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Although it routinely flies under the radar, Choice Privileges is a program that you shouldn't overlook. Believe it or not, you'll find more than 7,400 Choice Hotels in over 40 countries and territories around the world — and not just low and mid-tier properties. The Choice Privileges loyalty program offers some excellent bonus Choice points promotions, too, and members can book award nights for as little as 6,000 points per night.
Choice Privileges is a great program for the thrifty traveler. Thousands of its properties are in the budget category, so it's best suited for those who care more about practicalities than luxuries. However, you can also book more upscale properties — including the addition of another 20 resorts in early 2025.
Whether you frequently stay at Choice Hotels — or at Radisson brands within the Americas — or just enjoy getting good value on award stays, you may benefit from learning more about the Choice Privileges loyalty program.
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How To Join Choice Privileges
It is easy to join Choice Privileges. Go to the enrollment page, complete the required fields, and click “Join Now.” Then, you’ll need to provide some basic personal information and contact details to complete the enrollment process.
Add your Choice Privileges account to AwardWallet
AwardWallet is our homegrown tool for tracking the most important details of your loyalty programs. With Choice Privileges, It can track your future reservations, points balance, elite status, and additional benefits attached to your account, like free nights and upgrade certificates.
You'll receive email reminders if any of your valuable benefits expire soon. You can also use AwardWallet to log in with one click instead of entering your details manually on Choice's website.
AwardWallet Plus members can also view the history of points earned and redeemed, progress toward the next tier of elite status, and the individual expiration dates for all awards in their accounts.
To track your Choice rewards and other account information, add your Choice Privileges login using this link.
You can track over 630 loyalty programs with AwardWallet. To add a different program, log into AwardWallet through a web browser or the AwardWallet app (iOS, Android). Then, click the “Add Award Program to Track” button and type in the program's name.
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Related: How to Track Your Rewards Using AwardWallet
Choice Hotels Brands
Choice Hotels features 22 distinct brands, which are divided into four buckets:
- Upscale (Travel with More): Cambria Hotels, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Ascend Hotel Collection, Radisson Collection, Radisson Individuals, and Park Plaza
- Midscale (Travel and Relax): Comfort Hotels, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Clarion Pointe, Park Inn by Radisson, and Radisson Inn & Suites
- Economy (Travel Simply): Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn
- Extended Stay (Travel Longer): Everhome Suites, WoodSpring Suites, MainStay Suites, and Suburban Studios
Three of the Choice Hotels brands — Ascend Hotel Collection, Radisson Collection, and Radisson Individual — are curated collections of hotels and resorts. For example, you can book stays at over 20 casino hotels and resorts, 15 Bluegreen Vacations resorts, and several all-inclusive resorts through the Ascend Hotel Collection.
WoodSpring Suites doesn't participate in Choice Privileges. Due to the 2021 split between Radisson Rewards and Radisson Rewards Americas, only Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Radisson Collection, Radisson Individuals, Park Plaza, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Park Inn by Radisson, and Radisson Inn & Suites properties within the Americas participate in Choice Privileges (properties in these brands outside the Americas participate in Radisson Rewards).
How To Earn Choice Hotels Points
Now, let's consider some of the best ways to earn Choice points.
Earn Choice points on stays
Choice Privileges members earn 10X points per $1 spent on most stays. So, spend $100 and earn 1,000 points. However, you'll only earn 5X points per $1 at MainStay Suites, Suburban Suites, and Everhome Suites when you stay for seven nights or longer (and you'll only earn points for the first 30 nights of your stay). Stays six nights or less still earn 10X points per $10.
You'll also only earn Choice points when you stay in select countries. For example, you won't earn Choice points when you stay at Choice Hotels brands in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden, based on the Choice Privileges rules and regulations.
Members with Choice Privileges elite status earn between 10% and 50% bonus points on stays, based on their elite status tier. To earn points on your stays, make sure to include your Choice Privileges account information when booking. If you book online and are signed into your account, this is done automatically.
Earn Choice points through credit cards.
