When many people think about earning points and miles with credit cards, they may often only think about airline loyalty programs. However, thinking inside the box like this will make us miss out on other great opportunities for earning and redeeming points on hotel stays! After all, we still need a place to stay after flying business class to a destination!
“Good” hotel credit cards are not as obvious as their airline counterparts. This comes from the fact that there aren’t as many co-branded hotel credit cards (at least in Canada) and not as many bank transfer partners. However, if we look between the lines, there are some gems out there that can make our next hotel stay worthwhile.
Let’s take a deep dive into the best hotel credit cards on the market and how to use them to our advantage!
The Value of a Good Hotel Credit Card
The important features of a hotel credit card are good point-earning rates so that you can parlay those points into free stays, free night certificates, and complimentary hotel status. If you think about it, these are the same principles that we have when picking a good airline credit card!
Through welcome bonuses and maximizing our spending, we can earn a great deal of points and certificates that we can use towards a great stay for our next getaway.
While we use the term “loyalty” frequently when talking about the most rewarding hotel programs, there is also a case for diversity in the hotel loyalty programs that you want to collect points and free night certificates from.
While there may only be one or two major airlines that fly out of your local airport, there can be dozens of hotel chains that are available for you to stay at once you get to your final destination. With multiple options from multiple hotel chains, it is imperative that you have flexibility for where you can stay based on the best value redemption and amenities at the property.
Thus, when thinking about good hotel credit cards, you should keep in mind the hotel loyalty programs that are available to you. Our favourites, and also the largest, are Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, World of Hyatt, Wyndham Rewards, and IHG One Rewards.
The Best Hotel Credit Cards in Canada
As there are quite a few travel credit cards on the Canadian market, we’ve curated a short list of the best choices available that may deserve a place in your wallet and shared how you can utilize these cards to either save money or improve the experience of your next hotel stay.
The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Cards
American Express offers the only hotel co-branded credit cards in Canada in partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, the world’s largest hotel brand.
While there are two Marriott Bonvoy credit cards available to Canadians, the American Express Marriott Bonvoy card is the personal version, which currently offers a welcome bonus of up to 110,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
The Marriott Bonvoy American Express card offers benefits that include an annual Marriott Bonvoy free night certificate and 15 elite qualifying nights towards Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
Check out our American Express Marriott Bonvoy card review for more details.
110,000 Marriott Bonvoy
$20,000
$990+
$120.00
Yes
Aug 18, 2025
The strength of this credit card is that it offers an annual free night certificate worth 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. We estimate that Marriott Bonvoy points are worth ~0.8 cents per point, making this free night certificate worth over $250 in value!
The potential value of the annual free night award far outweighs the card’s $120.00 annual fee, making this a keeper credit card year after year. If you are paying cash for your stay, you will earn 5 Bonvoy points per dollar spent at Marriott properties, which is a decent earn rate.
American Express also offers a business version of this card with the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business card, which currently offers a welcome bonus of up to 130,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business card offers benefits that include an annual Marriott Bonvoy free night certificate and 15 elite qualifying nights towards Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
130,000 Marriott Bonvoy
$30,000
$1,170+
$150.00
Yes
Aug 18, 2025
This card is nearly identical to the personal version, with the addition that it also earns 3 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar spent on gas, dining, and travel.
As you can see, both of these Marriott Bonvoy American Express cards are strong options to get a free night certificate for a minimal annual fee and receive great earning rates on paid stays. Together, they create an excellent credit card combination, and it can be well worth holding both of these cards for the long term.
Additionally, an underrated strength of both of these cards is the ability to earn 15 elite qualifying nights towards Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status. However, note that you will only receive 15 elite qualifying nights total, even if you hold both cards at the same time.
For more information about earning higher levels of status, check out our podcast episode on the shortcuts to Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status!
American Express Cobalt Card
The American Express Cobalt card is a fan favourite at Frugal Flyer and is a card that many Frugal Flyer team members keep in our wallets! While many of us primarily use it to transfer our American Express Membership Rewards points to Air Canada Aeroplan for flights, there is a case to be made for it as a hotel credit card as well.
The American Express Cobalt card gives cardholders the opportunity to earn 5x Membership Rewards on eligible restaurant, food delivery, and grocery store purchases.
