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5 Great Hotel Cards For A Big City Weekend Getaway

2018 Chicago Marathon lottery
Written by Charlie

Planning a big city weekend getaway? Here are 5 great hotel cards for excellent hotels at big cities around the world. Great for big city marathons as well!

Sometimes it is nice to just plan a quick weekend getaway and relax! Getting away to a big city can give you space and time to relax while also supplying you with all of the options for entertainment that you may desire. Here are 5 great hotel cards that can get you free nights for that big city weekend getaway. They also work great for any big city marathon that you plan on running!

5 Great Hotel Cards For A Big City Weekend Getaway

weekend getaway

Here are 5 great credit cards for your big city weekend getaway! | Courtesy of Shutterstock

So, you want to getaway for a weekend (or you have a big city marathon) and you want it to be as cheap as possible. Which credit card do you get? The great thing about redeeming for hotels in big cities is that it is normally one of the best ways to realize the greatest value for your hotel nights. Big city hotels can be very expensive and getting them for free with points or free night certificates is a great help.

Hyatt Credit Card

 

The Hyatt credit card from Chase is one of my favorite hotel cards. It not only offers some incredible value on the sign-up bonus but it also offers an anniversary night each year that can give greater value than the annual fee will cost you ($75).

The Rewards

The big benefit is obviously the sign-up bonus. The Hyatt credit card will give you 2 free nights after spending $1,000 in 90 days. Those free nights can be used at any Hyatt hotel from a Category 1 to a Category 7. That means this bonus has the potential of being worth 60,000 points (2 nights at a Category 7 costing 30,000 points per night).

Here are just a few of the hotels where these nights could come in handy (cost per night picked from random dates):

The Card

  • Earn 2 free nights after spending $1,000 in 3 months
  • Free nights are valid for 1 year from issue
  • Annual fee is $75 (waived the first year)
  • Complimentary Platinum status
  • Issued by Chase
  • Application Link

Citi Hilton Reserve

 

There are 3 Hilton cards that you can use to earn points with the bonus but this is the only Hilton card to give you free nights. If used at top-tier properties during peak dates, it is the equivalent of getting 190,000 Hilton points!

The Rewards

The Citi Hilton Reserve will allow you to earn 2 free weekend nights after meeting the minimum spending of $2,500 in 4 months. These nights can be redeemed for the weekend nights at any Hilton property except those that are on the list found here.

Here are just a few of the hotels where these nights could come in handy (cost per night picked from random dates):

The Card

  • Earn 2 free weekend nights after spending $2,500 in 4 months
  • Free nights are valid for 1 year from issue
  • Annual fee is $95 not waived the first year
  • Complimentary Gold status
  • Issued by Citi
  • Application Link (this link is not a referral link, to support the site please use the links on the Credit Card page. Thank you!)

Fairmont Visa Signature

 

This is probably one of the most under-talked about hotel cards out there. The Fairmont Visa Signature card is a very decent card – if you will be traveling to where one is located. With a smaller footprint than other hotel chains, it does take some planning but can be a great redemption.

The Rewards

The Fairmont Visa Signature card will allow you to earn 2 free nights after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. These nights can be redeemed for any Fairmont hotel but there is one caveat for the well-known Plaza Hotel in New York. You can only use one certificate per stay at this property. Keep that in mind if you plan to redeem here.

Here are just a few of the hotels where these nights could come in handy (cost per night picked from random dates):

The Card

  • Earn 2 free nights after spending $3,000 in 3 months
  • Free nights are valid for 1 year from issue
  • Annual fee is $95 (waived the first year)
  • Complimentary Premier status
  • Issued by Chase
  • Application Link

Marriott Premier Visa

 

This is the first card on the list that comes with points instead of free nights. As a result, the card offer by itself will not get you the top tier properties for two nights. But, it does have another bonus that will get you there.

The Rewards

The Marriott Premier Visa card gives you 80,000 points after spending $3,000 in 3 months. It also will let you add an authorized user to earn another 7,500 points. Combining that bonus and the spending with the sign-up bonus and it gives you a total of 90,500 points – enough for (at least) 2 nights at any Marriott hotel (that does not include the Ritz-Carlton properties).

Here are just a few of the hotels where these nights could come in handy (cost per night picked from random dates):

The Card

  • Earn 80,000 points after spending $3,000 in 3 months
  • Earn 7,500 points after adding an authorized user and making a single purchase
  • Annual fee is $85 (not waived the first year)
  • 15 nights credit toward elite status (automatic Silver status)
  • Issued by Chase
  • Application Link (this link is not a referral link, to support the site please use the links on the Credit Card page. Thank you!)

Wyndham Rewards Visa Signature

 

The final card on our list is one that feeds into somewhat of a hybrid reward system. The Wyndham Rewards program charges a flat 15,000 points for free nights at their hotel so their credit card essentially offers multiple free nights in the form of points – though the cost is the same at all hotels.

The Rewards

The Wyndham Rewards Visa Signature card offers 45,000 points total on the card. The first 30,000 points are awarded after your first purchase with the other 15,000 points are earned after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days.

Here are just a few of the hotels where these nights could come in handy (cost per night picked from random dates):

The Card

  • Earn 30,000 points after first purchase
  • Earn 15,000 points after spending $1,000 in 90 days
  • Annual fee is $69 (not waived the first year)
  • Issued by Barclaycard
  • Application Link

Summary

This just goes to show, again, that the world is really open to you when you use miles and points. The 5 hotel cards listed here will easily give you tremendous value in any big city around the world. Even for the cards that require an annual fee the first year, you will still get several hundreds of dollars in savings on your big city weekend getaway.

If running marathons or other races is what you like to travel for, these cards will give you the best hotels for the big city marathons without it costing an arm and a leg. In fact, it will likely cost you nothing (but the annual fee on some cards). That is what I like to see!

What big city would you plan a weekend getaway for? Which card is your favorite?

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About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.

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