Credit cards that offer rewards or points for hotel stays help frequent travellers get more out of their trips – as long as the fees don't outweigh the perks.
With Amex platinum cards you can get travel credit that you can spend on hotels. You can also book accommodation via Fine Hotels + Resorts and get perks like late checkout, room upgrades and food and drink credit.
You can transfer Membership Rewards points to partner hotel loyalty programs like Marriott Bonvoy, or to a frequent flyer program partner.
Use points to book hotel stays through American Express Travel, Webjet or Helloworld
Amplify Rewards (St.George/Bank of Melbourne/BankSA)
Use your points to pay for hotel bookings around the world through Amplify Travel
Transfer points to Velocity Frequent Flyer or Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer to redeem them for specific hotel rewards
With Visa Platinum and Signature cards you can access hotel offers through the Visa Luxury Hotel Collection.
Use Qantas Points to pay for hotel stays booked through Qantas Hotels (over 500,000 hotels worldwide), Luxury Escapes or TripADeal
Earn Qantas Points with hotel partners including Qantas Hotels, Luxury Escapes, Airbnb or TripADeal
What other travel benefits can I get with a hotel credit card?
If you’re interested in getting a credit card that offers hotel rewards, here are some of the other benefits you could enjoy:
Credit card hotel deals. Sometimes, you can get promotional hotel offers through your credit card – especially with complimentary programs including Visa Offers + Perks, Mastercard Priceless and Amex Offers. For example, cashback or discounts on a booking, complimentary breakfast or a welcome gift. You can check the Visa, Mastercard or Amex website for current deals before you book to see if there's any that fit your plans.
Reward points. You’ll earn points for every $1 spent on eligible purchases made with a credit card that offers hotel rewards, which you can then use to redeem free hotel stays and other benefits.
Complimentary travel insurance. Most premium credit cards offer complimentary travel insurance that could cover you for trips overseas or domestically. Just remember to check the activation and eligibility requirements for this insurance to make sure you’ll be covered.
Concierge services. Many premium hotel credit cards also come with a concierge service that can help you with your travel bookings, restaurant recommendations or even find gifts for your loved ones.
Airport lounge access. A wide range of travel reward credit cards also offer complimentary airport lounge access so you can start or end your journey in style.
How do I find the best hotel credit card?
The best hotel credit card differs for every person. It really comes down to your travel needs and whether or not the benefits of the card are worth paying the card and points program fees.
To help you make a good decision when comparing cards with hotel benefits, focus on the following:
Hotel partner or partners. Most of these credit cards only offer hotel benefits with specific brands or partners. In general, the reward programs that offer booking services (Membership Rewards, Velocity, Qantas Frequent Flyer, etc.) will also give you a greater number of hotel options around the world.
Points per $1 spent. Credit cards that earn a higher rate of points per $1 spent can help you get hotel rewards faster. But it’s also good to check how many points you’ll need to redeem hotel stays so that you can choose a card that offers the most value to you.
Annual fee. The annual fee for this type of credit card can be worth hundreds of dollars. To get value from your card, the potential rewards you’ll get and any other benefits should be worth more than this charge.
Interest rates. If you carry a balance, the purchase rate for the card will add to your costs and could outweigh the value of any rewards. Ideally, you should aim to pay off your balance in full by the due date on your statement for this type of card. Otherwise, it may be better to consider a low rate credit card instead.
Other extras. Using complimentary perks such as travel insurance, flight vouchers and airport lounge access can help offset the costs of a credit card – especially if you're a frequent traveller.
Example: Comparing hotel credit cards
Let's take a look at 2 different credit cards that offer rewards and hotel perks.
The Citi Prestige Credit Card. This card has a $700 p.a. annual fee. If offers credit back on the 4th night of an eligible hotel stay booked with Luxury Escapes, capped at up to $1,000 per booking. You can redeem this offer 4 times a year.
The American Express Explorer Credit Card. This card has a $395 p.a. annual fee. It offers a $400 annual travel credit which you can redeem for hotels or flights, car hire or more. You can also receive up to $100 hotel credit at select hotels in the Hotel Collection.
Both cards here offer some nice hotel perks. But they have quite high annual fees. For the Amex Explorer card, the travel credit totally offsets the fee. So if you use the credit, and take advantage of the many other non-hotel card benefits, you'll get value out of it.
With the Citi Prestige card you could more than offset the cost of the annual fee with the 4th night credit back offer. They key is to plan ahead, read the fine print and make full use of the benefit.
"I once used my Qantas points, which I mainly earned through credit card bonuses and spending, to redeem a stay at the beautiful Versace Hotel on the Gold Coast. It would have been over $600 if we paid, and we redeemed the stay for 55,000 points. It was a such a bougie hotel, and I'm even more pleased we had that luxe experience now that the Versace has closed, and the hotel has been rebranded as the Imperial Palace. Still a beautiful hotel – but not quite Versace!"
Most hotels do ask for a card (along with your ID) when you check-in, but you can usually give them either a credit card or a debit card that's issued in your name.
As well as helping to verify your identity, the card details are used as a security deposit for any additional charges, such as room service or minibar drinks/snacks.
In most cases, the hotel will put an authorisation hold on the card, which could be anything from $1 up to $100 or more per stay. This usually shows up as a "pending" transaction on your account (so that you can't spend it). When you check out, the money is released and goes back into your account – assuming you haven't used any extras.
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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Moira Daniels as part of our fact-checking process.
Amy is an experienced journalist with over 16 years of experience, contributing to major publications like Money Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald, and ABC News Australia. Specialising in personal finance, she frequently appeared in media outlets and on radio. Amy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Drama from Griffith University and earned RG146 certifications in Tier 1 Generic Knowledge and Tier 2 General Advice Deposit Products, ensuring her expertise is grounded in current financial regulations. Amy was Finder's Senior Writer for Credit Cards from 2016 to 2024. See full bio
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