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With over 7,400 properties in 40 countries, you have a lot of choices with Choice Hotels. The chain includes mostly midscale brands with an abundance of properties in the United States. Its Choice Privileges rewards program offers value to guests who frequently stay with the chain, including:
Points on every stay, redeemable for free hotel nights and other rewards
Member-only rates when you book directly through Choice
Perks for weekday stays
An elite status program with additional benefits
Through our research, we found that the average value of Choice points is around $0.008 each. There are an abundance of ways you can earn Choice points, too, as Choice Privileges is a partner of multiple bank loyalty programs that allow you to transfer their points to Choice points.
In our opinion, redeeming points for Choice Hotels or vacation rental stays is their best use, although there are also other ways to redeem Choice points.
How do you join Choice Privileges?
Choice Privileges is free and easy to join. Simply head to choicehotels.com and click “Sign In or Join.” Click “Join Free Now” to be taken to the sign-up page. If you already have a Choice Privileges number, this is also how you can enable your online account. You’ll need to provide Choice with your personal information, including your name, email, address and phone number. You’ll also set a username and password.
Alternatively, download the Choice Hotels app on your smartphone and click “Join Now, It’s Free” to create an account by following the prompts.
How much are Choice Privileges points worth?
We peg the value of Choice Privileges points at $0.008 each, based on our research. You’ll generally get better value if you’re booking properties during peak times when prices are high.
Rather than organizing properties by tier, Choice Privileges uses a dynamic pricing model where the price of reward nights varies depending on the property and date. In general, you can expect the cost of a reward night to be higher when cash rates are higher. Reward nights start at just 8,000 points, and can get as high as 35,000 points per night, except all-inclusive hotels where free nights can cost up to 100,000 points.
How do you know if using Choice points is worth it?
To determine the value you’re getting from your points, you’ll want to divide the total cost of the stay (including taxes) by the number of points required. If the result is around 1.1 cents per point — our average value of Choice points — then using points is probably worth it. If the value is substantially less, such as just 0.6 cents per point, you might want to save your points for a better redemption.
Value of points: Cash price of hotel stay (including taxes) / Number of points required = Point value for that specific reservation
Which hotels are part of Choice Privileges?
Choice Privileges includes several Choice Hotels brands. Brands range from stylish upscale offerings to budget motels. The vast bulk of the properties in the Choice Hotels portfolio are solidly in the midscale to upper-midscale range.
One of the biggest downsides to Choice Hotels is the lack of luxury brands or properties.
If your typical travel style is 5-stars-or-bust, Choice isn’t your program. Another thing to consider is the limited international footprint compared to other chains, as Choice only has properties in approximately 40 countries worldwide. To compare, Hilton has nearly 7,000 properties in more than 120 countries.
Choice Privileges hotels
Brands
Property Type
Ascend
Upscale
Cambria Hotels
Upscale
Clarion
Midscale
Clarion Pointe
Midscale
Comfort Inn
Upper-midscale
Comfort
Midscale
Country Inn & Suites
Midscale
Econolodge
Economy
Everhome Suites
Extended stay
Park Inn
Midscale
Mainstay Suites
Extended stay
Park Plaza
Upscale
Quality Inn
Midscale
Raddison
Upscale
Raddison Blu
Midscale
Raddison Collection
Upscale
Raddison Individuals
Upscale
Red Radisson
Upscale
Rodeway Inn
Economy
Sleep Inn
Midscale
Suburban Studios
Extended stay
Woodspring Suites
Extended stay
Pros and cons of Choice Privileges
As with any hotel loyalty program, Choice Privileges is a good fit for some but not for others. There are some clear strengths and weaknesses.
Good U.S. coverage — With most of its worldwide hotels located in the U.S., you can expect to see Choice Hotels properties nearly everywhere you travel domestically.
Free breakfast — Midscale hotels that offer free breakfast, such as Quality Inn and Comfort Inn, are a significant percentage of the portfolio.
