The Offer
- Barclaycard Choice Privileges is ofering a sign up bonus of 40,000 points after $1,000 in spend
Card Details
- No annual fee
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 5 points per eligible $1 spent at over 5,500 Choice Privileges locations
- 5 points per eligible $1 on additional Choice Privileges points or Choice Hotels gift card purchase
- 2 points per eligible $1 spent on everyday purchases
- 8,000 anniversary points if you spend more than $10,000 in the previous calendar year
- Elite gold status:
- Ability to book free nights 50 days in advance instead of 30 days
- A 10% Elite points bonus for eligible stays, plus an exclusive reservations phone number
Our Verdict
This is the best offer we’ve seen on this card, previous best was 32,000 points & $25 statement credit. Two things I don’t like about Choice:
- Can only book 30 days in advance (50 days with this credit card)
- Their points expiration policy used to suck (it’s a little better now, but still not great)
The thing with Choice is that the majority of their properties in the United States are awful and overpriced (not entirely true, Matt P mentions the one in Rapid City, SD for visting Bad Lands and Mount Rushmore is good value at 8,000 points per night), but their European properties (and especially Scandinavia) are much nicer and better value. Free nights start at 6,000 points per night and up to a maximum of 35,000 points per night (except in Australasia where it’s up to 75,000 points) and there isn’t any award chart (prices are flexible and somewhat tied to cash rate).
Probably a good idea to do a bit of searching for properties in areas you plan to visit to see if this card works for you or not. If you have any questions about Barclaycard and before you apply for this card, I’d strongly recommend you read our post: 25 Things You Should Know About Barclaycard Credit Cards.
Hat tip to Danny Deal Guru
