There are numerous nice causes to remain at unbiased accommodations and trip leases. Sadly, the convenience of incomes rewards on these stays shouldn’t be one in all them — or so that you may suppose. Through the years, I’ve loved quite a lot of unforgettable stays and picked up a number of tips to maximise my financial savings and rewards on them. This is what I’ve realized.
Associated: Greatest lodge rewards packages on the planet: Which one is best for you?
Why I really like unbiased boutique accommodations
Typically I keep at unbiased boutique accommodations or trip leases out of necessity — perhaps the small mountain city I am visiting would not have any chain accommodations, or my buddy group wants more room and might save large bucks by splitting an Airbnb. Different occasions, I select unbiased accommodations due to the distinctive facilities and experiences they supply.
For example, I as soon as spent an evening exterior Mount Rainier Nationwide Park in a cabin with an genuine Ukrainian restaurant and “cannibal” sizzling tub heated by a wooden fireplace. One other memorable keep was at a Kyoto ryokan full with a seven-course Japanese meal and an in-room onsen. I additionally spent per week in an Airbnb in Paris, which gave me extra of a glimpse into “actual” Parisian life than I may get at a factors lodge within the prime vacationer neighborhood.
The draw back is that there are often no elite advantages or factors to be earned at these properties. Fortunately, I’ve nonetheless discovered loads of methods to maximise my journey after I keep at unbiased accommodations and trip leases.
Associated: The right way to use factors to ebook trip house leases
How I get monetary savings on unbiased lodge stays
It’s doable to redeem rewards for stays at unbiased accommodations, equivalent to by reserving with factors or miles via a bank card journey portal. However since this does not present nice worth for my rewards, I often ebook these stays with money and concentrate on making an attempt to save cash.
Use bank card journey credit
I maintain the Chase Sapphire Most popular® Card, which offers an annual $50 lodge credit score for properties booked via Chase Journey℠, and the Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card, which offers a $300 journey credit score for flights and stays booked via Capital One Journey. Each of those are available very useful after I ebook unbiased accommodations.
For example, I not too long ago used my Enterprise X credit score on a two-night keep at a bed-and-breakfast within the Wicklow Mountains exterior of Dublin (no factors accommodations there) and a rental automobile to get there. After my $300 credit score was utilized, I spent a grand complete of $4 on my two-day mountaineering journey.
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Listed below are another playing cards with journey credit which you can put towards stays at unbiased accommodations:
Earn money again with purchasing portals
I really like utilizing purchasing portals to earn money again on my on a regular basis purchases. However they don’t seem to be only for retail purchasing — you possibly can earn money again at many hotel-booking platforms, like Reserving.com, Accommodations.com, Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz and Tripadvisor.
Although reward charges fluctuate from everyday, they usually aren’t too shabby. On the time of writing, Rakuten was providing as much as 10% money again at a few of these websites.
Nonetheless, it is necessary to learn the nice print on Rakuten earlier than you determine which website to ebook via. On this instance, Rakuten is providing 6% again on accommodations and trip leases however just one% again on automobiles and a measly $1.25 again on flights.
Vacationers who maintain a card that earns Amex Membership Rewards factors can get additional worth out of Rakuten by switching their incomes choice to Amex factors as a substitute of money again.
Different purchasing portals to contemplate embody Extrabux, Mr. Rebates and TopCashback. You can too typically discover hotel-booking websites on airline purchasing portals and bank card portals like Capital One Purchasing. A purchasing portal aggregator like Cashback Monitor might help you see which portals provide the perfect returns on your buy.
Seek for offers
Earlier than I ebook a keep, I all the time examine a number of websites as a result of costs can fluctuate broadly. For example, a part of my latest journey to Dublin concerned spending two nights within the metropolis with my husband and a buddy. We needed an residence with room for the three of us, however most Dublin Airbnbs required a four-night minimal keep. I settled on an apartment-style lodge with a number of bedrooms and a kitchen that was working a sale for 10% off on direct bookings — saving me roughly $100 on our keep.
Worth is not the one factor I examine from one website to a different. I take a look at cancellation insurance policies too, and I usually prioritize reserving via a website with a versatile cancellation coverage, even when it prices slightly extra. That manner, if my plans change or I discover a higher price later, I can cancel without cost and rebook.
Associated: When plans go mistaken: Your information to reserving refundable journey
How I maximize rewards on unbiased lodge stays
The extra factors I can earn on a lodge I booked with money, the earlier I can redeem these factors for my subsequent free flight or Hyatt keep.
Earn transferable factors with bank card journey portals
Many well-liked journey playing cards provide portals via which you’ll ebook accommodations, flights, rental automobiles and extra — and earn bonus factors on these purchases. The variety of factors you may earn depends upon which card you maintain, however it’s sometimes 5 or extra factors per greenback spent.