Reasonable redemption thresholds — Free nights start at just 8,000 points.
No luxury brands — The nicest Choice Hotels properties are described as upscale. A complete lack of any luxury properties is disappointing.
Limited international coverage — A limited international footprint could be frustrating. There are Choice Hotels in more than 40 countries.
Points expire after just 18 months of account inactivity.
How to earn Choice rewards points
Earning Choice Privileges points is remarkably easy given the variety of credit card points that can transfer to Choice rewards. You can also earn points by staying with Choice Hotels or Bluegreen Vacations, their vacation rental partner, or booking a stay through one of their partner casino hotels across the country. There are a variety of even more ways to earn Choice points.
You’ll earn a base rate of 10 points per $1 spent at Choice Hotels properties, excluding taxes and incidental charges. If you have Choice Privileges elite status, you’ll enjoy a slight bump to the earning rate.
Member: 10 points per $1 spent
Gold: 11 points per $1 spent
Platinum: 12.5 points per $1 spent
Diamond: 15 points per $1 spent
As an example, the Comfort Inn & Suites Zion Park Area has a nightly rate of $85 before taxes and fees in our sampling above. A regular Choice privileges member would earn 850 base points for this booking, while a Diamond member would earn 1,275 points (taxes do not earn base points).
Staying at a Choice Hotels property on a weekday night earns you a perk through the “Your Extras” program. Any U.S. stay that includes at least one Sunday through Thursday night will provide a choice from the following:
$2.50 Amazon.com credit
$5 Starbucks card
$3 Uber trip discount
400 Choice Privileges points
100 airline miles
The Your Extras for stays at Canadian locations differ slightly. You can’t earn the Uber trip discount and Tim Hortons is swapped out for Starbucks. At other international locations outside the U.S. and Canada, you can only choose between 400 Choice Privileges points or 100 airline miles.
To make a “Your Extras” selection, visit your online profile page.
Choice Hotels International has partnered with Wells Fargo to issue the Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard®. The card has a welcome offer worth up to 11 free nights and offers perks such as complimentary Choice Privileges Platinum Elite status. You can earn 10X points on stays at participating Choice Hotels properties, 5X points on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, home improvement stores and phone plan services. Plus earn 1X points on other purchases.
One of the best features of the Choice Privileges program is how many bank programs partner with it. You can transfer points from three popular rewards programs to Choice Privileges:
Citi ThankYou — Points transfer at a ratio of 1,000:2,000.
Capital One Venture Miles — 1,000:1,000.
Having multiple bank partners means you can earn Choice rewards points from many different cards.
Bluegreen Vacations is a time-share company that operates several dozen resort properties within the U.S. and one in Oranjestad, Aruba. You can search choicehotels.com directly to book some resort properties, which will earn you 10 points per dollar like any other Choice property. You can also enjoy a three-night stay with Bluegreen vacations for just $299 and earn 40,000 Choice Privileges points and a $100 American Express gift card.
Choice Hotels partners with 22 casino hotels in a dozen states where you can earn 10 points per dollar when you stay with any of them. Unfortunately, you can’t redeem points at casino hotel properties.
Earn 5X Choice points per dollar spent on a cruise when booked through choiceprivilegescruises.com or via phone at (800) 596-0451. The cruises offered are on a variety of cruise lines, including Carnival, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean, to many destinations. You must provide your Choice Privileges number at the time of booking.
Car rental — Get 35% off and earn up to 1,000 Choice points on Avis and Budget car rentals at participating locations. Use Avis offer code O418908 or Budget offer code T134904.
Refer a friend — Get 500 points after you refer a friend to Choice Privileges and they book and complete a paid stay.
Buy points — You can buy a maximum of 180,000 points at a time. Note, you can only receive a maximum of 180,000 points to your account each calendar year (whether you purchase the points for yourself or as a gift).
