The
Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard® is the
best hotel credit card available right now, according to WalletHub’s proprietary 100-point rating system. You can get up to 7 free nights almost immediately, thanks to the card’s initial bonus offer of
60,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months.
There are plenty of perks to warrant keeping your account open for years, including
1 - 10 points per $1 spent on purchases and Platinum status in the Choice Privileges loyalty program.
Just note that you should plan to pay your bill in full monthly if you decide to apply for this card because a low APR is not among its many positive attributes. You can learn more below.
Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard® Review Highlights
60,000-point initial bonus
The
Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard® will give you
60,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. Those points are worth around
$744, according to our calculations, and you can trade them in for as many as 7 nights at Choice-owned hotels.
That is a very enticing offer, especially if you expect to spend
$3,000 in the next
3 months anyway. It looks pretty good by comparison, too. The average initial bonus offer right now is just
30,381 points/miles or
$242 cash back.
1 - 10 points per $1 spent on purchases
You will earn
10 points / $1 spent at participating Choice properties with this card – twice what the
Choice Privileges® Mastercard® would give you. The Select version also offers two-thirds more value (5 points / $1 spent) at gas stations, grocery stores and home improvement stores, as well as on phone plan payments.
For the
Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard® to be worthwhile based on its ongoing rewards alone, you will need to spend $766 to $7,661 per year and pay your bill in full monthly. The amount you need to spend depends on what you buy and how you redeem your points. Choice points are worth an average of
2.67 cents when redeemed for hotel nights.
Platinum status
You get 20 elite night credits per year just for having the
Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard®. Those elite night credits automatically get you
Platinum status in the Choice Privileges program, which comes with perks such as 25% more loyalty program points on Choice purchases and Preferred Plus status with Avis.
$800 in cell phone protection
Using the
Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard® to pay your phone bill gets you up to $800 in coverage for damage or theft. There is a $25 deductible, though, and you will have to go through a claims process to get reimbursed if your phone gets broken or stolen.
$95 annual fee
Paying
$95 per year is likely to be worthwhile if you stay at Choice properties often and you use the card regularly. If you do that and pay the bill in full monthly, you should save money despite the fee. For added context, the average annual fee among new credit card offers is
$21.58 right now. Some of the best travel credit cards have fees comparable to what the
Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard® charges, though.
700+ credit score recommended
The
Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard® is for people with
good credit or better. You should therefore have good approval odds if your credit score is
700+. You can
check your credit score for free here on WalletHub to find out.
20.99% - 29.99% Variable APR
The exact rate you’re assigned by the
Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard® depends on factors such as your credit history, income and debt when you get approved. Unfortunately, it’s likely to be average or worse. People with good credit can expect an APR around
24.1% these days, according to our research, while people with excellent credit can expect to pay about
18.01%. Both groups can do better, though.
By using a rewards card for everyday purchases that won’t lead to a revolving balance and using a credit card with a 0% introductory APR for bigger expenses, you can take full advantage of having above-average credit and avoid interest charges entirely.
