Which hotel credit card is the most rewarding for spending? By Tim Steinke – August 17, 2025

Co‑branded credit cards, and hotel cards specifically, are often frowned upon as a place to put regular spend, especially in comparison to bank cards with transferable currencies and sexy bonus categories. That said, hotel cards can be both rewarding and fun in the right circumstances. The reason is that they tend to have a ton of perks that are offered for holding onto the cards and also for spending on them. These usually include some combination of points bonuses, elite status, elite‑qualifying nights, and/or free night certificates. We collectively refer to these cash carrots as “Big Spend Bonuses.”

The purpose of this post is to take a closer look at the top hotel cards with big spend bonuses in order to get a rough estimate of the return on each one…and in doing so find out which might be worth pursuing. The post has been completely updated for 2025, now that we’ve finished our annual examination of the current value of hotel points. Although the Sonesta card is no longer available to new applicants, many readers still have it (as do I), so I kept it in for another go‑round.

## Comparing hotel credit cards with “big spend bonuses”

Hotel points, in general, aren’t worth as much as most airline miles and transferable currencies, which is the primary reason that they usually aren’t recommended for regular spending. Getting 3x Hilton points everywhere sounds pretty good…the $395 Capital One Venture X only gets 2x, after all. However, we only value Hilton points at around 0.4 cents each, whereas Capital One miles are closer to 1.45 cents each, making the 2 Capital One miles “worth” over two times more than three Hilton points.

In order to give you a reason to put regular spending on their cards, these companies offer a whole plethora of “big spend bonuses.” Earning 3x‑6x Hilton points per dollar isn’t terribly compelling, but throwing in a free night certificate good at almost any Hilton property in the world changes the equation.

### What we’re comparing…and what we aren’t

- We’re not factoring in anything you get just by holding the card, just what you get from spending on the card.
- We’re not factoring in elite nights or status gained from spend.
- The only thing that we ARE trying to compare is the total value of the points and free night certificates that you get from reaching the big spend thresholds on the cards below.

### How we value hotel free night certificates

At Frequent Miler, we value hotel free night certificates based on their maximum point value and then reduce that value by a “fudge factor” to account for the fact that free night certificates expire and are less flexible than actual points. The fudge factors are:
- Hilton: 0.85
- Hyatt: 0.8
- Marriott: 0.8

Based on these “fudge factors,” we’ve arrived at the following values for the certificates that are included in this post:
- Hyatt: Category 1‑4: 15k points × 0.80 × 1.8 RRV = $216
- Hilton: 140k points × 0.85 × 0.41 RRV = $488
- Marriott: 35k certs: 35k points × 0.80 × 0.76 RRV = $213
- Marriott: 50k certs: 50k points × 0.80 × 0.76 RRV = $304

## The Contestants

### Hilton Aspire (Amex)
- Annual Fee: $550
- Earning rate: 14X Hilton spend, 7X US restaurants, flights, car rentals, 3X on all other eligible purchases.
- Big spend bonus: Free night award after $30k and $60k in eligible purchases in calendar year.
- Big Spend Bonus Value: $488.

### Hilton Surpass (Amex)
- Annual Fee: $150
- Earning rate: 12X Hilton spend, 6X US restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, 4X U.S. online retail, 3X on all other eligible purchases.
- Big spend bonus: Free night award after $15k in eligible purchases in calendar year.
- Big Spend Bonus Value: $488.

### IHG Premier/Premier Business (Chase)
- Annual Fee: $99
- Earning rate: 10X IHG, 5X travel, dining, gas stations, 3X on all other purchases.
- Big spend bonus: 10k bonus points + $100 statement credit after $20k spend in a calendar year.
- Big Spend Bonus Value: $161.

### Marriott Bevy and Bountiful (Amex/Chase)
- Annual Fee: $250
- Earning rate: 6X Marriott, 4X restaurants & U.S. supermarkets (Bevy limited to U.S. purchases), 2X on all other purchases.
- Big spend bonus: One 50k free night award after $15k spend in a calendar year.
- Big Spend Bonus Value: $304.

### Marriott Business (Amex)
- Annual Fee: $125
- Earning rate: 6X Marriott, 4X restaurants worldwide, U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services, 2X on all other purchases.
- Big spend bonus: 35k free night certificate after $60k spend in a calendar year.
- Big Spend Bonus Value: $213.

### Sonesta Travel Pass Mastercard (Bank of America – No Longer Available New)
- Annual Fee: $0 intro, then $75.
- Earning rate: 3X Sonesta, 2X airfare, car rental, dining.
- Big spend bonus: 30k bonus points with $7.5k cardmember year spend.
- Big Spend Bonus Value: $318.

### World of Hyatt Visa (Chase)
- Annual Fee: $95
- Earning rate: 2X restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, airlines, local transit, fitness clubs, 4X Hyatt and Mr & Mrs Smith.
- Big spend bonus: One free Cat 1‑4 night certificate after $15k spend in a calendar year.
- Big Spend Bonus Value: $216.

### Wyndham Business Earner Plus (Barclays)
- Annual Fee: $95
- Earning rate: 8X Wyndham & gas, 5X marketing, advertising, utilities, 1X everywhere else.
- Big spend bonus: None.
- Big Spend Bonus Value: None.

## The Results

The article presents tables of return when spending in category bonuses, half in category bonuses, and all non‑bonused spend. The key take‑aways are:
- Sonesta and Hilton Surpass consistently rank near the top with returns around 5% when spending all in bonus categories.
- Hilton Aspire, IHG Premier, and Marriott Business have lower returns (3.5‑4.5%).
- Wyndham Business Earner Plus performs poorly for non‑bonused spend and has no big spend bonus.

## Winner
- Hilton Surpass – best return for spending.
- Sonesta Travel Pass Mastercard – best overall return due to low spend threshold and high bonus points.

## Loser
- Sonesta card is no longer available for new applicants, making it a collector’s item.

## Bottom Line
The article emphasizes that the value of a hotel card depends on individual travel habits. Hilton’s free night certificates are highly valuable for frequent Hilton stays, while Sonesta offers a low‑spend, high‑point bonus that can be useful for occasional travelers.

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TAGS
- Chase IHG Premier Business
- Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier
- Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card
- Hilton
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card
- IHG
- Marriott Bonvoy
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card
- Sonesta
- Sonesta World Mastercard
- World of Hyatt
- Wyndham
- Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card

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Author: Tim Steinke

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Comments section omitted for brevity.

Which Hotel Credit Card is the Most Rewarding for Spending?

The article evaluates various hotel‑co‑branded credit cards to determine which offers the highest return on spending, focusing on the value of big spend bonuses such as free night certificates and bonus points. It compares cards from Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Sonesta, Hyatt, and Wyndham, and concludes that the Hilton Surpass card and the Sonesta Travel Pass Mastercard provide the best value for spenders, while the Wyndham Business Earner Plus card offers no big spend bonus.