Choice Privileges® Mastercard®
- Best for: Road-trippers who stay at Choice Hotels brands a few nights a year
- What Sets It Apart: Automatic Gold Elite status and 10 nights a year credited toward Choice status, with no annual fee
- Cost: $0 annual fee; no foreign transaction fee; 19.99%, 24.74%, or 28.74% variable interest rate
- Features: 5 points per dollar at Choice hotels booked direct; 3 points on gas, groceries, home improvement, and phone plans; 1 point elsewhere; 60,000 bonus points after $1,000 in 3 months; cell phone protection up to $800
- Pros: No annual fee; Gold status keeps points from expiring; Platinum status five nights away
- Cons: No anniversary bonus; 1 point per dollar elsewhere; points redeem only through Choice
Get the Choice Privileges® Mastercard® if you stay at Choice hotels such as Comfort Inn on road trips and want hotel points without an annual fee. It earns 5 points per dollar on stays you book with Choice and 3 on gas and groceries, and it makes you a Gold member automatically.
Wells Fargo issues the card for Choice Hotels, whose brands include Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, and Cambria. It replaced the Choice Privileges Visa Signature card in 2023, when Choice moved its cards from Barclays to Wells Fargo.
Key Features
- $0 annual fee, no foreign transaction fee, and a variable interest rate of 19.99%, 24.74%, or 28.74%, set by your credit
- 60,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 in your first 3 months, a limited-time offer, up from 40,000
- 5 points per dollar on Choice stays booked direct; 3 on gas, groceries, home improvement, and phone plans; 1 on everything else
- 10 nights credited toward Choice elite status each calendar year, enough for automatic Gold status
Pros
- The four 3-point categories out-earn a 2% cash back card whenever a point is worth more than two-thirds of a cent
- Gold status, which otherwise takes five nights a year, adds 10% to the points a paid stay earns and stops your points from expiring
- Platinum status takes 15 nights a year, so the card’s 10 credited nights leave you five short
- Cell phone protection up to $800 per claim, with a $25 deductible
Cons
- No anniversary bonus or free night, while the $95 Choice Privileges Select Mastercard pays 30,000 points each anniversary
- 1 point per dollar on everything else, short of a 2% cash back card unless a point is worth 2 cents
- Gas and groceries from superstores and warehouse clubs may not earn 3 points
- Stays earn 5 points per dollar only when booked with Choice, not through travel sites like Expedia
- You can redeem the points only through Choice Privileges
For road-trippers who book Comfort Inn or Cambria stays directly with Choice, it’s a no-fee card worth keeping for those nights, gas, and groceries. If most of your nights are at another chain, that chain’s own card will earn more on those stays than this card’s 1 point per dollar.
Learn more about the Choice Privileges® Mastercard® or see how it compares to the best hotel rewards credit cards.
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