How to get the best points value for hotel stays

All of our favorite cards allow you to earn points every time you make a purchase. However, the Chase card allows you to choose any hotel brand when it’s time to redeem.

If you had used your Marriott Bonvoy card on purchases, your points can only be redeemed at Marriott brand hotels and if you had used your Hyatt credit card on purchases, you can only redeem at Hyatt branded properties.

The reason I favor Chase the most is that I get to choose any property and any brand I’d like when I want to redeem my points. Additionally, I have found that if I am booking a Marriott brand hotel on the Marriott site redeeming points the points required are more per night than redeeming the same Marriott hotel on the Chase site. This seems like it should be impossible but it’s true 99% of the time. And I can transfer Chase points to Hyatt directly and redeem on Hyatt which has the best redemptions for serious point fanatics like me.

— Harris