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

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Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Links in this post may provide us with a commission.

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 hotelsIbis, Ibis Styles & Mama Shelter hotelsMantra, Peppers, Breakfree, Art Series & Adagio hotelsAdagio Access, Jo&Joe & Greet hotels
No status (Classic)2.121.060.850.42
Tier 1 (Silver)2.631.321.060.53
Tier 2 (Gold)3.141.571.270.64
Tier 3 (Platinum)3.741.871.490.74
Tier 4 (Diamond)3.741.871.490.74

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 hotelsTru & Home2 hotels
No status (Member)105
Tier 1 (Silver)126
Tier 2 (Gold)189
Tier 3 (Diamond)2010

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 cardPoints per $1 at Hilton hotels
Hilton Honors Credit Card7
Hilton Surpass Credit Card12
Hilton Business Credit Card12
Hilton Aspire Credit Card14

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 levelPoints 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:

CardPoints per $1 at Hyatt properties
World of Hyatt Credit Card4

Intercontinental Hotels Group logo.

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 hotelsStaybridge Suites & Candlewood Suites hotels
No status (Member)105
Tier 1 (Gold)115.5
Tier 2 (Platinum)157.5
Tier 3 (Spire Elite)2010
Tier 4 (Kimpton Inner Circle)2010

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

Name of cardPoints per $1 spent at IHG property
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card10
IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card5

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 hotelsElement, Residence Inn & TownePlace Suites hotels
No status (Member)105
Tier 1 (Silver)115.5
Tier 2 (Gold)12.56.25
Tier 3 (Platinum)157.5
Tier 4 (Titanium)17.58.75

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 cardPoints per $1 spent at Marriott property
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless6
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold3
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Business5
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card6
Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card6
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card6

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

radisson sweepstakes

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 levelPoints 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 cardPoints per $1 spent at Radisson property
Radisson Rewards Visa Card10

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 levelPoints 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 cardPoints per $1 spent at Wyndham property
Wyndham Rewards Earner5
Wyndham Rewards Earner+6
Wyndham Rewards Earner Business8

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

How Many Points Per Night Will I Earn At A Hotel? Comparison & Analysis
Wyndham Origin Raleigh. Source: Wyndham Hotels.

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 programValue of 1 point in the program (in cents)
Accor2.2
Hilton0.5
Hyatt1.7
IHG0.6
Marriott0.7
Radisson0.4
Wyndham1.0

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.

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

Accor

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

Status LevelAccor hotelsROIIbis, Ibis Styles & Mama Shelter hotelsROIMantra, Peppers, Breakfree, Art Series & Adagio hotelsROIAdagio Access, Jo&Joe & Greet hotelsROI
No status (Classic)2.124.7%1.062.3%0.851.9%0.420.9%
Tier 1 (Silver)2.635.8%1.322.9%1.062.3%0.531.2%
Tier 2 (Gold)3.146.9%1.573.4%1.272.8%0.641.4%
Tier 3 (Platinum)3.748.2%1.874.1%1.493.3%0.741.6%
Tier 4 (Diamond)3.748.2%1.874.1%1.493.3%0.741.6%

Hilton

ROI for points earning at Hilton hotels is as follows:

All other Hilton hotelsROITru & Home2 hotelsROI
No status (Member)105%52.5%
Tier 1 (Silver)126%63%
Tier 2 (Gold)189%94.5%
Tier 3 (Diamond)2010%105%

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

Name of cardPoints per $1 at Hilton hotelsROI
Hilton Honors Credit Card73.5%
Hilton Surpass Credit Card126%
Hilton Business Credit Card126%
Hilton Aspire Credit Card147%

Hyatt

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

Status levelPoints per $1 spent at the propertyROI
No status (Member)58.5%
Tier 1 (Discoverist)5.59.4%
Tier 2 (Explorist)610.2%
Tier 3 (Globalist)6.511.1%

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

CardPoints per $1 at Hyatt propertiesROI
World of Hyatt Credit Card46.8%

Intercontinental Hotels Group logo.

IHG

Here are the values for earning points at IHG properties:

All other IHG hotelsROIStaybridge Suites & Candlewood Suites hotelsROI
No status (Memmber)106%53%
Tier 1 (Gold)116.6%5.53.3%
Tier 2 (Platinum)159%7.54.5%
Tier 3 (Spire Elite)2012%106%
Tier 4 (Kimpton Inner Circle)2012%106%

ROI for using your IHG credit card is as follows:

Name of cardPoints per $1 spent at IHG propertyROI
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card106%
IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card53%

Marriott

This is the ROI for Marriott points earning:

All other Marriott hotelsROIElement, Residence Inn & TownePlace Suites hotelsROI
No status (Member)107%53.5%
Tier 1 (Silver)117.7%5.53.9%
Tier 2 (Gold)12.58.8%6.254.4%
Tier 3 (Platinum)1511%7.55.3%
Tier 4 (Titanium)17.512.3%8.756.1%

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

Name of cardPoints per $1 spent at Marriott propertyROI
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless64.2%
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold32.1%
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Business53.5%
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card64.2%
Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card64.2%
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card64.2%

radisson sweepstakes

Radisson

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

Status levelPoints per $1 spent at Radisson propertyROI
No status (Club)208%
Tier 1 (Silver)228.8%
Tier 2 (Gold)2510%
Tier 3 (Platinum)3514%