Travelers can also use two co-branded Choice Privileges credit cards to earn more points:
The Choice Privileges Select Mastercard earns:
- 10x points on stays at participating Choice Hotels® properties plus on Choice Privileges point purchases
- 5x points on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, home improvement stores, and on phone plan services
- 1x points on other purchases
And the Choice Privileges Mastercard earns:
- 5x points on stays at participating Choice Hotels® properties plus on Choice Privileges point purchases
- 3x points on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, home improvement stores and on phone plan services
- 1x points on other purchases
You also transfer rewards from several programs to Choice Privileges, as shown in the following table:
Other ways to earn Choice points
Here's a quick overview of other ways to earn Choice points. Note that some of these options may not be available if you reside outside the U.S.:
- Register for and then stay during lucrative Choice bonus points promotions.
- Rent Avis and Budget rental cars (earn 1,000 points on eligible rentals).
- Refer friends to Choice Privileges (get 500 points once your friend completes their first stay at a point-earning rate.
- Dine at restaurants that participate in Choice Privileges Eat & Earn.
- Buy Choice points.
- Sign up for e-Rewards and earn points for filling out surveys.
Related: Do Choice Privileges Points Expire?
Redeem Choice Hotels Points
Now, let's consider how to redeem Choice points. Redeeming for stays usually yields the most value, but here are all your options.
Redeeming points for Choice Hotels stays.
Redeeming Choice points for stays is relatively easy. To book an award stay, go to the Choice Hotels website. Enter the typical booking information, such as destination, dates, and guests. But before clicking “Find Hotels,” click the “Special Rates” dropdown menu and select “Use Choice Privileges points instead.”
Free night award redemptions range from 8,000 to 35,000 points per night in most parts of the world. However, Choice Privileges recently reintroduced RewardSave award nights, which start at 6,000 points. Plus, you can now book more premium rooms as well.
For years, the furthest out you could book an award was 100 nights. Now, it's possible to book a Choice award night 50 weeks in advance, which is more in line with the competition.
Choice Privileges doesn't use a standard award chart or dynamic pricing. Instead, the program sets rates for each hotel for specific date ranges, with one rate for weeknights and another rate for weekends.
As you might expect, you can get high value when redeeming your Choice points for nights with high cash prices or low award rates.
You also can get good value quite regularly when staying at properties highlighted in the recurring Choice Sweet Spot Rewards promotion. And you can occasionally book elevated room types for the same amount of points as standard room types.
You also can book points and cash rates if you are short on points. Points and cash rates start as low as $17 and 6,000 points.
Redeeming Choice points for Preferred Hotels & Resorts
Choice points are redeemable for stays at over 300 participating Preferred Hotels & Resorts worldwide. Stays at these premium properties have a price tag to match the luxury, as awards generally feature rack rates between 25,000 and 87,000 points per night.
Historically, Preferred Hotels & Resorts stays weren't bookable online — you had to call to redeem. Thankfully, this is no longer the case, as Choice has made these redemptions available online.
However, there's a big roadblock you'll have to navigate to redeem. Preferred properties will appear when you search for stays through Choice's website, but you'll only see them if you have sufficient Choice points in your account to make the reservation. A workaround is to locate a desirable property on one of two Choice websites, confirm availability, and check the price before transferring points to Choice. To walk you through the steps, we've assembled a short how-to.
After everything checks out and you're ready to book, return to the main choice webpage and plug in your itinerary. With sufficient points in your account, you'll see the property you've been scouting, and from there, you are minutes away from confirming your booking.
Other ways to redeem Choice points
As noted above, you'll usually get the most value when you redeem Choice points for stays. But here's a quick overview of other ways you can redeem Choice points (some options may not be available if you reside outside the U.S.):
- Snag a college sports experience with Choice points.
- Exchange your points for miles with select airline partners.
- Redeem points for cruise credits with Choice Privileges Cruises.
- Use points to book tee times and purchase golf gear through Golf by Choice.
- Redeem for gift cards or magazine subscriptions.
- Donate your points to charity.
Most of these redemption options will provide relatively low value. However, the ability to redeem Choice points for select college sports experiences may be highly valuable to loyal fans; these experiences might not otherwise be available with cash.
What are Choice Privileges points worth?
Choice Privileges points have wide-ranging value depending on how you redeem your points.
For planning purposes, we suggest trying to get at least 0.6¢ per point from your Choice Privileges points. That's the average redemption rate that AwardWallet users have gotten when redeeming Choice Privileges points.
