5 High-Value Perks You Can Get With Hotel Credit Cards

Staying in a nice hotel is a quick way to turn a good vacation into an amazing one. It can also make traveling a lot more expensive. The average daily rate for U.S. hotels is $160, according to hospitality data company STR, so a five-night stay costs an average of $800. And nightly rates can easily exceed $500 at luxury hotels in popular destinations.

Fortunately, there are plenty of travel rewards cards tied to hotel chains. These cards can save you money on stays and improve your hotel experience. Keep reading to learn about the kinds of perks you can get from hotel cards.

1. Free night awards

Many of the most popular hotel credit cards include an annual free night award. Now, this isn't entirely free. All the cards I've seen that offer this perk also charge an annual fee.

Still, you can usually save much more from a free night than you pay for your card. If a hotel card has a $95 annual fee, and it includes a free night award that you use to save $250, that's a pretty big win.

Some cards also let you earn additional free night awards if you spend enough. For example, you may get another free night award if you spend $30,000 on your card during a calendar year. Between free night awards and the points you earn from your card, you can save quite a bit on your hotel stays.

2. Elite status in your hotel chain of choice

With most hotel cards, you get automatic elite status in the hotel's loyalty program, just for being a cardholder. The status tier depends on the card you have. Cards with higher annual fees normally include a higher status.

Elite status can make stays much more enjoyable -- and more rewarding. It almost always includes bonus points on your stays. In higher status tiers, you could also get:

• Free daily breakfast for two
• Complimentary upgrades, when available
• Early check-in and late checkout, when available

3. Big bonus opportunities

You'll earn hotel points much faster with a hotel credit card. When you have a hotel card, you earn points on all the purchases you make with it. You can use those points to book free nights.

All the hotel cards I've seen also have sign-up bonuses. These are introductory bonuses for new cardholders. A card may offer 150,000 bonus points if you spend $3,000 in the first six months. Sign-up bonuses alone can be enough to cover two or three nights.

In addition, many hotel cards earn bonus points on certain types of purchases, such as dining and airfare. And they usually earn even more when you use them at the hotel that issues them. Combined with elite status bonuses, you can earn some serious bonus points on stays. For example, thanks to my Hilton card and its complimentary Diamond status, I earn a whopping 34 points per $1 on Hilton stays.

4. Spending credits

Many of the more expensive hotel cards have spending credits. These are often (but not always) credits you can use at the hotel itself. But some hotel cards also have credits toward other types of purchases, such as airfare and even dining.

Spending credits can be hit or miss, depending on whether you're able to use them. If you can, they could outweigh the cost of the annual fee and make a premium hotel card well worth it.

5. Airport lounge access

Your hotel card could even improve your airport experience. There are high-end hotel cards that offer complimentary airport lounge access. You may need to enroll in the lounge program the card offers, but once you do, you'll be able to access its lounges before your flight.

With all the potential benefits, the right hotel card can more than justify its annual fee. I've saved thousands of dollars thanks to my hotel card, even after accounting for how much it costs per year. If you like a certain hotel chain, look into its credit card options to see if one of them is a match.