during times of high demand, such as a Hyatt Place in Vegas during a festival where the cash price would have been $220 per night, for just 12k points per night. That's 1.8 cents per point. The hotel itself was not great, but at least I didn't pay $220 per night. Try to aim for at least 1.6 cents per point. And make sure you're getting a good value for your own plans.
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| The view of Mount Fuji from our room at the Andaz Tokyo wasn't bad. |
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| The Hyatt Regency Tokyo Bay is a reasonable 12k points per night, while meeting my general rule of making the points worth more than 1.6 cents each. However, I have no desire to go to a Disney Park, so the location is suboptimal for my goals. The Hyatt House Shibuya could be better for me, still great CPP, but the location is in the middle of one of the world's foodiest cities, and I like food. They are an hour away from each-other...choose carefully. |
Credit Cards - Chase World of Hyatt Visa (Personal and Business) - the offers right now are kind of weak. I wouldn't recommend these cards unless you expect to pay for and stay at a lot of Hyatt Hotels in the next year. I will admit that it's a good card to keep thanks to the annual free category 1-4 night and the Discoverist status, which has netted me a handful of room upgrades. I have seen the business bonus at 75k and the personal card's bonus at 60k without the astronomical $15,000 spend requirement, so it's a good call to wait.
The easier way to earn Hyatt points is through Chase's transferrable Ultimate Rewards points.
Hilton - Large footprint, powerful status internationally and with a credit card signup, easy points to accumulate, and an extremely volatile currency. (What do you mean 40,000 points for an $87 room? Wait, 95,000 for a $600 room? Oh never-mind, that changed to 130,000 points overnight)
The Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal is a beautiful resort and a part of the Hilton ecosystem. Formerly half the points cost, it was once a sweet spot on points that is still reasonably attainable using the free night certificates afforded by the Aspire and Surpass American Express cards. With Hilton Gold and Diamond Status, a nice breakfast selection is available.
360 Degree view from the plunge-pool balcony outside of the living room of our 3 bedroom ocean view villa (Condo) at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal. This 3000 square foot accommodation features 3 bedrooms with en-suite restrooms, a full kitchen, and laundry facilities, along with 2 balconies. The standard room at least includes the plunge pool.
The Conrad Osaka, at time of writing, is still a reasonable 110k points per night. Diamond Status provides the lounge access, but don't expect a room upgrade. As of writing this, even Gold Status from the Surpass card gets you the amazing breakfast spread.
5 days for a mere 440,000 points? That's the Conrad Osaka for you if you book on Hilton points. A room is 110k per night, but the 5th night is free as long as it's a standard award. (sorry, no premium room awards, but who cares when the whole property feels this premium)
I've had some great international Hilton Stays at amazing luxury properties. Head over to Hilton.com and search for any 5 nights you want and take a look around. It looks really "expensive," but remember, the welcome bonus for the Hilton Surpass American Express is 155k after spending $3000 in 6 months. Oh and every dollar spent earns 3 points, with generous sounding bonus categories of 4x on the internet, 6x on dining and groceries, and 12x at Hiltons. The points add up quickly.
American Express Membership rewards points transfer to Hilton at 2x, but there's often a bonus offer where they transfer at 2.6x. (2600 Hilton Points for 1000 Amex points) -- This is how I quickly put together enough Hilton Points for a 5 nights at the Conrad Osaka. (Plus an additional night for having the Aspire Card)
That Aspire Card also gave me Diamond Status for the $650 Annual Fee; that Diamond Status got us access to the Executive Lounge at that Conrad, along with the full breakfast spread in the hotel's restaurant. We were also upgraded to some absolutely bonkers accommodations at the Waldorf in Cabo thanks to our Diamond status.
Hilton points can be added to a pool with other members on this page. Or you can simply transfer points to another member on this page.
The Hilton American Express (Referral Link) is a keeper card. When that annual fee comes up at the beginning of your second year with it, you can get that refunded by swapping to the no-annual fee version of the card. Wait a while and they just might give you an upgrade offer of say, 100k points after spending $3k in 6 months.
At the above link, you have the option of 4 cards, the Aspire ($550), Surpass ($150), Free ($0), and Business ($195). The bonuses change from time to time, I've seen the Surpass card as high as 130k with an additional free night certificate, the 155k bonus currently offered is different, not necessarily worse or better, depending on how you can use a free night certificate.
To get the previously mentioned free night certificate, simply hold the Aspire and one comes with the annual fee, then at $30k and $60k in calendar year spend for a total of 3 nights.
The Surpass card earns a free night certificate after you spend $15k in a calendar year.
If you're a big spender, that's 3 certificates, plus the points earned on your spend, which will likely be enough for a 4th night at one of their higher tier properties, such as the Waldorf Astoria in Cabo.