How to use Choice Privileges points
With all the ways to earn Choice points, you’ll want to know how to get the best value from them. Redeeming Choice points for free nights is the easiest as you can easily book a free stay through choicehotels.com. There are other ways to redeem Choice points, but you’ll find that free hotel and vacation rental stays provide the best value.
Choice hotels free nights
Savvy traveler tip: One of the only major downsides to Choice Privileges is that you can only make reward reservations within 100 days of travel. Be prepared to be flexible with Choice points, since you can only confirm your plans three months ahead of time.
Choice doesn’t publish an award chart and instead provides a range of award prices. The number of points required for a free night at a given property can vary throughout the year.
To know how many points are required for a free stay, you’ll have to search a particular destination through choicehotels.com or using the Choice mobile app.
Stay Twice, Get a Free Night
Choice has run its “Stay Twice, Get a Free Night” promotion multiple times over the years. The promotion offers a “free night” after every two stays at participating hotels. The award is actually a total of 8,000 points, enough for a free night at the cheapest properties. The exact number of points awarded varies, as Choice will account for any points you earned from those stays and make up the difference. However, the promotion will provide a minimum of 5,000 additional points. Registration is required to participate.
Vacation rentals
You can redeem Choice points for free nights at Bluegreen vacations resorts, starting at 16,000 points per night. In some cases, this can provide excellent value, even better value than at Choice properties. Bluegreen vacations resorts are located in popular destinations like Orlando, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, Wisconsin Dells and Williamsburg.
Points and cash
Choice provides the option of using a combination of both points and cash for stays. If you have at least 6,000 points but don’t have the required number of points, you can use the Points Plus Cash option. This can actually be a good deal, as the taxes and fees are not assessed. (You are essentially spending 6,000 points per night and purchasing the remaining required points from Choice.)
Transfer partners
In addition to free hotel and vacation rental stays, you have the option of transferring your Choice Privileges points to a handful of airline partners.
While many airline miles are worth more than Choice Privileges points, the transfer ratio makes these redemptions a poor value. For example, we estimate the average value of United miles at 1.4 cents when booking peak economy international travel. If you trade 5,000 Choice points for 1,000 United miles, you’re giving up $55 in Choice hotel stays for $14 in United flight value. This effectively makes your Choice points worth just shy of 0.3 cents each. Redeeming for free nights is better.
Air Canada Aeroplan: 5,000:1,000
Alaska Mileage Plan: 5,000:1,000
Aeromexico Club Premier: 5,000:1,600
Qantas Frequent Flyer: 20,000:3,000
Southwest Rapid Rewards: 6,000:1,500
United MileagePlus: 5,000:1,000
Virgin Australia Velocity: 20,000:3,000
Other ways to redeem Choice Privileges points
If you have Choice points but the travel redemption options don’t interest you, the good news is that there are a handful of other ways to use Choice Privileges points. The bad news is that these options offer a value of just 0.3 to 0.5 cents per point. We don’t recommend redeeming points in these ways, as the value is better when booking hotel stays.
Gift cards — Choice Privileges offers many gift card redemption options at popular merchants, including Shell, Lowe’s, Hulu, Kohl’s, Cabela’s and Applebees. Most redemption options start at 8,000 points for a $25 gift card, which is a value of just over 0.3 cents per point.
Donate points — You can donate your points toward any of a handful of causes, starting at 1,000 points. The value for most donation options is 0.5 cents per point.
Cruises — You can redeem Choice points for cruise credit, although the value is poor at around 0.3 cents per point. Redeem 85,000 points for $250 in credit or 160,000 points for $500 in credit.
Choice hotels membership levels
Choice Privileges rewards their members with perks the more often they stay with the chain. Loyal patrons of Choice Hotels who stay a sufficient number of nights each year can find themselves earning Gold, Platinum or even Diamond elite status, with increasing benefits. We’ll break down how to qualify for each elite level, what benefits you can enjoy and how valuable Choice elite status is.
How to qualify: Sign up for the Choice Privileges program.
