Rewards Updates : 2025 Edition: Best Credit Cards for Hotels

Source : 

https://milelion.com/2025/07/14/best-credit-cards-for-hotels/

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Best Credit Cards for Hotels (2025 Edition)

By Aaron Wong | July 14, 2025

Hotel bookings can earn up to 10 miles per dollar (mpd) if you use the right credit card — but it depends on how and where you book and pay.

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🔍 Key Factors to Consider:

- Merchant Category Code (MCC): Determines how your transaction is classified

- Direct hotels: MCC 3500–3999 (major chains) / 7011 (others, incl. Airbnb)

- OTAs (Agoda, Booking, etc.): MCC 4722

- Payment Mode:

- Online (prepaid) = likely to earn online bonus

- Offline (pay at hotel) = depends on card/payment method

- Currency:

- Use FCY-friendly cards for overseas stays

- Avoid Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) scams — always pay in foreign currency

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🏨 Best Cards for Direct Hotel Bookings:

Earn up to 4 mpd with:

- UOB Lady’s / Solitaire (choose “Travel” category)

- DBS Woman’s World Card (online only)

- HSBC Revolution

- UOB Preferred Platinum / Visa Signature (check payment method conditions)

- DCS Imperium, Maybank, StanChart, BOC cards — especially for FCY spend

❌ Citi Rewards Card excluded — no bonus miles for travel-related categories.

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🌐 Best Cards for Online Travel Agents (OTAs):

For public OTA pages:

- Same cards as above (e.g., DBS WWMC, UOB Lady’s, etc.)

For special cardholder landing pages:

- Citi PremierMiles: Up to 10 mpd on Kaligo, 7.2 mpd on Agoda

- UOB PRVI Miles: Up to 8 mpd

- OCBC 90°N: Up to 7 mpd

🛑 Be cautious: special pages might have marked-up prices.

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🪙 Buying Hotel Points (via Points.com):

Not coded as hotel spend — use:

- Citi Rewards Card, DCS Imperium, UOB Visa Signature, or similar FCY-optimized cards

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⚠️ Tips & Caveats:

- Agoda (Mastercard payments) charges 1% cross-border fee — avoid with Atome or Visa.

- Some prepaid hotel rates still charge offline — check with the hotel if unsure.

- Bonus caps and rules vary; refer to each card’s T&Cs for limits and payment conditions.

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✅ Bottom Line:

To maximize miles on hotel stays:

- Know how your booking codes (MCC)

- Choose the right card for online vs offline and SGD vs FCY payments

- Compare prices before booking through bonus-miles landing pages — more miles aren’t worth it if you’re overpaying!