Marriott - Huge footprint, flexible hotel points, and great credit card welcome bonuses, moderately good free night certs.
Marriott Bonvoy is one of the underrated ones. They get a bad rap among enthusiasts because they absorbed Starwood, which was a legendary program. They also like to devalue the points and take away benefits. All that said, there's no denying that you can get a great deal if you're patient. I am a big fan of their 5th night free on award stays (Just like Hilton) and I have consistently been able to make their free night certificates work.
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We booked four nights at the Ritz Carlton Osaka for our stay in February of 2025, I of course, bought our drinks at the Seven-Eleven in the basement because I'm classy that way. The 50k point certs that are sometimes offered as a welcome bonus on either the Chase or American Express Marriott cards can be topped up with an additional 15k points to cover a night that would cost up to 65k. We used the 5th cert that came with the welcome bonus on my Amex for one night at the Vinpearl Landmark hotel in Saigon. (Below) Just put your dates and desired city in the search bar with "Use Points/Awards" checked, then when the results show up, sort by "Rewards Points" and scroll through. This way you don't see the insanely priced places first. Just the attainable ones in order of attainability. You just might see a 5 night stay at an amazing property for one credit card bonus. |
Just recently, there was a 185k point welcome offer for the Amex Bonvoy Brilliant card, now it's down to the standard and pathetic 100k offer. After spending that $6k, you would have had, at worst, 197k Marriott Points. As of writing this post, a room at the Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel, spanning the top floors of one of Japan's tallest buildings, is available for 188k from May 10-15, 2026
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| The refundable cash rate for this room, on these dates totals about $2000 right now, so right around a penny a point is pretty good, considering nowadays a commonly acceptable redemption value for these is $0.007 each. |
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| Just a little bit of coffee from the Nespresso machine from our room at the Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel (April 2019) |
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| If there's a Marriott Property in particular you'd like to stay in, you can use the flexible dates tool to find a points rate that works for you. |
Another great thing about Marriott is, that like Hilton, you can transfer/pool points with other members by visiting this page.
The points must be transferred in 1000 point increments and you can transfer up to 100,000 points per year for no charge.
Wyndham - Head over to their website and then in your search terms, under special rates, make sure to check that you want to use points.
They say rooms cost as little as 7500 per night, but that's pretty rare. Expect more like 30k on average. Still not bad if you want to stay at the all-inclusive Grand Palladium White Island Resort & Spa near Ibiza, Spain. (at $350 per night, that makes the 90k point signup bonus that occasionally pops up on the Barclays Wyndham cards "worth" a pretty decent $1k.)
You can also use Wyndham rewards for lower end places, such as a Super 8 Motel in Mobile, Alabama - this is an $80/night room for 15k per night, not as great of a deal, but like all hotel rewards programs, there are sweet spots, and not-so-sweet spots.
Choice Hotels - Hey, it's a place to sleep.
This is one of those great options if you just want a bed, a shower, and some climate control. As referenced in my basic Japan trip post, these points are easy to get through transfer partners. (Choice Hotel points are accessible via almost every major issuer's transferrable currencies.)
The most impressive conversion ratio to earn Choice points is through Citi's Strata Elite card with its excellent 1:2 transfer ratio. For every 1000 Citi TY points you transfer, you get 2000 Choice points. (You could also transfer the points to American Airlines, but this post is about hotels, so I won't go into that)
As expected, the good deals aren't everywhere. You can get a $200 room for 10k points per night in Tokyo, but in London, a $130 room could cost 30k points.
Your best bet is to take a look at their website for your location and potential dates to see if it's worth pursuing this avenue.
Transferrable Points
American Express Membership Rewards (MR)
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American Express points are another of the great transfer programs. You can redeem the points for travel directly in the portal, statement credits, gift cards, directly at certain online stores, or, my favorite, to top up or dump a bunch of points into your account with a partner.
American Express points cannot be earned or maintained without an annual fee. They are connected to the American Express Platinum, Gold, Green, and the Blue Business Plus cards. If you have one of the aforementioned cards, you can also earn Amex MR through Rakuten, a popular cashback site with a fun to say name.
There is usually a featured program that includes an elevated transfer ratio which can be a good deal, but I recommend only using them if you have a specific redemption in mind. It will hurt your feelings if you transfer to a program because it has a bonus, only to find out that they devalue the program before you book your hotel/flight.
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Some notable transfer partners that I've used in the past:
* Hilton - I've sent points to Hilton during transfer bonuses and redeemed the points for some amazing properties. This was one of the sources of points I used to stay multiple nights at both the Conrad Osaka and Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal.