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

Name of cardPoints per $1 spent at Radisson propertyROI
Radisson Rewards Visa Card104%

Wyndham

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

Status levelPoints per $1 spent at Wyndham propertyROI
No status (Blue)1010%
Tier 1 (Gold)1111%
Tier 2 (Platinum)11.511.5%
Tier 3 (Diamond)1212%

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

Name of cardPoints per $1 spent at Wyndham propertyROI
Wyndham Rewards Earner55%
Wyndham Rewards Earner+66%
Wyndham Rewards Earner Business88%

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

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 ProgramNo status ROITier 1 ROITier 2 ROITier 3 ROITier 4 ROI
Accor4.7%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 hotels1.9%2.3%2.8%3.3%3.3%
Accor - Adagio Access, Jo&Joe & Greet hotels0.9%1.2%1.4%1.6%1.6%
Hilton5%6%9%10%
Hilton - Tru & Home2 hotels2.5%3%4.5%5%
Hyatt8.5%9.4%10.2%11.1%
IHG6%6.6%9%12%12%
IHG - Staybridge Suites & Candlewood Suites hotels3%3.3%4.5%6%6%
Marriott7%7.7%8.8%11%12.3%
Marriott - Element, Residence Inn & TownePlace Suites hotels3.5%3.9%4.4%5.3%6.1%
Radisson8%8.8%10%14%
Wyndham10%11%11.5%12%

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

Name of cardROI
Hilton Honors Credit Card3.5%
Hilton Surpass Credit Card6%
Hilton Business Credit Card6%
Hilton Aspire Credit Card7%
World of Hyatt Credit Card6.8%
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card6%
IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card3%
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 Card4.2%
Radisson Rewards Visa Card4%
Wyndham Rewards Earner5%
Wyndham Rewards Earner+6%
Wyndham Rewards Earner Business8%

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.

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

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.

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Ryan Smith
Ryan Smith
Travel hacker in 2-player mode, intent on visiting every country in the world, and can say "hello" or "how much does this cost?" in a bunch of different languages.

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

12 COMMENTS

  1. […]  Generally paying to stay in a hotel is not recommended, this is why we collect miles, hotel points and bank points! But sometimes it makes sense. As in…your company pays for it and allows you to choose the hotel chain and use your credit card. In my old corporate days I must admit THIS was the best perk for me. When the company cracked down I knew it was time to leave lol. This is a guide to help you figure out which paid stays can be more beneficial to you as far as hauling in the points: How Many Points Per Night Will I Earn At A Hotel? Comparison & Analysis. […]

  2. Since many cards confer some status, seems like there is an opportunity to look at simply spend w/zero nights, but a chosen card. In other words, by simply holding the:
    Aspire: 17% return (Diamond + card)
    Hyatt: 16.2%
    IHG: 15%
    …etc…

  3. Wyndham has long been treated like the proverbial red-headed step-child (ignored) by the travel and credit card bloggers/youtubers. They were my first hotel card because I recognized the value for budget road trips and occasional higher level stays. Although for the aspirational trips that are the primary focus of the aforementioned influencers I’ll probably go with Hilton or Hyatt.

    • I think Wyndham was widely loved when they went to the 15K per night for everything set up. Now it is much harder to find value. If you have the business card you can rack up some nice value though for sure. I think it all depends on what you want to get out of your travels.

      • Most of what I need stayed at 15k. Also overlooked is that you can earn pretty good points for everyday spending with the Capital One trifecta and Wyndham is one of their 1:1 transfer partners.

  4. Great analysis. Only suggestion is to do a summary ranking of each incl if someone has the credit card. By my quick take based on your analysis, it would be Hilton 17%, Hyatt 17.9%, IHG 18%, Marriott 16.5%, Accor 8.2%, Radisson 18%, Wyndham 20%. Having said that, I think you’ve underrated the value of a Marriott or IHG point vs a Hyatt point – looking at the higher end redemptions, I often struggle to get 1c a point out of IHG, I can usually get 1c a point out of Marriott, but I struggle to get more than 1.5c, whereas with Hyatt I can often get 4c a point and struggle for more than 7c (though I just snagged a 10c /pt redemption at the same hotel in your pic – Park Hyatt Zanzibar 30k redemption for the $3,000 royal residence).

    • Khatl – that would then still have multiple variables (status level + which credit card) and seems like it would become more complicated to read. If you’d like to see the info on how we valued points, you can see the research on it here https://milestomemories.com/miles-points-worth-average-valuation/
      Lastly, I’m not sure how others value hotels, but I don’t include upgrades and suite certificates in ‘standard redemption rates’ such as 15k per night at Park Hyatt Zanzibar. Different people approach it differently, but I count standard rates against standard rooms and don’t include suite upgrade certs in that, since that required more than just the 15k points for example. That obviously changes how people value hotel points, depending on whether or not you include this.

      • Fair comment re upgrades and suites… but my thoughts on the valuation between brands. I think there seems to be a general over-valuing in the blogosphere of Marriott, Hilton, IHG vs Hyatt. That said, I should perhaps just keep quiet and continue to earn and burn Hyatt points! 🙂

  5. Although not available for new applications (but can be PC’d from another Chase Marriott product) the Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite is almost identical to the Amex Bonvoy Brilliant

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