How I earn and redeem factors at inns that don’t belong to a loyalty program

Everybody says a every day puzzle routine will preserve your thoughts sharp, however in my sincere opinion, you possibly can overlook about Sudoku, the Rubik’s Dice and Wordle. Probably the most difficult — and satisfying — brainteaser on the earth is discovering a solution to both earn or use factors to guide a resort that isn’t really a part of a standard loyalty program.

I grapple with this conundrum lots. As a twin citizen of the U.S. and Italy, I journey to “the outdated nation” pretty typically. The areas I go to, my ancestral villages in Frosinone and Catanzaro, largely lack conventional resort manufacturers taking part in loyalty applications, akin to World of Hyatt, Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

These applications are close to and pricey to my coronary heart and are my standard go-tos. It pains me when I’ve to remain in a resort the place I am both not incomes qualifying elite nights, redeeming factors or incomes factors.

I am going to share how I maximize my factors — each incomes and burning — in circumstances like this. Whereas some strategies are a no brainer, even I’ve to remind myself of the extra uncommon strategies.

First issues first: seek for inns

If you happen to’re new to the world of factors and miles, give your self some grace. There isn’t any manner you possibly can presumably know, off the highest of your head, all of the inns that take part in any given loyalty program. You will have to do some digging, however do not simply search Google for “Hilton resort Bangkok,” for instance.

As an alternative, go on to the main applications’ web sites (Hilton, IHG, Marriott, Hyatt, and many others.) to seek for your vacation spot.

These manufacturers have huge portfolios. Take into consideration World of Hyatt’s relationship with Mr & Mrs Smith properties, Hilton Honors’ relationship with Small Luxurious Accommodations of the World and Marriott’s relationship with The Luxurious Assortment. The resort’s title will not all the time sign that it participates in a specific loyalty program.

For instance, Fuji Speedway Lodge, with sweeping views of Mount Fuji in a single path and the raceway within the different, is a part of Hyatt’s Unbound Assortment, so you possibly can guide with World of Hyatt factors or earn them in your keep.

With that recommendation out of the best way, let’s discuss a couple of methods to earn or use factors at inns that are not a part of a loyalty program.

Earn: Apply for a bank card to obtain a welcome bonus

If you happen to’re touring anyway and know you will spend a specific amount, contemplate placing that cash towards a secondary objective: Apply for a brand new bank card to earn useful factors from a welcome bonus by assembly the spending necessities. It is the best solution to earn a variety of factors from a keep at a non-points resort.

Decide the correct card, such because the Chase Sapphire Most popular® Card (see charges and costs), which, for a restricted time, is providing 100,000 Final Rewards factors after spending $5,000 within the first three months of account opening. Word that this highest Chase provide on this card this yr; the provide ends Might 15.

TPG’s Might 2025 valuations peg Chase Final Rewards factors at 2.05 cents every, making this welcome provide value as much as $2,050, relying on how you utilize the factors. (You may get outsize worth from these factors by transferring them to considered one of Chase’s companions, akin to Aeroplan or World of Hyatt.)

To determine if the Chase Sapphire Most popular is the correct card for you, try the next articles:

Burn: Use versatile factors to pay for the resort

I’ve had good luck utilizing versatile factors from a number of card applications — akin to Chase Final Rewards, Capital One miles and American Specific Membership Rewards — to pay for inns exterior of conventional loyalty applications. Simply make sure to do some calculations to verify utilizing your factors as a substitute of money is the most effective worth.

You should use these factors to pay for lodging by means of the issuer’s respective reserving portals (i.e., Chase Journey℠, Capital One portal or American Specific Journey).