Different playing cards that earn bonus rewards on their respective reserving platforms embody:
Since I am not loyal to anybody lodge program, incomes transferable factors is extraordinarily precious to me. I can switch my Chase factors to Hyatt or Marriott, for instance, or switch my Capital One miles to Selection or Wyndham, relying on which lodge chain makes essentially the most sense for my journey.
Associated: How (and why) it’s best to earn transferable bank card factors
Earn additional miles with airline reserving platforms
Most airline reserving platforms provide subpar incomes charges. Nonetheless, I really like Southwest Accommodations as a result of you possibly can earn as much as 25 factors per greenback spent on choose properties, so I all the time search right here first.
Rocketmiles works equally however allows you to select which rewards to earn from an extended record of airline loyalty packages, together with Alaska Airways Mileage Plan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue and United MileagePlus.
Earn airline miles on trip leases
Trip leases could also be slightly behind the occasions on the planet of factors and miles, however this does not imply you possibly can’t earn any precious rewards in your subsequent house away from house.
I’ve arrange my Airbnb account to earn British Airways Avios by getting into my frequent flyer quantity right here.
That is as a result of I can earn 2 Avios per greenback spent on Airbnb bookings, and I’ve discovered Avios helpful for reserving worldwide flights out of Denver. Nonetheless, you too can choose to earn 1 Delta Air Strains SkyMile per greenback or 1 Qantas level per Australian greenback ($0.64) spent on Airbnb bookings. Select the foreign money that is most dear to you.
In the event you favor Vrbo, you possibly can earn 3 United Airways miles per greenback spent on Vrbo leases if you ebook via this web page along with your MileagePlus quantity.
Associated: The right way to earn money again or factors when reserving Airbnbs, Vrbo leases, hostels and extra
Earn free journey with One Key
Launched in 2023, Expedia’s One Secret’s a comparatively new loyalty program for Expedia, Accommodations.com and Vrbo. Members cannot solely save 10% on stays booked via these websites but in addition earn OneKeyCash to spend towards accommodations, flights, rental automobiles and extra ($1 in OneKeyCash saves you $1 on purchases via these websites).
Since OneKeyCash is redeemed at a flat price, you will not get the outsize worth that you may with different lodge loyalty packages’ award charts and candy spots. Nonetheless, One Key’s simplicity could possibly be a draw for some vacationers, particularly since you’ll select from the large number of accommodations on three completely different websites.
Though I often find yourself reserving via a bank card portal as a substitute, I am very intrigued by the One Key loyalty program, and I am contemplating including a One Key bank card to my pockets. I am additionally anxiously awaiting the day when Airbnb comes out with a cobranded bank card.
Which bank card do you have to use to ebook unbiased accommodations?
If I can ebook a lodge via a bank card portal equivalent to Chase Journey or Capital One Journey, I all the time use the relevant card to earn bonus factors. It is a no-brainer.
However typically I must ebook a lodge instantly with a purpose to get a deal, or I wish to keep in an Airbnb, which is not out there on any platform mentioned above. Although it’s doable to redeem factors for Airbnb present playing cards, equivalent to redeeming my Chase Final Rewards factors at 1 cent per level, that is far beneath TPG’s March 2025 valuation of Chase factors and would not get me the perfect worth for my factors.
Subsequently, my finest guess is to ebook with a card that earns bonus rewards on journey purchases — however that is not the one factor I think about.
Do not forget that many journey playing cards include built-in journey insurance coverage. If you find yourself canceling a nonrefundable lodge reserving, these perks can put loads of {dollars} again in your pockets. And should you’re reserving a lodge out of the country, you should definitely pay with a card with no overseas transaction charges.
For me, this implies I ebook most unbiased accommodations with my Chase Sapphire Most popular. This card affords journey safety and no overseas transaction charges, and it earns 2 Final Rewards factors per greenback spent on all journey purchases plus a ten% factors increase each account anniversary. Since Chase factors are price 2.05 cents apiece based mostly on TPG’s March 2025 valuations, that is a 4.5% return.
Different playing cards that provide bonus earnings on journey embody:
Backside line
There are many methods to save cash and maximize your rewards on unbiased accommodations and trip leases. It might take slightly additional effort to sift via these choices, however it’s going to repay in the long term.
Plus, I really like the range unbiased accommodations provide. Since there are such a lot of selections, you are certain to seek out one thing distinctive and ideal to make for a memorable journey.
For charges and costs of the Bilt Mastercard, click on right here.
For rewards and advantages of the Bilt Mastercard, click on right here.
TPG founder Brian Kelly is a Bilt adviser and investor.
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