My 6 Favorite Credit Card Benefits & Perks, From Status To Lounge Access

In this post, I’d like to share my favorite kinds of credit card perks. The idea is that there are lots of reasons that people consider picking up credit cards — most commonly, it could be for a great welcome bonus, or because of the return on spending a card offer. In other situations, it could be thanks to the perks offered by a card, as that’s one of the reasons I have so many credit cards. In this post, I’d like to focus specifically on the types of credit card perks that I value the most. In other words, this isn’t about the return on spending offered by a card, and it’s not about the credits offered by a card, at least not as such. After all, I don’t really consider the former to be a perk, while I typically view the latter as being more about offsetting the annual fee on a card, in order to make the math work. So with that in mind, let me share my favorite benefits and perks just for having a card, and of course I’ll give some examples. Here we go, in no particular order… High tier hotel elite status without a spending requirementAnnual hotel free night certificates without a spending requirementTravel protection & rental car coverageReasonably priced lounge access for authorized usersBonus rewards on housing paymentsA premium card that’s actually easy to justifyBottom line High tier hotel elite status without a spending requirement A lot of hotel credit cards can either help you earn elite status, or offer you a low tier elite status with the program. What I really value is the hotel credit cards that actually offer a meaningful status tier without a spending requirement. Along those lines, two cards come to mind. First, the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (learn more) is in my opinion the most lucrative hotel credit card out there. The card has a $550 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and offers Hilton Honors™ Diamond Status just for being a cardmember, with no spending required. The best thing is that I’d consider the annual fee to basically be offset by the card’s other perks, which are numerous. Second, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (learn more) is another card that I consider to be worthwhile. The card has a $650 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and offers Marriott Bonvoy® Platinum Elite Status just for being a cardmember, with no spending required. Again, that’s only the start of the card perks, as it offers several other benefits that offset the annual fee. Let me of course acknowledge that neither of these tiers is going to make you the most special person on earth. However, the benefits are meaningful, and the further you travel from the United States, the better elite recognition typically is. I love getting high tier hotel status with a credit card Annual hotel free night certificates without a spending requirement One of the reasons that I have so many open credit cards is because many of them are worth having for the perks alone, without even spending a dime on a card. The perfect example of that is hotel credit cards offering anniversary free night awards. Based on my current card portfolio, here are some of the cards that fit into that category for me: The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (learn more) offers an uncapped anniversary free night award for standard room redemptions at a vast majority of properties, so that could be worth up to 250,000 points The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (learn more) offers an anniversary free night award worth up to 85,000 points, and it can be topped off with up to 15,000 points The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (learn more) offers an anniversary free night award worth up to 35,000 points, and it can be topped off with up to 15,000 points The IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (learn more) offers an anniversary free night award worth up to 50,000 points, and it can be topped off with an unlimited number of points The World of Hyatt Credit Card (learn more) offers an anniversary free night award redeemable at a Category 1-4 property In each of these situations, I’d argue that the free night award alone could easily justify the annual fee in and of itself, and that doesn’t account for the suite of benefits offered by each of these cards. There are lots of great uses for hotel free night awards Travel protection & rental car coverage Typically when we think of credit card perks, we consider the things that we like thinking about, including redeeming for hotel stays, business class flights, etc. However, the highest value and often most useful perks are those that apply when things go wrong, and there are travel disruptions. This could include trip delay coverage, lost or delayed baggage coverage, or rental car coverage. There are many cards offering these kinds of perks, though I tend to think that the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (learn more) and Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (learn more) are the leaders in their respective competitive sets. This is one of those benefits that’s hopefully not needed 99% of the time, but when it is needed, it really comes in handy… Credit card travel & rental car coverage are valuable For premium credit cards, the value proposition often includes a high annual fee and some sort of airport lounge access. What I also really appreciate — and what I think is an underrated perk — is when there’s a reasonable cost to add authorized users, and they also get airport lounge access. After all, it’s nice when you can share lounge access perks with friends and family, especially if it doesn’t cost much. I’ve written about the best credit cards for authorized user lounge access, but just to highlight a few of my favorites: The Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (learn more) has a $75 annual fee per authorized user, and they each receive a Priority Pass membership, so that’s the lowest cost authorized user option for that among the major cards The Bilt Palladium Card (learn more) has a $95 annual fee per authorized user, and they each receive a Priority Pass membership The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard® (learn more) has a $175 annual fee for a total of up to three authorized users, and they receive Admirals Club access, so that’s potentially like paying an average of under $60 per person The Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (learn more) has a $195 annual fee per authorized user, and while that’s steep, they receive a Priority Pass membership, Chase Sapphire Lounge access, and Air Canada Lounge access Credit card authorized user lounge access is valuable Bonus rewards on housing payments Admittedly I said this list of my favorite credit card perks wouldn’t be about the return on spending. This is a twist on that, but I maintain that it’s unique enough that it’s worth highlighting. Bilt has a credit card portfolio that includes the Bilt Blue Card (learn more), Bilt Obsidian Card (learn more), and Bilt Palladium Card (learn more) (Rates & Fees). Each of the cards are competitive within their set, though I think what really sets Bilt apart is the ability to earn points on your housing payments, whether that’s rent, mortgage, or an HOA. The idea is that if you can earn a competitive rate of return on your spending and in the process also unlock rewards on the housing payments you’re making anyway, that’s fantastic, especially when you consider the value of Bilt Rewards points. It’s awesome to earn rewards on housing payments! A premium card that’s actually easy to justify Premium credit cards are more popular than ever before. While execution differs, the concept of these cards is typically the same — you pay a steep fee, and then you get a variety of benefits that can help offset that. Admittedly you can come out way ahead with most premium cards, but that often requires a lot of effort, and leads to credit card fatigue. If you have to remember to use a handful of benefits monthly, quarterly, or even semi-annually, it starts to feel like a chore. So that’s why I think it’s worth specifically calling out the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (learn more) and Capital One Venture X Business (learn more), each of which have a $395 annual fee. I’m not claiming that you should necessarily think these are the best premium cards in the world, but I absolutely do think they’re the easiest to justify. On the most basic level, each card offers a $300 annual Capital One Travel credit. Just use that toward a $300+ flight, and it should be worth face value to you. Then each card also offers 10,000 anniversary bonus miles, which are worth a minimum of $100, and potentially more than that. As I see it, that leaves you breakeven on these cards, and the only “hoop” to jump through is having to book a single flight per year through Capital One’s portal. Then for that, you receive all kinds of useful perks, including a Priority Pass membership, Capital One Lounge access, Capital One Landing access, etc. This is as close as you’ll get to “free” lounge access with minimal effort, in my opinion. I love a premium card that’s easy to justify! Bottom line There are lots of reasons to consider picking up a credit card, ranging from big welcome bonuses, to generous returns on spending, to valuable perks. The above are some of my favorite credit card perks, ranging from strong authorized user benefits, to hotel status, to hotel free night certificates, to good travel and rental car protection. These are all perks that I think people could get a lot of value out of, beyond the core value proposition of a card. What are your favorite perks offered by any credit card? The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees), and Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (Rates & Fees).