The Choice Privileges® Rewards Program is like having a travel genie in your pocket—it's flexible, fun, and loaded with benefits to help fulfill your travel wish list. While just being a member gives you access to special rates and promotions, making the most of your membership takes a little strategizing. To help maximize your time off further, we’re spilling the beans on all the secrets to leveraging your points for maximum vacation potential with a treasure trove of tips and helpful hacks.
Plan (Way) Ahead
Maximum vacation potential starts with being a Choice Privileges member.
Planning your vacation with Choice Privileges can be a rewarding experience—literally! And, like drawing up a treasure map to your dream getaway, it all starts with a personalized points plan.
1. Set Your Vacation Goals: Whether it’s bustling cities, charming small towns, sun-kissed beaches, or peaceful mountain escapes—having your dream destinations in mind helps you focus your points strategy.
2. Check Your Balance: Sign into your Choice Privileges account to see how many points you already have and then calculate how many more points you need to earn.
3. Estimate Your Needs: Choice Privileges members earn up to 10X points on eligible stays. Download the app to make it easy to see how many points you’ll need for a reward night at your chosen destination. The number of points needed for reward night redemption can vary depending on the hotel and location.
Pro Tip! Reward nights start at 6,000 points with Reward Saver: With the Reward Saver option, you can redeem points for reward nights starting with just 6,000 points. This is a quick and easy way to stretch your benefits and enjoy more reward night stays.
4. Plan Your Stays: One of the recent enhancements to the Choice Privileges program is an extended 50-week booking window. This allows you to plan your vacations well in advance, ensuring you get the best availability and rates for your desired destinations. Earlier planning could help you avoid peak season pricing and secure your preferred room type.
5. Plan Your Travel Mode: Choice Privileges partners with major airlines, so jetsetters and frequent flyers can convert their points to miles. If road-tripping is more your style, you can also earn up to 2,000 points and save up to 35% on base rates when renting cars from Avis or Budget for three or more days. Be sure to book your rental car through the Choice Privileges portal to take advantage of these special promotions.
6. Plan Around Experiences: Choice Privileges offers unique experiences that you can redeem with your points. From VIP racing experiences to exclusive college sports events, you’ll find a variety of options to help maximize your vacation. Browse the available experiences and plan your trip around these special, one-of-a-kind events.
7. Go Where Gift Cards Apply: Redeem your points for digital gift cards from over 80 popular restaurants and retailers. This can be particularly useful if you’re traveling to a location where these gift cards are accepted, allowing you to save on dining and shopping expenses and stretch your budget to focus more on fun without breaking the bank.
8. Redeem Strategically: When you’re ready to book, use your points wisely. Look for hotels with the best points-to-value ratio and avoid peak times. To build up points faster, consider staying at Choice Hotels frequently or looking for special promotions and bonus point offers to maximize your earnings.
Pro Tip! Points + Cash is handy when you’re short on points: Don’t have enough points for a reward night? No problem! Use the Points Plus Cash option to combine as little as 6,000 points with cash to book a room. It’s a flexible way to make the most of your points balance and still enjoy the benefits of your Choice Privileges membership.
9. Stay Active: Choice Privileges points never expire while you’re an active member. To keep your account active, complete a qualifying activity at least once every 18 months—like staying at a Choice Hotels property, redeeming points, buying points, or earning points through our partners. This way, you can keep your point balance safe and ready for your next adventure!
10. Stay Informed: Be sure you’re signed up to receive communications from Choice Privileges and regularly check your email for the latest promotions. You can update your email settings by visiting your account page. Opting in for promotional emails ensures you receive notifications about limited-time deals, point offers, bonus points for specific stays, and other ways to maximize your points. This simple step can make a big difference in your points-earning strategy.
Boost Your Balance
There are more ways to quickly earn points and boost your balance than just booking a stay at Choice Hotels.
By strategically planning your stays, taking advantage of special promotions, and using a Choice Privileges Mastercard® for everyday purchases, your points can add up quickly! Whether you're enjoying a staycation, dining out, or simply running errands, there are plenty of ways to maximize your points and get closer to your next dream vacation.
1. Book Midweek Staycations: One of the quickest and easiest ways to boost your Choice Privileges balance is by taking advantage of midweek trips. With a Your Extras benefit, you could earn an extra 400 points for stays that include at least one Sunday through Thursday night. Quickly rack up those points by finding Choice Hotels nearest to you and planning frequent weekday “staycations” just a short drive from home.
Pro-Tip! More perks than just points with Your Extras: Midweek stays not only help you collect points faster, but also give you access to additional perks that can boost your travel experience. Instead of 400 Choice Privileges points, you could choose a $2.50 Amazon credit, $5 Starbucks card, or other rewards as the Your Extras benefit.
2. Accelerate Your Earning Power: To maximize your point earning potential, consider booking a Point Accelerator Package. These packages could allow you to earn an extra 1,000, 2,000, or 5,000 points per night on top of the points you’d typically earn for your stay. This gives you the power to quickly build up your balance, especially if you have a specific redemption goal in mind.