Check out our American Express Cobalt card review for more details.
15,000 Membership Rewards
$9,000
$300+
$155.88
Yes
–
American Express Canada Membership Rewards points earned through American Express Canada cards transfer to Marriott Bonvoy at a rate of 1:1.2. This is actually stronger than our American Express US counterparts, who transfer at 1:1.
Thus, if we earn 5 points per dollar spent on groceries and dining using the Cobalt card, we can think of this as earning 6 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar if we transfer the points out. This makes the American Express Cobalt card the strongest hotel point-earning card in Canada when used on dining and groceries, even outshining the Marriott Bonvoy co-branded cards!
American Express Platinum Card
The American Express Platinum card is known for its hefty metal card and global lounge access program, but it also has a place as a hotel credit card! While this is a premium credit card with an annual fee of $799.00, it also currently offers a welcome bonus of up to 180,000 Membership Rewards points.
The American Express Platinum card is a premium card that offers benefits including a $200 travel credit, a $200 dining credit, airport lounge access, instant elite status with Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors, and more.
Check out our American Express Platinum card review for more details.
180,000 Membership Rewards
$50,000
$3,600+
$799.00
Yes
Aug 18, 2025
The Platinum Card comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold and Hilton Honors Gold elite status as perks. This makes it the only credit card in Canada that gives “complimentary” hotel elite status for holding the card! Most notably, Hilton Honors Gold status grants free breakfast at eligible Hilton Hotels, which is a significant money-saving benefit.
Another hotel perk of the Platinum Card is that it grants access to American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts, which is exclusively available to cardholders.
In the American Express Travel Portal, you can book a paid hotel stay through Fine Hotels and Resorts that comes with some great perks such as daily breakfast for two guests, guaranteed late check out, and room upgrades if available.
The Platinum card also offers a $200 travel credit usable per cardholder anniversary year, which can also be applied towards bookings in the Fine Hotels & Resorts program.
You can consider paying for hotel stays using the Platinum Card, outside of Marriott Bonvoy, as it earns 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on travel purchases. By using this card to pay, you will also get access to great travel insurance.
TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card
While we often recommend booking stays directly with the hotel to ensure that we get our elite nights credited and our elite status honoured, there are a few unique cases where booking with Expedia makes sense.
The first is for independent hotels that are not part of the larger hotel programs – we can’t earn points or status anyway. The other is if Expedia actually offers the hotel for much cheaper than the hotel itself, which can happen! This is when the TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card comes into play as an excellent option that currently offers a welcome bonus of up to 85,000 TD Rewards points.
The TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card earns 8x TD Rewards on purchases at Expedia for TD, plus a $100 Expedia for TD credit and TD Rewards birthday bonus.
Check out our TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card review for more information.
85,000 TD Rewards
$5,000
$425+
$139.00 (FYF)
Yes
–
Expedia for TD is available exclusively for TD Rewards members to book their travel. Everything on there is identical to “vanilla” Expedia, except for the fact that you can redeem your TD Rewards points.
If you use your TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite card when paying for your booking on Expedia for TD, you will earn 8 TD Rewards points per dollar spent, which translates to 4 cents per dollar. This is a very strong earn rate, and we recommend considering using this card when making a paid stay.
Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
Another personal favourite of mine, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card, is great for making hotel redemptions. Scene+ points can be redeemed at a rate of 1 cent per point when redeemed towards any travel expenses that are charged to the card, and it helps that the card currently has an excellent welcome bonus of up to 50,000 Scene+ points.
The Scotiabank Gold American Express card earns up to 6x Scene+ points at Empire grocery stores and charges no foreign exchange fees on purchases made in foreign currencies.
Check out our Scotiabank Gold American Express card review for more details.
50,000 Scene+
$7,500
$650+
$120.00 (FYF)
No
Oct 31, 2025
With its strong earn rate of up to 6 Scene+ points per dollar spent on groceries, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card is a great way to cash out your points at a fixed rate for your next hotel stay. Check out our in-depth guide on the Scene+ Travel Portal powered by Expedia to learn more about how you can maximize your next redemption!
