Best Value Hotel Rewards Programs in 2025

Finding the best hotel rewards program can be overwhelming, but it largely comes down to two key factors:

1. How many points you earn with a hotel loyalty program for every dollar spent.

2. How much these points are worth.

If you earn one point per dollar and each point is worth one cent, you're effectively earning a 1% return. So which hotels offer the best return on your spending?

The NerdWallet travel team crunched the numbers to identify which hotel loyalty programs actually offer the best bang for your travel buck. We collected and compared hundreds of real-world room rates to determine the value of each hotel brand's rewards points. Then, we calculated the rewards rate (how many rewards you earn per dollar spent) for each hotel loyalty program program.

This rate can help you determine which hotels give you the most back in exchange for you spending money with them. Our calculations also gave us a new way to think about which hotel provides the best loyalty program in 2025.

Based on our analysis of how many points you earn per stay (and how much those points are worth), Wyndham is most generous to repeat travelers, offering close to $12 back in the form of Wyndham Rewards points per $100 spent with the hotel chain. On the other end, if you spend $100 at an IHG hotel, we estimate that you will only get about $5 worth of rewards in return.

The top three major hotel rewards program based on how highly they reward repeat travelers are:

1. Wyndham Rewards.

2. World of Hyatt.

3. Marriott Bonvoy.

Meanwhile, the three least rewarding (starting from the bottom) are:

1. IHG One Rewards.

2. Hilton Honors.

3. Best Western Rewards.

Of course, consider more than just points back when choosing a hotel and its rewards program. Sometimes more valuable than just earning hotel points are elite status perks like free breakfast, as well as simply the quality, cost and location of the hotels.

This rewards rate simply gives a simple snapshot of which hotel brands actually offer a good return in terms of points.

Why did Wyndham Rewards do so well this year? A few reasons. Wyndham Rewards members are guaranteed to earn at least 1,000 points on every qualified stay — and potentially far more for more expensive stays. That’s because when you stay, you’ll get either 10 points per dollar spent or 1,000 points, whichever is more, on a qualified stay.

But 10 points aren’t just worth $10. Because NerdWallet values Wyndham points at even more than a cent — 1.2 cents each, to be exact — you get a fair bit of value back for your stay compared to other hotel programs.

Yet the whole point of this analysis isn't which hotel program offers the highest value currency, but which offers the best combination of high-value currency and generous awarding of that currency.

And Wyndham rooms aren’t super expensive on points, either. Free nights start at 7,500 points. That means after just 8 nights at a Wyndham (and potentially even fewer, if you’re booking expensive rooms), you’d be able to book your next night for free on points.

» Learn more: What to know about Wyndham Rewards

The rankings above apply to earning and using points in the traditional way — on hotel spending. But what if you’re considering a points promotion or a credit card offer that involves a lump sum of points? For example, choosing between a promotion that earns 100,000 Hyatt points or 100,000 Marriott points.

Our regularly updated point and mile valuations show how the raw value of these currencies vary.

The values of hotel points differ significantly, which means you should pay close attention to the real value of any promotion by multiplying the above cent-per-point values by however many you’re expecting to earn.

This is just like any currency; $150,000 is very different from £150,000. And earning Hyatt points is far more valuable than earning the same number of Marriott points.

This can all be a lot to keep track of, especially if you’re new to the points and miles hobby, but these rewards values aren’t the only thing to consider when choosing a hotel loyalty program, though they are a good start. The numbers show that programs like Wyndham and Hyatt are willing to put their money — or at least their points — where their mouths are.