Which card
Best Card for Hotels Booked Through a Travel Portal
The Citi Strata Elite returns the most on hotels booked through a travel portal at 22.8¢ back per dollar — 12.0 points per dollar into Citi ThankYou Rewards, valued at 1.9¢ each. That is across every card tracked here, at the published default valuations.
Use this one
Citi Strata Elite
22.8¢back per $1
Citi · 12.0x Citi ThankYou Rewards at 1.9¢
Booked on cititravel.com
Worth more, if
These rates are real, but each needs something done first. They are listed apart from the ranking because a rate you cannot act on at the till is not an answer.
Chase Freedom Flex — up to 10.25¢ per dollar if Quarterly categories you must activate.
American Express Gold — up to 10.0¢ per dollar if Prepaid hotels only, booked through Amex Travel.
American Express Platinum — up to 10.0¢ per dollar if Prepaid hotels only, booked through Amex Travel.
Business Platinum — up to 10.0¢ per dollar if Prepaid hotels only, booked on amextravel.com.
Citi Custom Cash — up to 9.5¢ per dollar if Your top eligible category each billing cycle, picked automatically.
12 further conditional rates exist on cards not shown here.
The full ranking
Sorted by cents back per dollar. The multiplier column is there so you can see how often the bigger number loses.
| Card | Earns | Rate | Per $1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citi Strata Elite | Citi ThankYou Rewards | 12.0x | 22.8¢ |
| Citi Strata Premier | Citi ThankYou Rewards | 10.0x | 19.0¢ |
| Capital One Venture X | Capital One Miles | 10.0x | 18.5¢ |
| Capital One Venture X Business | Capital One Miles | 10.0x | 18.5¢ |
| AAdvantage Executive | American AAdvantage | 12.0x | 17.4¢ |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve | Chase Ultimate Rewards | 8.0x | 16.4¢ |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business | Chase Ultimate Rewards | 8.0x | 16.4¢ |
| Chase Freedom Flex | Chase Ultimate Rewards | 5.0x | 10.25¢ |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited | Chase Ultimate Rewards | 5.0x | 10.25¢ |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | Chase Ultimate Rewards | 5.0x | 10.25¢ |
| Citi Double Cash | Citi ThankYou Rewards | 5.0x | 9.5¢ |
| Citi Strata | Citi ThankYou Rewards | 5.0x | 9.5¢ |
| Capital One Savor | Capital One Miles | 5.0x | 9.25¢ |
| Capital One Venture | Capital One Miles | 5.0x | 9.25¢ |
| Bilt Obsidian | Bilt Rewards | 4.0x | 8.8¢ |
| Bilt Palladium | Bilt Rewards | 4.0x | 8.8¢ |
| Autograph Journey | Wells Fargo Rewards | 5.0x | 8.75¢ |
| Citi / AAdvantage Globe | American AAdvantage | 6.0x | 8.7¢ |
| Bilt Blue | Bilt Rewards | 3.0x | 6.6¢ |
| Ink Business Preferred | Chase Ultimate Rewards | 3.0x | 6.15¢ |
| American Express Green | Amex Membership Rewards | 3.0x | 6.0¢ |
| Autograph | Wells Fargo Rewards | 3.0x | 5.25¢ |
| Blue Business Plus | Amex Membership Rewards | 2.0x | 4.0¢ |
| IHG One Rewards Premier | IHG One Rewards | 5.0x | 3.0¢ |
| IHG One Rewards Premier Business | IHG One Rewards | 5.0x | 3.0¢ |
| BoA Premium Rewards | Cash back | 2.0% | 2.0¢ |
| BoA Premium Rewards Elite | Cash back | 2.0% | 2.0¢ |
27 cards earn a bonus on hotels booked through a travel portal. Cards with no bonus here are left out rather than listed at their base rate, which would be forty rows of noise.
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How this is worked out
Each card's rate comes from the issuer's own page, recorded with the date it was checked. That rate is multiplied by what a point in its programme is worth to get cents back per dollar. The point values are The Points Guy's published valuations — borrowed, and credited. The arithmetic and the ranking are ours.
Where an issuer advertises a combined figure, only the card's own share counts. Cash-back cards are valued at one cent per point, which is why a 6% cash card can rank below a 4x card earning transferable points.
This answer changes when it knows your wallet. Signed in, it narrows to the cards you hold and uses the cents-per-point you set instead of the published defaults.
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