While the travel portal is run by Expedia, much like its TD counterpart, the Scotiabank Gold American Express card earns up to 4 Scene+ points per dollar spent on travel purchases when booking through the Scene+ Travel Portal. This makes the earning rate similar to the TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite card.
Hotel Credit Cards in Quentin’s Wallet
The current iteration of my wallet has the American Express Marriott Bonvoy, American Express Cobalt, and Scotiabank Gold American Express credit cards. Here’s a breakdown of how I use these cards in the context of collecting hotel points and making redemptions
The American Express Marriott Bonvoy card is a keeper card year after year for me because of the free night certificate worth 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. The vast majority of the time, I can use one of these certificates on a hotel stay worth way more than the $120.00 annual fee, so I get net positive value from it every year. If I need to make a paid Marriott stay, I will also use this card.
The American Express Cobalt card is the strongest points-earning card in my wallet for dining and groceries. While I mostly save my Membership Rewards points to transfer to Air Canada Aeroplan, if I am in need of Marriott Bonvoy points for a stay, I won’t hesitate to transfer some out to top up my balance.
The Scotiabank Gold American Express card gets used for independent hotels on the Scotiabank’s Expedia Travel Portal. At a redemption rate of 1 cent per Scene+ point, I think it presents decent value for hotel stays here and there!
The Best Hotel Credit Cards in the United States
While we have discussed the best hotel credit cards in Canada, my strongest hotel credit cards are actually from the US market. As someone who is able to get US credit cards as a Canadian, I find myself reaching for these often when I need to book a hotel stay.
This collection comprises the American Express Hilton Aspire Card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, and the Capital One Venture X Rewards card.
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card
The American Express Hilton Honors Aspire card (US) comes with top-tier Hilton Honors Diamond status as a perk for cardholders. This means I get free breakfast, room upgrades if available, and much more!
The American Express Hilton Honors Aspire card offers benefits that include a $200 semi-annual Hilton Resort credit, a quarterly $50 airline credit, instant Hilton Honors Diamond Elite status, an annual free night certificate, and more.
Check out our American Express Hilton Honors Aspire card review for more details.
150,000 Hilton Honors
$6,000
$900+
$550.00
No
–
It also comes with an uncapped Hilton free night certificate that can be worth way more than its hefty $550.00 USD annual fee. Combined with the various Hilton statement credits from the card, I think this is a no-brainer!
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is used to transfer points out to World of Hyatt, where very reasonable hotel redemptions can be made!
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is an incredibly valuable US credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards points which can be transferred to numerous frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs.
Check out our Chase Sapphire Preferred card review for more details.
75,000 Ultimate Rewards
$5,000
$1,275+
$95.00
No
–
I have always been pleased when staying at Hyatt properties, such as when I stayed at the Grand Hyatt Athens a few years ago by transferring out my Chase Ultimate Rewards points!
Capital One Venture X Rewards Card
I use the Capital One Venture X Rewards card for its annual $300 USD travel credit, which can be utilized when booking through the Capital One Travel Portal. This usually gets me a night or two a year and doesn’t tap into any of my point reserves!
The Capital One Venture X Rewards card earns Capital One Miles and offers unlimited airport lounge access for the cardholder and their authorized users. The card also offers an annual $300 USD travel credit to be used on the Capital One Travel Portal.
Click to learn how to obtain and optimize the Capital One Venture X Rewards card as a Canadian!
75,000 Capital One Miles
$4,000
$1,388+
$395.00
No
–
If I’m booking a paid stay, I often consider my Venture X as it yields 10x Capital One Miles per dollar spent on hotel purchases through the Capital One Travel Portal. Additionally, in the event that I need to, I can transfer out to hotel programs such as Wyndham Rewards, Choice Privileges, and Accor Live Limitless to expand my choice of where I want to stay. Lastly, this card opens up access to Capital One Premier and Lifestyle Collection Hotels.
Conclusion
Hotels are often the overlooked part of the points and miles game, but there is no reason they should be. There are many strong options for hotel credit cards in Canada that can help you stay at your next destination for less. If you venture into the US market (no pun intended), there are even more hotel credit cards that are available to you and are some of my favourites to use.
Looking for where to start with travel credit cards in general? Check out our picks for the best travel credit cards this year!
Quentin Tsang
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