Earning Choice Privileges Points: The Complete Guide

Choice Hotels and its Choice Privileges program punch above their weight when it comes to variety and points-earning opportunities. Choice has more than 7,400 hotels across 22 brands that range from budget and extended stay to midscale and upscale. There are even all-inclusive hotels within the portfolio.

With so many hotels to choose from, earning Choice Privileges points is easy, and it is equally simple to find opportunities to redeem Choice rewards points. You can also transfer them to other programs or make reservations for other people.

NerdWallet values Choice Privileges points at 0.8 cent apiece. With Choice having such a wide variety of brands, you can earn points at value-focused hotels and then redeem them at upscale properties.

Choice does not have a traditional award chart; instead, it ties its redemption costs more closely to the cost of the stay. While this can limit some value, there are still ways to enjoy spending your points, especially when saving cash on vacation.

Here are eight ways to earn points in the Choice Privileges rewards program to build up your balance for future redemptions.

1. Earn Choice Privileges points with hotel stays

With all Choice Privileges brands except for WoodSpring Suites, you can earn points based on how much you spend. Members earn 10 points per dollar spent at all participating properties around the world. That means if the base rate of your stay costs $100, you would earn 1,000 points.

When staying at extended-stay brands (MainStay Suites, Suburban Studios and Everhome Suites), there is a slightly different earning structure that is based on the length of stay, as follows:

• Stays of one to six nights earn 10 points per $1.

• Stays of seven to 30 nights earn 5 points per $1.

There are some exceptions to points earning that you should keep in mind:

• Room rates below $40 or any rate booked through a travel adviser (including online sites like Orbitz) are not eligible to earn points.

• Rooms booked via corporate travel portal Egencia earn a flat rate of 1,000 points per night at most brands, if booking a points-earning rate in the United States.

• Redemption nights using points don’t earn any points.

Don’t forget about the opportunity to earn Choice Privileges points when booking an eligible rate at gaming properties with the Penn National portfolio, which includes L'Auberge Baton Rouge and Margaritaville Resort Casino Bossier City in Louisiana.

2. Earn Choice hotel points via elite status

Travelers who earn hotel elite status with Choice Privileges earn bonus points for each eligible stay. This provides great incentive for maximizing your hotel stays with one loyalty program like Choice Privileges.

• Gold members earn a 10% bonus on points (11 points per dollar spent).

• Platinum members earn a 25% bonus on points (12.5 points per dollar spent).

• Diamond members earn a 50% bonus on points (15 points per dollar spent).

If you do not have Choice Privileges elite status but do have status with another hotel brand, you can apply for a status match. Visit this site and provide proof of another hotel brand’s elite status to earn equivalent status with Choice Privileges.

Earning elite status comes with other perks worth the effort when staying with Choice hotels.

3. Plan a meeting or event at Choice Hotels

If you plan corporate events or even social functions like weddings or parties, consider hosting one at Choice Hotels. Booking an event at a Cambria Hotel, for example, would earn 3 points per dollar spent, up to 150,000 per function. An eligible event must include at least 10 rooms per night and one meeting room or space.

4. Earn via credit card spending

Two Choice Privileges co-branded credit cards offer the chance to rack up Choice rewards points based on everyday spending. You also earn bonus points when using the card to pay for Choice hotel stays. These are the two Choice credit cards:

Choice Privileges® Mastercard®

The Choice Privileges® Mastercard® has a $0 annual fee, which makes it a great beginner card for travelers who want to rack up hotel points without paying any extra to hold the card.

The Choice Privileges® Mastercard®comes with Gold elite status, which adds extra perks and bonus points. In addition to the standard 10 Choice Privileges points per dollar spent that general members receive for hotel stays, cardholders get 5 more points per dollar and a 10% bonus on base points for Gold status (16 points in total per dollar spent on a hotel stay).

Cardholders also will earn 3 points per dollar spent at gas stations, grocery stores and home improvement stores and on phone plan services; all other purchases earn 1 point per dollar.

Eligible new cardholders can enjoy a sign-up bonus: Earn 40,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months - enough to redeem for up to 5 reward nights at select Choice Hotels® properties. Additional fees may apply.

Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard®

The premium card is the Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard®, which adds even more perks for frequent Choice travelers. Despite an annual fee of $95, there are more benefits, such as automatic Platinum status. This means members earn a total of 22 points per dollar spent when staying at Choice hotels and paying with the card.

Cardholders also earn 5 Choice Privileges points per dollar at gas stations, grocery stores and home improvement stores and on phone plans, plus 1 point per dollar on everything else.

The card also offers the following sign-up bonus:Earn 60,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months - enough to redeem for up to 7 reward nights at select Choice Hotels® properties. Additional fees may apply. Plus, cardmembers receive a 30,000-point anniversary bonus each year they renew the card.

» Learn more: The best travel credit cards right now

5. Transfer points to Choice Privileges

While you cannot convert airline miles to Choice points, there are other options. Transferable credit card points can be extremely valuable because they are so versatile. You can use them to pay for your own travel directly or transfer them to airline and hotel partners.

While we do not recommend transferring these to Choice Privileges unless you have a particular redemption in mind (and you are short on points), it is possible to do so. These are the cards with transferable points to Choice Privileges:

• American Express Membership Rewards: 1:1 ratio (1,000 Membership Rewards = 1,000 Choice points).

• Citi ThankYou Rewards: 1:2 or 1:1.5, depending on the card.

• Capital One miles: 1:1.

• Wells Fargo Rewards: 1:2.

NerdWallet values Choice points at 0.8 cent each; that's less value per point than you would get if you redeemed any of these credit card points within their respective travel portals.

6. Refer new members to Choice Privileges

Want some easy points? Refer a new member to Choice Privileges, and you can earn 500 free points once they make a qualifying stay. The person you refer will receive 500 bonus points, too.

7. Do business with Choice Privileges partners

Choice Privileges has many partners in the program with which you can earn bonus Choice points, even when not staying at a Choice Privileges property. These are some of the best ways to earn bonus points with the program:

• Earn rental car discounts and bonus points: Members can earn discounts by using special rate codes with Avis or Budget as well as 1,000 bonus points.

• Pay special bonus point rates when staying with Choice properties to accelerate your earnings. You can earn between 1,000 and 5,000 bonus points when booking a special Choice Privileges rate.

• Earn bonus perks for weeknight stays: When staying on a Sunday through Thursday night, members are eligible for bonus perks like extra Choice points or airline miles.

• Book a cruise via Choice Privileges Cruises: By booking directly with this agency, you receive 5 points per dollar spent.

8. Buy Choice Privileges points

Buying Choice Hotels points is not the best way to pad your account (because there are cheaper ways to do it), but if you are close to a rewards redemption, it may make sense. We recommend buying points only if you need just a few more points to get to your desired goal. You can buy as many as 180,000 points each year.