The value, however, depends on how frequently a person travels, where they stay and whether the rewards justify the card’s annual fee. Simply earning points is not enough; how they are redeemed matters too.
According to Paisabazaar, an Indian online financial marketplace, several premium and co-branded credit cards in India offer hotel-related rewards. These include complimentary night awards, accelerated points on hotel spending, memberships with hotel programmes and the ability to convert card rewards into hotel loyalty points.
Start with spending you already do
One way to accumulate hotel rewards is by putting regular expenses on a card that earns hotel points or transferable travel rewards.
The Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card, for example, earns Marriott Bonvoy points on eligible purchases and offers a complimentary night award, with additional awards linked to specified annual spending levels, according to Paisabazaar.
The Axis Bank Atlas Credit Card, meanwhile, allows EDGE Miles to be converted into points with partner hotel loyalty programmes, including Marriott, Accor, ITC Hotels and Wyndham, Paisabazaar says.
This can allow consumers to build a hotel-reward balance without necessarily paying for every point through hotel bookings.
Khushnooma Kapadia, Vice President – Marketing, South Asia, Marriott International, an American multinational hospitality company, says members earn Marriott Bonvoy points through several channels, including eligible hotel stays and dining, spending on the co-branded credit card and qualifying transactions through linked programmes.
A free night can also extend a holiday
Complimentary-night awards do not necessarily have to replace a paid booking. Travellers can also use them to add another night to an existing trip.
Akanksha Lamba, Co-Founder and Senior Vice President of Operations at The Postcard Hotel, an Indian chain of intimate, luxury boutique hotels and resorts, says travellers are considering credit-card points and complimentary nights while planning holidays.
In the luxury segment, she says, customers may use these rewards to extend a trip, move to a better room category or consider a destination they might not otherwise have chosen.
At destination-led properties, Lamba says, an additional night can turn a short break into a longer holiday. Couples, celebrations and short leisure trips are among the occasions where such rewards can be particularly useful, she adds.
You don’t have to stick to one hotel chain
Hotel-linked cards are not the only route to such rewards.
Some premium cards provide access to multiple hotel programmes.
Paisabazaar lists the American Express Platinum Charge Card as offering memberships or status benefits across several hotel programmes. The Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card also provides hotel-related privileges across brands including ITC, Accor, Marriott and Oberoi, according to the comparison platform.
For someone who frequently changes hotel brands, a broader travel card may therefore be more relevant than a card tied to one chain.
Where should you redeem the points?
The answer can vary considerably depending on the traveller’s plans.
Kapadia says Marriott Bonvoy points are being redeemed for hotel stays as well as dining, airline transfers and Marriott Bonvoy Moments experiences.
Free Night Awards are being used at properties in cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Gurugram and Jaipur, she says. International destinations including Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Singapore and the UAE have also emerged as popular choices.
For consumers, this makes redemption value an important part of the calculation. A large points balance does not automatically translate into an equally valuable hotel stay.
Don’t focus only on the free-night headline
A complimentary night can sound attractive, but cardholders need to consider the conditions attached to it.
The annual fee, spending requirement, eligible properties, validity period and redemption rules can all affect its actual value. Some cards also offer additional rewards only after customers cross specified annual spending thresholds.
For example, Paisabazaar lists annual fees ranging from ₹3,000 for the Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card to ₹50,000 for the Axis Bank Reserve Credit Card and ₹1.10 lakh for the HSBC Taj Credit Card, before applicable taxes.
A card with a higher fee may offer more extensive hotel privileges, but that does not necessarily make it better for every traveller.
When does a premium hotel card make sense?
The simplest test is to compare the value you are likely to use with the card’s total cost.
A frequent traveller who already stays at participating properties may be able to use a complimentary night, hotel membership, room-related privileges and reward points during the year.
Someone who takes only one holiday a year may struggle to extract similar value from a premium card, particularly if it carries a high annual fee.
The same principle applies to spending milestones. Increasing your expenditure just to unlock a reward can leave you worse off. The more sensible approach is to use the card for expenses you would make anyway and treat the hotel reward as a by-product.
Why hotels are interested in these partnerships
For hotel companies, co-branded cards can keep customers connected to a loyalty programme even when they are not travelling.
Kapadia says the Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank card allows the relationship with the customer to extend beyond hotel visits, with members earning through eligible stays and dining, card spending and linked programmes.
Lamba says such partnerships can help hotels attract new customers while giving existing guests another reason to return. However, she says the credit-card offer can encourage an initial booking, while the hotel experience remains important in determining whether the guest comes back.
That distinction matters for consumers too. A card can reduce the cost of a stay, but it cannot make an expensive hotel affordable if the underlying spending and travel pattern do not justify the card.