This is what Chase Final Rewards factors are value when redeeming them by means of the Chase Journey portal:

Meaning 100,000 factors redeemed within the portal are value:

• $1,000 for holders of normal Chase playing cards
• $1,250 for Chase Sapphire Most popular and Ink Enterprise Most popular clients
• $1,500 for Chase Sapphire Reserve clients

When redeeming Membership Rewards factors by means of the Amex Journey portal, the variety of factors you will have to redeem for a resort keep is tied to the money fee, which is 1 cent per level. Capital One makes use of the identical 1 cent per level redemption fee for its resort bookings.

This is extra recommendation on utilizing journey portals and how one can redeem your versatile factors:

Earn: Use the correct bank card

The simplest solution to enhance your factors and miles steadiness is to guide your resort with a bank card that rewards you on your spend. You may decide a card just like the Capital One Enterprise Rewards Credit score Card, which simplifies life by providing 2 miles per $1 spent on any sort of buy.

Or, go for a card that rewards you for travel-specific spending. For instance, the Chase Sapphire Most popular card provides 2 Final Rewards factors per greenback spent in that class, whereas the premium model of the cardboard, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, rewards 3 Final Rewards factors per greenback spent on journey purchases.

Nonetheless, when you’re chasing standing with an airline or resort loyalty program, you might need to use a branded bank card to pay on your resort keep. That manner, you earn factors and miles in these applications, and you’ll typically additionally earn qualifying elite nights or factors. For me, that would come with the Citi® / AAdvantage® Government World Elite Mastercard® (see charges and costs) or the World of Hyatt Credit score Card (see charges and costs).

Earn: Use AAdvantage Accommodations to snag elite standing

Each time I discover a vacation spot with few or no factors inns, I instantly log in to AAdvantage Accommodations to see what choices can be found. That is as a result of I worth my American Airways Government Platinum elite standing. This resort reserving platform not solely rewards vacationers with American Airways bonus miles to guide award flights, but additionally Loyalty Factors (which depend towards annual standing).

Associated: American AAdvantage miles vs. Loyalty Factors: What is the distinction?

You will not earn elite night time credit score or resort factors for stays at properties that do take part in a loyalty program. Nonetheless, what you possibly can earn will typically be much more profitable: AAdvantage Loyalty Factors.

AAdvantage standing members or AAdvantage bank card holders earn as much as 5 occasions extra base miles on resort bookings. When you have each AAdvantage standing and an AAdvantage bank card, you earn as much as 10 occasions extra base miles

The screenshot beneath exhibits a one-night keep in Curacao that earns 10,000 base miles and Loyalty Factors for an Government Platinum member holding the Citi® / AAdvantage® Government World Elite Mastercard®.

You solely want 40,000 Loyalty Factors to earn American’s Gold standing, so this one-night keep would get you 1 / 4 of the best way there.

Burn: Use factors to repay an announcement cost

You too can use the correct bank card to transform your versatile factors to money to repay an expense in your assertion. You’ll be able to redeem Capital One miles at 1 cent every once you use them to repay an announcement cost for journey purchases.

Chase Final Rewards factors are usually value 1 cent every when paying off an announcement cost, although some cobranded Chase playing cards might have an elevated redemption by means of the Pay Your self Again characteristic.

Do not redeem American Specific Membership Rewards factors for an announcement credit score. The worth is horrible at simply $0.6 per level.

Backside line

With these methods, you possibly can pay for a keep at San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A 4 Seasons Lodge — the featured property in season two of “The White Lotus” — with versatile factors by means of American Specific Journey, Chase Journey or Capital One Journey.

Searching for an enthralling bed-and-breakfast in Southern France? You will discover choices on these portals, too. Is your thought of heaven an all-inclusive resort in Mexico? Pay with the correct bank card after which use versatile factors or miles to wipe away the costs in your assertion. Or, contribute to incomes American Airways elite standing by utilizing AAdvantage Accommodations on your subsequent getaway.

Belief me: If you happen to discover the resort of your desires however understand it isn’t a part of a loyalty program, there are normally nonetheless a number of methods to guide that can internet you extra rewards in your pocket. Or, there is a solution to pay for the keep together with your factors stash.