* Marriott - I've transferred to Marriott to top up my account for specific redemptions
* Air France - Volatile awards program sometimes has fantastic deals on partner flights such as Delta and Vietnam Airlines.
* British Airways - These guys can see award space further out than American Airlines, so even though you have to pay fuel surcharges, it can be worth sending points here to book a premium seat on airlines such as Japan Airlines.
* ANA - This is one of Japan's main airlines and the awards rates are decent, despite passing on some fuel charges. This is one of the more reliable ways to book a premium seat on All Nippon Airways with points, as partner programs such as Air Canada Aeroplan and United can't see the seats until many days after ANA sees them.
* Delta and other domestic airlines - This is useful for topping up your account, note that domestic airlines transfers from Amex are assessed an excise tax of $0.0006 per point (with a maximum fee of $99). -- You can redeem points to pay this tax, but it is at a very low value per point.
Capital One (Referral Link)
Capital One points, if you have the Venture or VentureX, can be transferred to the following programs:
Hotels
Preferred Hotels & Resorts (1000:2000)
Accor Live Limitless (1000:500)
Choice Priveleges (1000:1000)
Wyndham Rewards (1000:1000)
Airlines:
Air France KLM (1000:1000)
Aeromexico (1000:1000),
Air Canada (1000:1000)
British Airways (1000:1000, with a current bonus making it 1000:1200)
Cathay (1000:1000)
Avianca (1000:1000)
Avianca (1000:1000)
Emirates (1000:1000)
Etihad (1000:1000)
Eva Air (1000:1000)
Finnair (1000:1000)
Japan Airlines (1000:750)
Jetblue (1000:600)
Qantas (1000:1000)
Qatar (1000:1000)
Singapore Airlines (1000:1000)
TAP Miles&Go (1000:1000)
Turkish Airlines (1000:1000)
Virgin Red (1000:1000)
Chase Ultimate Rewards
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Chase's Ultimate Rewards program, often marketed as a cashback program, can be extremely powerful if you have one of their annual fee cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserve (Referral Link) or the Chase Ink Preferred/Premier. (Referral Link) -- The $900 cashback on the Chase Ink Cash is paid as 90k points, which can be pooled over to your Sapphire points pool, and then transferred to your Hyatt Account.
The "cashback" earned on Chase Freedom family of cards, as well as that on the Ink Cash family is awarded in Ultimate Rewards points, I use the Freedom Flex a lot for its rotating 5x categories and cell phone insurance. Plus it's a great beginner credit card. (Referral Link)
One thing to note, your name has to match exactly between your Chase account and most transfer partners' accounts, (Hyatt is most notable) so take special care when signing up. That is, if you're Mike at Hyatt and Michael at Chase, you'll need to call Hyatt and have them correct your name to Michael.
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I only transfer from Chase when I have a specific redemption in mind. My most common use is for Hyatt stays, but I've used them to top up a few thousand points on United/Southwest, and have transferred points to Air France for a Vietnam Airlines flight.
IHG points are generally worth only half a cent each, so even with the 80% bonus in the screenshot, it's not a great deal unless you're only short a couple of thousand points for a redemption.
Also notice that I share the referral links for the Sapphire and Ink Cards, the referral program is pretty lucrative and it is rare that the public offer beats the referral offer as can be the case sometimes.
Citi Thankyou
Citi Thankyou points can be earned using the Citi Doublecash, Customcash, Strata Elite, Strata Premier, Strata, and Prestige. You can pool your points if you have different Citi cards that earn them, but the redemption and transfer structure varies. Visit this page to learn about the ratios.
Notably, with the Strata Premier or better, you can transfer to American Airlines and your transfer ratio to Choice Privileges is an incredible 1000:2000.
Others
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There are other transferrable points currencies, such as Bilt Rewards (Referral link) and MESA Homeowner. The credit card bonus earning isn't quite as powerful, but you can earn a ton of these points through rent and mortgage payments, respectively. Bilt is really cool, but I don't have much experience with it, as I don't rent my home. It feels like it's targeted more at those that live in major cities, you can link credit cards to it and earn on certain restaurants.The most notable (to me) transfer partners that Bilt has are Alaska Airlines, Japan Airlines, and Hyatt.
With Mesa, you get the credit card, then point the account at your checking account. It recognizes your mortgage payment and gives you one point per dollar on the mortgage payment. There's a lot of misinformation on the card/program. You do not pay the mortgage with the credit card! Even Morningstar got this wrong, and people pay for Morningstar's information on investments. I suspect AI is to blame for that error. Anyway, the Mesa card, to earn points on your mortgage payment, requires that you put $1k per month on their card in regular spend, the welcome bonus structure reads like a pyramid scheme. Between those two giant caveats, I cannot in good conscience recommend the Mesa card, even though the "coupon book" is quite attractive.
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