The best travel credit cards offer benefits like lounge access, airline companion tickets and automatic elite status.
But my favorite travel credit card perk is a free night award, hands down. Several of the best hotel credit cards offer cardholders certificates that they can redeem for free nights. Some cards offer this as an automatic annual benefit, while others confer free night certificates when you hit certain spending requirements or as part of their welcome bonuses. That's on top of the hotel points these types of cards earn on everyday purchases.
The reason I love a free night award is that this single benefit can basically offset the entire annual fee of a hotel credit card, even premium cards that cost over $500 a year to carry. I've personally gotten anywhere from $250 to $2,400 in value from a single free night award.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on The Points Guy Articles.
