How Many Points Per Night Will I Earn At A Hotel? Comparison & Analysis

How Many Points Per Night Will I Earn At A Hotel? Comparison & Analysis

If you’re wondering how many points you will earn on a hotel stay, this article will break it down. Across major programs and their various status levels, we’ll look at not only how many hotel points you will earn per night but also the relative value of those. Maybe 3 of this is worth more than 5 of that, etc.

Methodology

We’ll look at each program individually first.

Within each program, we’ll compare the hotel points per night you can earn in their various elite status levels. We’ll also highlight any extra points you can earn by having a credit card with that program.

At the end, we’ll take that data and put it into a table that’s easy to read and compare across all programs. Within this, we’ll also highlight the relative value of those points, so you can compare the “real value” of the points you can earn.

Note: To make the values comparable, all numbers will be written as points per dollar spent, unless noted. At the end, we’ll also highlight the rate of return / return on investment (ROI) to compare fairly.

Accor

The Accor Live Limitless (ALL) program has different earning ratios for different hotel brands. Their Accor-owned brands earn at higher rates than affiliate brands. You will also earn status points at different rates, depending on the brand. However, we will simply address the points earning here.

Note that Accor points earning rates are published on points per Euro spent, but we have converted to US Dollar. If the exchange rate has a big shift, that can affect the values listed here.

	Accor hotels	Ibis, Ibis Styles & Mama Shelter hotels	Mantra, Peppers, Breakfree, Art Series & Adagio hotels	Adagio Access, Jo&Joe & Greet hotels
No status (Classic)	2.12	1.06	0.85	0.42
Tier 1 (Silver)	2.63	1.32	1.06	0.53
Tier 2 (Gold)	3.14	1.57	1.27	0.64
Tier 3 (Platinum)	3.74	1.87	1.49	0.74
Tier 4 (Diamond)	3.74	1.87	1.49	0.74

Accor doesn’t have a co-branded credit card. Because of this, how many hotel points you can earn per night is solely based on the hotel brand and your status level. You can’t earn more by paying with their credit card, since they don’t have one.

Hilton

Points earning with the Hilton Honors program is outlined here. We’ll first look at how many points per night you can earn on a hotel stay by status. Next, we’ll look at points earned when paying for your stay at Hilton with their various credit cards. Note that there is a secondary value listed for stays at Tru and Home2 hotels in the Hilton portfolio. Any hotel stays at brands other than these will fall under the first number for how many points per night you’ll earn at the hotel.

	All other Hilton hotels	Tru & Home2 hotels
No status (Member)	10	5
Tier 1 (Silver)	12	6
Tier 2 (Gold)	18	9
Tier 3 (Diamond)	20	10

All values are expressed as points earned per $1.

Additionally, you can earn more points by paying with a co-branded Hilton credit card.

Name of card	Points per $1 at Hilton hotels
Hilton Honors Credit Card	7
Hilton Surpass Credit Card	12
Hilton Business Credit Card	12
Hilton Aspire Credit Card	14

Hyatt

The World of Hyatt program has their points earning information on this page. They do not allocate points earning differently depending on which type of hotel you stay at. Thus, there is only one number for this. After looking at points earned for stays at a hotel, we’ll cover how many points you can earn by paying with the World of Hyatt Credit Card from Chase.

Status level	Points per $1 spent at the property
No status (Member)	5
Tier 1 (Discoverist)	5.5
Tier 2 (Explorist)	6
Tier 3 (Globalist)	6.5

All values are points per $1 spent. Additionally, points per dollar earned by using the Hyatt co-branded credit card at a Hyatt hotel are as follows:

Card	Points per $1 at Hyatt properties
World of Hyatt Credit Card	4

IHG

The IHG Rewards program also awards points differently, depending on which hotel brand you’re staying at. Points earning rates are published here. We’ll look at how many points you’ll earn at the hotel first, then how many points you can earn if paying with their credit cards.

