My wife and I spent the first night of our recentroad tripat a Courtyard hotel in Athens, Georgia.
We walked downtown to eat Indian food and had drinks on the roof of the Georgia Theatre.
Our room was clean, the pool area was nice and the hotel had a bar.
Our cost: $0.
We had a suite at the Andaz downtown, across the street from the waterfront.
The living room had a huge television and the bedroom a smaller one.
The bathroom had a deep tub, separate shower and two sinks.
Robes and slippers were provided, and there was an outdoor pool on the second floor.
Our cost: $0.
Thats what I used for the Courtyard by Marriott in Athens.
The promotion also offers 50,000 bonus points if you spend $1,000 on the card within three months.
I paid our home insurance and a few bills to meet that requirement.
No Interest Til Almost 2027?
The Marriott Rewards card is one of the best hotel cards.
However, you do get an Anniversary Free Night every year when you pay the fee.
Thats a great start, but youll have a $75 annual fee after the first year.
And we got the second night with our points.
But there are hefty bonuses too.
What About Your Credit Score?
Butcanceling cardscan hurt your rating a little, especially when you close old accounts.
I explained thistrick for raising your credit scorein a previous post.
It may help to learnhow to cancel credit cardswithout damaging your credit score.
That can reduce the likelihood of any ding to your score from frequent credit inquiries.
TheMarriott Rewards Visaoffersfive points per dollarspent at their properties.
Some issuers offer other reasons to use their cards.
Many travel cards offer extra lost luggage protection if you book the flight with that card.
Know When to Use Your Points
You points or miles have different values in different circumstances.
The categories do not have a direct relation to the normal room rates.
So if theres something wrong, speak up!
Here are a few more tips for getting the most from your travel cards.
For example, theStarwood Preferred Guestcard from American Express lets you redeem for airline flights or hotel rooms.
If you shop at one of them regularly, that card is the same as cash.
Is Collecting Points Worth the Trouble?
Yes, I spend some time applying for credit cards and tracking expenditures and points.
Want to learn more about the best travel credit cards?
Join theTravel Hacking Cartel, a community of expert travel hackers.
We do not feature all available credit card offers or all credit card issuers.
Steve Gillman is the author of 101 Weird Ways to Make Money and creator of EveryWayToMakeMoney.com.
(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)
You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…
