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Airline credit cards aren’t only useful for earning points and miles to use with your favorite airline. Many airline credit cards can also reward you with some sweet hotel perks, from special savings to the ability to transfer your airline miles over to your favorite hotel rewards and loyalty program. Sound tempting? Check out these airline credit cards with the best hotel-booking perks.
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card
The information for The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® card has been collected independently by Johnny Jet. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® card allows you to use your miles to book tons of affordable hotel stays, via the Rocketmiles platform. You can pick from more than 400,000 properties worldwide and then pay your entire stay with your miles, or use a combination of miles and cash.
This method of redeeming miles for a hotel stay could be pretty attractive to those cardholders who don’t feel like they’ll be flying anytime soon. Plus, with the Rocketmiles platform, there’s a lot more flexibility in when and where you can book your stay, versus booking through an airline partner portal alone.
If you sign up for the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card now, you can earn a $100 statement credit, 40,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 in the first 90 days of account opening, and Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare from $121.
Related: Alaska Airlines Credit Card Review
United Explorer Card
The United MileagePlus suite of credit cards also comes with some hotel perks. Of course, you have the option to earn bonus miles from all kinds of partner hotel brands. But if you’ve worked your way up to a MileagePlus Premier status of Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Premier 1K, you also will receive extra benefits at select properties. These might include:
- Free WiFi
- Dining credits
- Spa credits
- Early check-in
- Late check-out
- Room upgrades (where applicable)
All you have to do is book through United Hotels and look for VIP Access properties.
Don’t have a Premier status? You can still use your MileagePlus number to book hotels via United’s dedicated portal. You may receive a more affordable rate than what you may be able to find elsewhere.
While these benefits apply to all United MileagePlus cards, the United℠ Explorer Card does come with additional benefits, like 25% back on United® inflight purchases and the ability to earn 2x miles per $1 spent on dining, hotel stays, and United® purchases.
New United℠ Explorer Card cardholders can earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening.
Plus, there’s a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95.
American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp
The information for the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® has been collected independently by Johnny Jet. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® is a fantastic no-annual-fee card.
Cardholders earn:
- 2 AAdvantage® miles for each $1 spent at grocery stores, including grocery delivery services
- 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on other purchases
- 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible mile earned from purchases
This makes this a valuable card to have in your wallet, given the current travel climate.
You can use American Airlines’ dedicated portal to book hotel stays (and car rentals) at more than 150,000 properties in more than 500 destinations. You can either use your miles only or use a combination of cash and miles (with as few as 1,000 miles). The hotel rate you receive in the portal depends on your AAdvantage status.
New cardholders can earn 10,000 miles and receive a $50 statement credit after making $500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
Related: Best Credit Cards for American Airlines Fliers
JetBlue Plus Card
The information for JetBlue Plus Card has been collected independently by Johnny Jet. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
If you’re already a JetBlue TrueBlue member, then you can enjoy some added hotel benefits with the JetBlue Plus card. In addition to earning additional bonus points or miles from hotel brands when you book your stay using your JetBlue card and TrueBlue membership number, those TrueBlue members who hold a JetBlue Plus Card also receive an annual $100 in statement credits for hotel spending. The only caveat? You have to book your hotel stay with JetBlue Vacations in order to take advantage of the credit.
The good news is, you earn 40,000 TrueBlue points from the JetBlue Plus Card after only spending $1,000 in the first 90 days and paying the $99 annual fee. From there, you get 6x points on JetBlue purchases and 2x points at restaurants and grocery stores.
Related: JetBlue Is Now A Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partner
Another Way To Use Airline Credit Cards for Hotel Perks
While it is possible to get hotel perks from some of your favorite airline credit cards, it can also be a lot of hassle. The best way to score extra hotel and airline perks at once? It’s with a travel credit card that isn’t tied to a particular brand — like the Chase Sapphire family of credit cards, or one of the many travel-friendly American Express credit cards.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card allows you to earn double points on hotel stays. But, when you use your points to book a hotel stay via the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, you get 25% more value for your money than you would by booking elsewhere. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® earns 3x points on travel, including hotel stays, after you earn the annual $300 travel credit benefit that comes with it. Like the Sapphire Preferred, you can get more value by using the Ultimate Rewards Portal. Except instead of 25% more value, you’ll get 50% more value.
Related: Chase Sapphire Reserve vs Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Bottom Line
It can be tempting to use your miles credit card to score those sweet hotel benefits, perks, and deals—and it is possible to find airline credit cards that will allow you to do this. But at the end of the day, you’ll get more overall value from a flexible travel credit card that’s not connected to any particular airline or hotel brand.
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