	All other IHG hotels	Staybridge Suites & Candlewood Suites hotels
No status (Member)	10	5
Tier 1 (Gold)	11	5.5
Tier 2 (Platinum)	15	7.5
Tier 3 (Spire Elite)	20	10
Tier 4 (Kimpton Inner Circle)	20	10

Additionally, IHG has 2 credit cards issued by Chase. These are the points earning rates per $1 spent at IHG properties.

Name of card	Points per $1 spent at IHG property
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card	10
IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card	5

Note that the IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card is closed to new applicants.

Marriott

The Marriott Bonvoy program publishes earning rates here. Points earned per dollar spent on hotel stays depends on which hotel brand is involved.

	All other Marriott hotels	Element, Residence Inn & TownePlace Suites hotels
No status (Member)	10	5
Tier 1 (Silver)	11	5.5
Tier 2 (Gold)	12.5	6.25
Tier 3 (Platinum)	15	7.5
Tier 4 (Titanium)	17.5	8.75

Marriott also has multiple co-branded credit cards issued by both Chase and American Express. The points per dollar earning rates on hotel stays are as follows:

Name of card	Points per $1 spent at Marriott property
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless	6
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold	3
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Business	5
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card	6
Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card	6
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card	6

Note that the business card product from Chase is no longer open to new applicants.

Radisson

The Radisson Rewards program recently split itself into 2 separate programs: one for the Americas and one for the rest of the world. You can transfer points 1:1 between the programs. Earning rates are the same in both programs, regardless of hotel type or location for your stay.

Status level	Points per $1 spent at Radisson property
No status (Club)	20
Tier 1 (Silver)	22
Tier 2 (Gold)	25
Tier 3 (Platinum)	35

Points values are per $1 spent at properties.

Additionally, U.S. Bank issues the Radisson Rewards Visa Card. With it, you can earn additional points as shown:

Name of card	Points per $1 spent at Radisson property
Radisson Rewards Visa Card	10

Wyndham

The Wyndham Rewards program lists its points earning rates here. It’s interesting to note that the earning rate is the same at any of their hotels. The difference is what you can charge to your room for earning points or not. At their economy hotel brands, only the room rate earns points. At mid- and high-tier properties, anything charged to your room earns points (ex: meals & parking). A notable exceptions is that the Caesars Rewards properties earn points only on room rate, nothing else.

Status level	Points per $1 spent at Wyndham property
No status (Blue)	10
Tier 1 (Gold)	11
Tier 2 (Platinum)	11.5
Tier 3 (Diamond)	12

Wyndham Rewards also has co-branded credit cards issued by Barclays. We compared them in this article, if you’d like more details.

Name of card	Points per $1 spent at Wyndham property
Wyndham Rewards Earner	5
Wyndham Rewards Earner+	6
Wyndham Rewards Earner Business	8

All points are expressed as points per $1 US Dollar earned at the property.

How Many Points Per Night You’ll Earn At A Hotel

Now that we have a bunch of numbers, what does it mean? Not all points are created equally. To really compare the points earned across the various hotel loyalty programs, we should first understand what those points are worth.

Value Of Points In These Programs

From research into average redemption rates, here’s a comparative average of points values in these programs.

Hotel loyalty program	Value of 1 point in the program (in cents)
Accor	2.2
Hilton	0.5
Hyatt	1.7
IHG	0.6
Marriott	0.7
Radisson	0.4
Wyndham	1.0

Numbers in this cart are listed in cents. These are how many cents 1 point in the respective program is typically worth. Actual redemption values vary depending on your booking.

Return On Investment In Each Program

Now that we know what the points are worth, we can see what value we’re getting. This covers how many points per night you’ll earn at a hotel AND what those points are worth. That gives us our ROI.

Accor

These are the points earnings are return on investment (ROI) per $1 spent at Accor hotels, by property type.

