Staying in a hotel and wanting to make sure you’re making a good choice? There’s a lot to consider, between finding a boutique hotel, an unusual property, and a hotel chain that ensures certain expectations are met no matter where you are. If you’re someone who has chosen one hotel chain for consistency and want to make sure you’ve landed on the right one, WalletHub has looked at the nine most popular hotel chains and their rewards programs. Using 21 metrics to compare and contrast between them, this list ranks the nine best hotel rewards programs for 2024.
Before we share it, some key findings are that overall, the top five hotel rewards programs save their members about 10 percent over people who book the same rooms but don’t have membership. And sometimes as much as 15 percent can be saved. Six of these hotel groups permit you to earn points at one hotel but spend them at a different property within their brands. There’s only one hotel chain in the study where the points don’t expire from inactivity: Best Western. So if you stayed there ten years ago and provided your member number, the points are still waiting for you!
So here are the top nine hotel rewards programs:
1. World of Hyatt: The results show this is the best loyalty program for people of all spending levels (frequent travelers versus light travelers). It ranks No. 1 for its earning policies (how you gain points) and liberal redemption policies.
2. Wyndham Rewards: This also scores No. 1 for its earning policies and is decent on geographic coverage (finding one most places you travel), rewards value, and status levels.
3. Sonesta Travel Pass: This is No. 1 for rewards value (what you can get for your points) and is decent for redemption options.
4. Marriott Bonvoy: This hotel chain can be found nearly anywhere, earning it the No. 1 spot for geographic coverage.
5. Hilton Honors: It earns the top spot for “other features,” which include reinstating lost earnings, the ability to share points across several accounts, and how much money it costs to buy points. Unfortunately, it also came in last for rewards value.
6. Choice Privileges: This wins the category of status levels but is last on the list for redemption options.
7. IHG One rewards: This loyalty program did not win any of the subcategories or place last in any of them.
8. Best Western Rewards: Similarly, this program is a middle-of-the-road contender in all categories.
9. Drury Rewards: No wins, and a last place earned for geographic coverage (but once you find it, great!)
For more information about each loyalty program and its performance on the various metrics, click here.