Enjoy an exclusive member rate when booking direct
‘Your Extras’ rewards on weeknight stays
How to qualify: Stay at least 10 nights per calendar year or be a Choice Privileges Visa cardholder.
Enjoy all Basic member benefits plus…
10% bonus on base points earned
Early check-in and late check-out (at hotel’s discretion)
Reserved elite parking
Rollover nights (up to nine per year)
Elite customer phone line
Welcome gift at check-in (a complimentary snack or beverage or bonus points)
How to qualify: Stay at least 20 nights per calendar year
Enjoy all Gold member benefits plus…
25% bonus on base points earned (instead of 10%)
Up to a total of 19 rollover nights
Avis Preferred Plus status
How to qualify: Stay 40+ nights per calendar year
Enjoy all Platinum member benefits plus…
50% bonus on base points earned (instead of 25%)
Up to a total of 39 rollover nights
Many of the primary benefits provided by Choice Privileges elite status are awarded at the Gold level. The primary benefits of Platinum and Diamond status consist of additional bonus points, additional rollover nights and Avis elite status. For the road warrior that stays frequently with Choice Hotels, the additional bonus points provide real value. However, given the lack of other benefits, there is not much incremental value above Gold. We don’t suggest going out of your way to pursue it. You can easily get Platinum status by having the Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard®.
Choice hotels status match
Choice Hotels offers an ongoing status match program for those looking to transfer their loyalty from another hotel chain. You must reside in the United States, Canada, or Europe to be eligible. If you match between January and June, your status will be good for the current calendar year. If you match between July and December, your status will be good through the end of the following calendar year. Choice does limit their Elite Status Match Program offer to once per account per lifetime, so make sure you will get real value from it before matching.
To request a status match, you’ll need to email [email protected] with the following information:
Your full name
Your Choice Privileges member number
Proof of elite status in another hotel program
Proof can consist of a screenshot/copy of your other program’s loyalty card with its expiration date or a screenshot/copy of the other program’s current statement or account status page. Choice will respond to status match requests within seven to nine days.
Choice Privileges frequently asked questions
You cannot transfer Choice Hotels points to another member. However, you can transfer Choice Privileges points to seven airline loyalty programs: Air Canada (Aeroplan), Alaska (Mileage Plan), United Airlines (MileagePlus) Aeromexico (Club Premier), Qantas (Frequent Flyer), Southwest (Rapid Rewards) and Virgin Australia (Velocity). You may also buy up to 180,000 points per year for another program member.
Choice Privileges reward nights start at 8,000 Choice Privileges points. However, some international rewards nights can be worth up to 75,000 points.
Choice Privileges points expire after 18 months of account inactivity. You must have at least one qualifying activity to maintain activity. Qualifying activity includes a point-eligible stay that earns points or miles, redeeming Choice Privileges points, earning points by using your Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard®, purchasing points and earning points through a refer-a-friend bonus.
The Choice Privileges program is free to join.
Yes, you can buy a maximum of 180,000 points at a time. Note, you can only receive a maximum of 180,000 points to your account each calendar year (whether you purchase the points for yourself or as a gift).
The information related to the Choice Privileges® Mastercard® has been collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply.
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
The information related to the Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard® and Choice Privileges® Mastercard® has been collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply.
The content above is not provided by any issuer. Any opinions expressed are those of LendingTree alone and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any issuer. The offers and/or promotions mentioned above may have changed, expired, or are no longer available. Check the issuer's website for more details.
Ian Snyder
Ian Snyder is a freelance writer who has been covering credit card rewards and travel loyalty programs for over 3 years. He has a passion for extracting the greatest value possible from airline miles and hotel points and has earned and redeemed millions of points over the past several years, primarily through the savvy use of credit cards. His credit card knowledge extends to all major bank programs and the unique set of partners available through each.
Savvy traveler tip: One of the only major downsides to Choice Privileges is that you can only make reward reservations within 100 days of travel. Be prepared to be flexible with Choice points, since you can only confirm your plans three months ahead of time.