Status Level	Accor hotels	ROI	Ibis, Ibis Styles & Mama Shelter hotels	ROI	Mantra, Peppers, Breakfree, Art Series & Adagio hotels	ROI	Adagio Access, Jo&Joe & Greet hotels	ROI
No status (Classic)	2.12	4.7%	1.06	2.3%	0.85	1.9%	0.42	0.9%
Tier 1 (Silver)	2.63	5.8%	1.32	2.9%	1.06	2.3%	0.53	1.2%
Tier 2 (Gold)	3.14	6.9%	1.57	3.4%	1.27	2.8%	0.64	1.4%
Tier 3 (Platinum)	3.74	8.2%	1.87	4.1%	1.49	3.3%	0.74	1.6%
Tier 4 (Diamond)	3.74	8.2%	1.87	4.1%	1.49	3.3%	0.74	1.6%

Hilton

ROI for points earning at Hilton hotels is as follows:

	All other Hilton hotels	ROI	Tru & Home2 hotels	ROI
No status (Member)	10	5%	5	2.5%
Tier 1 (Silver)	12	6%	6	3%
Tier 2 (Gold)	18	9%	9	4.5%
Tier 3 (Diamond)	20	10%	10	5%

ROI for points earned by paying with a Hilton credit card at a Hilton property is as follows:

Name of card	Points per $1 at Hilton hotels	ROI
Hilton Honors Credit Card	7	3.5%
Hilton Surpass Credit Card	12	6%
Hilton Business Credit Card	12	6%
Hilton Aspire Credit Card	14	7%

Hyatt

The ROI for points earned staying at Hyatt hotels is as follows:

Status level	Points per $1 spent at the property	ROI
No status (Member)	5	8.5%
Tier 1 (Discoverist)	5.5	9.4%
Tier 2 (Explorist)	6	10.2%
Tier 3 (Globalist)	6.5	11.1%

And here is the ROI for points earned paying for a stay using your Hyatt credit card:

Card	Points per $1 at Hyatt properties	ROI
World of Hyatt Credit Card	4	6.8%

IHG

Here are the values for earning points at IHG properties:

	All other IHG hotels	ROI	Staybridge Suites & Candlewood Suites hotels	ROI
No status (Memmber)	10	6%	5	3%
Tier 1 (Gold)	11	6.6%	5.5	3.3%
Tier 2 (Platinum)	15	9%	7.5	4.5%
Tier 3 (Spire Elite)	20	12%	10	6%
Tier 4 (Kimpton Inner Circle)	20	12%	10	6%

ROI for using your IHG credit card is as follows:

Name of card	Points per $1 spent at IHG property	ROI
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card	10	6%
IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card	5	3%

Marriott

This is the ROI for Marriott points earning:

	All other Marriott hotels	ROI	Element, Residence Inn & TownePlace Suites hotels	ROI
No status (Member)	10	7%	5	3.5%
Tier 1 (Silver)	11	7.7%	5.5	3.9%
Tier 2 (Gold)	12.5	8.8%	6.25	4.4%
Tier 3 (Platinum)	15	11%	7.5	5.3%
Tier 4 (Titanium)	17.5	12.3%	8.75	6.1%

And here is the ROI for using your Marriott credit card at a property:

Name of card	Points per $1 spent at Marriott property	ROI
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless	6	4.2%
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold	3	2.1%
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Business	5	3.5%
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card	6	4.2%
Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card	6	4.2%
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card	6	4.2%

Radisson

These are the ROI values for points earned at Radisson properties:

Status level	Points per $1 spent at Radisson property	ROI
No status (Club)	20	8%
Tier 1 (Silver)	22	8.8%
Tier 2 (Gold)	25	10%
Tier 3 (Platinum)	35	14%

And these are the values for points earned using your credit card at a Radisson property:

Name of card	Points per $1 spent at Radisson property	ROI
Radisson Rewards Visa Card	10	4%

Wyndham

For points earned staying at Wyndham properties, these are the ROI values:

Status level	Points per $1 spent at Wyndham property	ROI
No status (Blue)	10	10%
Tier 1 (Gold)	11	11%
Tier 2 (Platinum)	11.5	11.5%
Tier 3 (Diamond)	12	12%

These are the ROI values for using a Wyndham credit card at a Wyndham property:

Name of card	Points per $1 spent at Wyndham property	ROI
Wyndham Rewards Earner	5	5%
Wyndham Rewards Earner+	6	6%
Wyndham Rewards Earner Business	8	8%

Side-By-Side Comparison

Putting it all together, how do the programs compare? The points earned per dollar and ROI from points earning are listed below as we compare each tier of status across the programs. This helps us see which programs are the most rewarding and least rewarding.

