Avoid Hotel Credit Cards Unless You're This Type Of Traveler

Traveling for business, vacation, or just to get away from it all is never cheap. Between tickets to get to your destination, transportation once you are there, and meals during your stay, you are probably looking for some ways to save some bucks while you are in your home away from home. For lodging, you might be wary of staying at hotels due to the sneaky ways they trick you into spending money. In some cases, though, booking a hotel might be the cheapest option with deals that could be sweetened by signing up for a hotel credit card. From Hilton to Wyndham to Hyatt and beyond, hotels are offering guests the chance to sign up for credit cards linked to their brands with rewards and perks dangled along the way to encourage higher usage. The more you stay, the less you pay, right? NerdWallet asked the question if hotel credit cards are worth it and on the whole the answer is "no" unless you are a traveler who does not mind staying with the same hotel chain over and over again, as well as one who can pay off your balance at the end of each month.

Plenty of hotel credit cards do come with high fees, as well as interest charges and late fees if you do not meet the monthly minimum payments. Plus, if you do not travel a lot or plan to stay in hotels when you do, you might be part of the 23% of credit card holders who miss out on taking advantage of their rewards, according to CreditCards.com.

It's ultimately up to you how many credit cards you should have, but if you are thinking about signing up for one in conjunction with a hotel, make sure to read the fine print. You might want to try by starting out with just one to see how it goes, like the Hilton Honors American Express Card that allows users to earn 100,000 bonus points and $100 statement credit, making it one of the best hotel credit cards with no annual fee.

If you have booked travel plans and accommodations in the last few years, you know that credit cards are designed to be used to pay for big purchases like hotels and flights. Big airlines and hotels have recognized this spending trend for some time now, which is why they are starting to link up with credit card companies to offer customers an option to pay that is tied to brand loyalty.

On the plus side, if you are someone who does not mind staying in the same type of hotel no matter where you are, you can rack up points to be used for free stays in the future, upgrades to rooms, and more. Wyndham, for example, has one of the best rewards programs with more than 8,000 hotels in their network and the perks only go up when you sign up for a Wyndham Rewards credit card.

What you as a traveler have to calculate before signing up for a hotel rewards program is if the benefits paid out are higher than the annual fee. Plenty of these credit cards come with low or no annual fees, which means users mostly just have to worry about paying off their balance at the end of each month. If that sounds like something you can feasibly do with your finances, then signing up for a hotel credit card might work in your favor.