Choice Privileges Elite Status
Just like most other major hotel loyalty programs, you can earn elite status with Choice Privileges.
The benefits of Choice Privileges elite status are far fewer than what you'd get with major hotel brands. Despite its recent growth, Choice still has relatively few upscale brands (and no true luxury brands), where elite perks tend to provide the most value in other programs.
If you plan on making Choice Hotels your main hotel program or plan to stay with the program's brands frequently, it could be worth striving for elite status with Choice Privileges. Some benefits may differ depending on your country of residence, but here are the benefits U.S. residents can expect.
Member
Everyone who joins the Choice Privileges program gets Member status. Here's a look at the top benefits available to all Choice Privileges members:
- Access to member rates and promotions.
- Earn Your Extras on stays involving a Sunday through Thursday night.
Gold status
You'll earn Choice Privileges Gold status if you stay at least 10 qualifying nights within a calendar year. In addition to the benefits available to all Choice Privileges members, Gold members also get:
- 10% elite point bonus on qualifying stays.
- Early check-in upon request and subject to availability (up to two hours earlier at most properties).
- Late checkout upon request and subject to availability (up to 2 p.m. at properties in North and Central America and up to two hours past standard checkout at most other properties).
- Welcome gift of bonus points or beverage and snack at check-in at most properties in the U.S. and Canada.
- Roll over up to nine elite-qualifying nights into the next year.
- Match your status to PENN Play Rewards casino status.
- Eligibility for room upgrades at check-in and at the hotel's discretion when staying at Cambria and Ascend Hotel Collection properties worldwide and at Radisson, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson Collection, Radisson Individuals, and Park Plaza properties in North America, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
It's also possible to get complimentary Gold status with the Choice Privileges® Mastercard®.
Platinum status
You'll earn Choice Privileges Platinum status if you stay at least 20 qualifying nights within a calendar year. Platinum members get the following incremental benefits over those available to Gold members:
- 25% elite point bonus on qualifying stays.
- Roll over up to 19 elite-qualifying nights into the next year.
The Choice Privileges Select Mastercard confers complimentary Platinum status.
Diamond status
You'll earn top-tier Choice Privileges Diamond status if you stay at least 40 qualifying nights within a calendar year. Diamond members get the following incremental benefits over those available to Platinum members:
- 50% elite point bonus on qualifying stays.
- Roll over up to 39 elite-qualifying nights into the next year.
- Match your status to PENN Play Preferred casino status.
- When staying at Radisson, Radisson RED, Radisson Blu, Radisson Collection, Radisson Individuals, or Park Plaza hotels in the Americas, you and one registered guest will enjoy a complimentary breakfast.
- Guaranteed room availability is bookable for one standard room at the prevailing rate if you call to book at least 48 hours before you want to stay at participating Ascend and Cambria hotels worldwide and at Radisson, Radisson RED, Radisson Blu, Radisson Collection, Radisson Individuals, and Park Plaza hotels in the Americas.
Other ways to earn Choice Privileges elite status
Credit cards and qualifying nights aren't the only pathways to Choice Privileges elite status. Here are some of the other methods of earning elite status.
- Status match to the Choice Privileges program. It's free (and easy) to complete an application, and depending on when you match, you can keep your complimentary status for up to a year and a half.
- Complimentary lifetime Gold status military members, veterans, spouses, and dependents. If you belong to one of the aforementioned groups, you can update the “Military Status” section of your Choice Privileges profile and be awarded lifetime Gold status.
Related: All Hotel Status Match and Fast Track Opportunities
Bottom Line
Choice Privileges isn't the most rewarding hotel loyalty program, but for the right kind of traveler, it can help you unlock plenty of value.
Some of the only hotels available alongside major interstates are a part of Choice Hotels. So you'll also benefit from the Choice Privileges program if you enjoy taking road trips or often need to spend the night in small towns. I know I spent many nights driving back home from California to Texas during college and crashing for the night at a Choice hotel.
The broader Choice profile comprises over 7,400 hotels across the world, which means there are plenty of places where you can earn and burn your points. Whether you’re a frequent road tripper or just love getting great value from your travels, the Choice Privileges program is one you shouldn't overlook.
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