The Choice Privileges card used to be offered by Bank of America, but it was discontinued in 2009. A lot of people complained about the pitiful rewards on this hotel credit card, so I was not the least bit surprised to see it axed. However then in July 2010 – much to my surprise – they decided to come back out with the Choice Privilege Visa, but this time it’s issued by Barclays. Is it any better than the original? Let’s find out?

First, let’s take a look at which hotels are included in the Choice Privileges card reward program:

• Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep In, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban, Roadway Inn, Ascend Collection

In a nutshell, it’s quite a wide selection of discount/lower end hotels. When I’m traveling and literally just want a cheap place to sleep, I often go for a lower end hotel myself. So the brands being offered on the Choice Privileges credit card are good options (you can compare hotel credit cards here).

Next, let’s take a look at the rewards program on the Chase Privileges Visa:

• On purchases they give 2 points per $1 spent

• On spending at Choice Privileges hotels, I found the advertisement a bit misleading in my opinion. One of their bullet points was “Earn 15 points per eligible $1 spent at over 4,200 Choice Privileges locations” which sounded great, but then I read the fine print…  the Choice Privileges credit card only earns you 5 of those 15 points. The rest are given through the Choice Privileges membership program (a free membership program that is separate from the credit card). So in actuality, it appears the credit card in itself is only earning you 5 points per dollar spent at their hotels.

(on a related note, I think it would be more clear if they added the words “up to” in-front of that “15 points per eligible $1” bullet point, because after reading the fine print, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, Suburban Extended Stay, and MainStay suites only earn 5 points in the Choice Privileges membership program, so that’s 10 points total if the credit card is also used, not 15).

Sounds good so far, but how much are the points actually worth?

After I read that the Choice Privileges credit cards give 2 points per dollar on normal spending and 5 points on their hotels, I was actually quite impressed. But did these points follow the standard formula where 1 point equals $0.01 in value?

Well I consulted several sources – both through them directly as well as reviews on FlyerTalk, etc – to see how much they are worth when you redeem them… or in other words, how many points do you need to get a free night (and how does that compare if you were just paying normally). As it turns out, reportedly these points are only worth about 0.6 cents to 1.0 cents a piece. This was a huge disappointment.

Verdict?

While conducting my Choice Privileges Visa credit card review, I was quite enthusiastic about it until I got to the end and discovered that reportedly these points only equal out to be a rebate of approximately 1% or less. If that’s the case, then in my opinion this credit card is not worthwhile at all.

Better Options

There are some great cards on the market that not only give fantastic rewards, but also some pretty lucrative signup bonuses. Check out this sponsored listing of the top hotel rewards credit cards.

Written or updated April 2011