Choice Privileges Select Mastercard Review 2023 – Forbes Advisor

Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard®* vs. Choice Privileges® Mastercard®*

If you’re a Choice Hotels fan but you don’t want to pay an annual fee, you may want to consider the Choice Privileges® Mastercard®*. The card carries no annual fee and earns 5 points per dollar at participating Choice Hotels properties, 3 points per dollar at gas stations, grocery stores, home improvement stores and phone plans from landline and cell phone providers and 1 point per dollar on other purchases.

While the card is more cost-effective than the Select card, it also lacks some of its benefits, including the 30,000 bonus points each card anniversary and Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. Cardholders do receive 10 Elite Night Credits per year, but that’s only good enough to achieve automatic Gold status as opposed to the higher-tier Platinum.

Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard®* vs. Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card*

The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card* is the mid-tier option among the family of Hilton Honors credit cards. Like the Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard®*, it has a $95 annual fee that offers solid Hilton benefits at a reasonable cost.

For starters, the card earns 12 Hilton Honors bonus points per dollar on eligible purchases at participating hotels or resorts within the Hilton portfolio, 6 points per dollar on eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations and 3 points per dollar for other eligible purchases. It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold elite loyalty status which offers a daily food and beverage credit or breakfast at participating hotels and room upgrades when available.

If you spend $15,000 annually on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card*, you’ll earn a complimentary Free Night Award. And the card provides 10 complimentary Priority Pass Lounge visits each year.

Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard®* vs. Citi Premier® Card

If you value flexibility, the Citi Premier® Card may be a better alternative than a co-branded hotel credit card. Like the others, it has a $95 annual fee but it earns flexible ThankYou points that can be redeemed for cash back or for travel through the Citi Travel portal at a value of one penny per point.

The Citi Premier® Card earns 3 ThankYou points per dollar at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel and hotels, 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases and a total of 10 points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024. The Citi ThankYou program boasts 15-plus travel partners including Choice Privileges. Notably, if you’re a Citi Premier cardholder you’ll receive double value for every point that you transfer to your Choice Privileges account.

The Citi Premier® Card also pairs well with the Citi® Double Cash Card which earns a flat 2 ThankYou points per dollar on all purchases. By using these cards in tandem and then transferring your earnings to Choice Privileges, you can get a minimum of 4 Choice points per dollar for every purchase you make.