Hotel Program	No status ROI	Tier 1 ROI	Tier 2 ROI	Tier 3 ROI	Tier 4 ROI
Accor	4.7%	5.8%	6.9%	8.2%	8.2%
Accor - Ibis, Ibis Styles & Mama Shelter hotels	2.3%	2.9%	3.4%	4.1%	4.1%
Accor - Mantra, Peppers, Breakfree, Art Series & Adagio hotels	1.9%	2.3%	2.8%	3.3%	3.3%
Accor - Adagio Access, Jo&Joe & Greet hotels	0.9%	1.2%	1.4%	1.6%	1.6%
Hilton	5%	6%	9%	10%
Hilton - Tru & Home2 hotels	2.5%	3%	4.5%	5%
Hyatt	8.5%	9.4%	10.2%	11.1%
IHG	6%	6.6%	9%	12%	12%
IHG - Staybridge Suites & Candlewood Suites hotels	3%	3.3%	4.5%	6%	6%
Marriott	7%	7.7%	8.8%	11%	12.3%
Marriott - Element, Residence Inn & TownePlace Suites hotels	3.5%	3.9%	4.4%	5.3%	6.1%
Radisson	8%	8.8%	10%	14%
Wyndham	10%	11%	11.5%	12%

And here are the values for ROI when using a hotel’s own credit card:

Name of card	ROI
Hilton Honors Credit Card	3.5%
Hilton Surpass Credit Card	6%
Hilton Business Credit Card	6%
Hilton Aspire Credit Card	7%
World of Hyatt Credit Card	6.8%
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card	6%
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card	3%
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless	4.2%
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold	2.1%
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Business	3.5%
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card	4.2%
Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card	4.2%
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card	4.2%
Radisson Rewards Visa Card	4%
Wyndham Rewards Earner	5%
Wyndham Rewards Earner+	6%
Wyndham Rewards Earner Business	8%

Analysis – Best & Worst

In terms of ROI, the highest value is in Radisson’s top tier (Platinum). You earn a 14% return on your investment in terms of value (35 points per $1 X 0.4 cents value per point = 14 cents worth of points coming back to you).

Marriott’s Titanium tier gives a 2nd-best ROI at 12.3%, with Wyndham and IHG both giving 12% ROI to their top-tier elites.

At the opposite end, for those with no status (remember that you must join the program to earn points, even if you don’t have a higher level of status) the best return is with Wyndham. You earn 10% ROI, which is only 2% less than their top-tier Diamond members.

When using the hotel’s own credit card, the best ROI is the Wyndham Rewards Earner Business card from Barclays. It provides an 8% return (1 cent per point value X 8 points per $1 spent = 8 cents of value coming back). The 2nd-best ROI for credit cards is the Hilton Aspire Card from American Express. It gives a 7% return.

If we look at the worst ROI, this belongs to the Accor Live Limitless program in nearly all categories of return on hotel stays. The worst ROI on hotel credit cards goes to the no-fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold credit card from Chase. It gives only a 2.1% return.

Final Thoughts

Why does this matter? Many of us are accustomed to free hotel stays using points and award certificates. However, there are occasions where you may pay cash, such as using a rebate offer like this one or during a status match challenge where only paid stays are valid. Understanding how many points per night you’ll earn on that hotel stay can help you understand the return on your investment (the money you spend) to know if it’s worth it or not.

Remember that ROI values can change depending on how you redeem your points. Various factors–such as location, time of year, or if there’s a popular event in the area–can change what valuation you get from using your points. Make sure to take that into account as you do the “worth it?” math. And lastly: remember to sign up for hotel programs, even if you think you won’t pursue any type of high-level status with them, because it never hurts to earn points with them anyway.

Were you surprised by any of these? Going to re-think your hotel loyalty or hotel stay habits after seeing the numbers? Let us know what you think.