3. Earn Passive Points When Eating Out: With the Choice Privileges Eat & Earn program, you could earn points while dining out! After signing up, simply link your credit or debit card to your Choice Privileges account and dine at participating restaurants to potentially earn up to 5x points per dollar spent. Additionally, new members can earn 500 bonus points after spending $25 in the first 30 days.
4. Purchase Points: If you’re short on points and need to quickly top off your balance, consider buying Choice Privileges points (up to 120,000 annually). This option is particularly useful if you’re close to a redemption threshold and need a few extra points to complete your booking. Look for emailed promotions offering bonus points or discounts on purchased points for an even better deal on your next stay.
Everyday Earnings
Turn everyday spending into points with the Choice Privileges Mastercard®
One of the biggest advantages of the Choice Privileges Mastercard® is the ability to earn up to 16x points on stays at Choice Hotels.1 This means that qualifying stays could significantly boost your balance. But did you know that using a Choice Privileges Mastercard® for everyday spending could earn you points as well?
Earn 3x Points on Essentials: With the Choice Privileges Mastercard®, you can earn 3x points on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, home improvement stores, and phone plan services.2 This is an effective way to earn extra points on essential expenses and build your balance faster.
Earn 1x Points on Other Purchases: You can earn points on other purchases made with a Choice Privileges Mastercard®.2
Stacking Benefits
Connect the Choice Privileges Mastercard® to passive point programs to stack your points and take your earning potential to the max.
One of the easiest ways to maximize your points is by linking your Choice Privileges Mastercard® to the Choice Privileges Eat & Earn program and using it every time you dine out at a participating restaurant. This is where the magic happens—because not only do you earn points through Eat & Earn, but you can also earn points from using your Choice Privileges Mastercard®. Here’s how it works:
Eat & Earn Points: When you eat at any of the participating restaurants, you could earn up to a maximum of 5x points per dollar through the Eat & Earn program.
Credit Card Points: Simultaneously, you can earn points on purchases made with your Choice Privileges Mastercard®. This typically means earning 1x points per dollar spent dining out.2
Example: If you spend $50 at a participating restaurant, you could earn 250 points from the Eat & Earn program (5x points) and an additional 50 points from your Choice Privileges Mastercard® (1x points). This means you could potentially earn up to 300 points for this single dining experience!
Disclosures
1. Additional points received under the Choice Privileges program for stays at hotels participating in Choice Privileges will be earned in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Choice Privileges program. You must have an Elite Gold Membership to earn the 10% point earn bonus on base Choice Privileges points (on the amount of Choice Privileges points earned on a point-eligible stay). WoodSpring Suites® properties do not participate. Eligible stays earn Choice Privileges members 10 points for each whole U.S. dollar when paying qualifying room rates, excluding taxes, restaurant, or other incidental charges. Stays at MainStay Suites®, Suburban Studios®, and Everhome Suites® earn 10 points for each whole U.S dollar spent on eligible stays of 6 nights or fewer, and earn 5 points for each whole U.S. dollar spent on eligible stays of 7+ nights, with a maximum of 30 total nights. Most hotels are independently owned and operated. Refer to the Choice Privileges® Rules and Regulations for additional details at choicehotels.com/choice-privileges/rules-regulations.
2. Five points (1 base point plus 4 bonus points) per $1 spent on qualifying stays made on the Card Account at eligible Choice hotel locations. Qualifying Choice Hotel stays are items billed by eligible Choice brand hotels as merchant of record booked through either choicehotels.com or directly with an eligible Choice hotel, or by calling the Choice Hotels Service Center. Three points (1 base point plus 2 bonus points) are earned per $1 spent on net purchases at retailers whose Mastercard merchant code is classified as: Gas: gas stations, automated fuel dispensers, and electric vehicle charging stations. Groceries: grocery stores, supermarkets, delis and bakeries. Telephone plans: landline and cell phone providers considered telecommunication services. Home improvement: home improvement stores, hardware stores, nurseries and garden supply stores, furniture and household appliances stores, home accessories stores, floor, glass, paint and wallpaper stores, lease/rental services for furniture and household appliances, swimming pool sales and supplies, contractors, or specialists providing home improvement services. Purchases not processed using the merchant codes for Mastercard mentioned above will not qualify for bonus points. Wells Fargo does not have the ability to control how a retailer chooses to classify their business and, therefore, reserves the right to determine which purchases qualify for bonus points. You may not earn bonus points for purchases made through third-party payment accounts, at online marketplaces, with retailers who submit purchases using a mobile or wireless card reader, or if you use a mobile or digital wallet. Other purchases: 1 rewards point will be earned per $1 spent on other net purchases. Cash equivalents do not earn points. For a detailed list of cash equivalent exclusions and merchant examples that may not be billed under the Mastercard category codes listed above, refer to the Choice Privileges® Mastercard® Credit Card Rewards Program Agreement (the “Card Rewards Program”) Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) for details.