Choice Privileges Select Mastercard review: Ample Choice Hotel perks for dedicated fans

Sporting a strong combination of hotel perks alongside a modest annual fee, the Choice Privileges Select has plenty to offer for Choice Hotels® enthusiasts.

Rewards rate: Solid earnings on several everyday categories

On top of the impressive 10X rewards rate on Choice Hotels® brands, the Choice Privileges Select also earns 5X points on several useful everyday categories, including gas stations, groceries, home improvement stores and phone plan services. This is a generous spread of categories for a co-branded hotel card, and while other cards on the market cover these categories more effectively, it’s handy to be able to build points toward your next hotel stay without doing so strictly through hotel purchases.

Plus, the automatic Platinum Elite status that comes with the card gives you an extra 25 percent bonus points and up to 10X bonus points on your Choice Hotels® brand stays. That means if you spend $1,000 on a Choice Hotels® stay, you’ll earn 10X points from the Choice Privileges Select Mastercard and up to 10X more points and 25 percent bonus points from the Choice Hotels® Platinum Elite status. All in, that’s up to 22.5X points combined between the card and the loyalty program, which means 22,500 points for a $1,000 booking. 

For comparison, the Marriot Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card earns up to 17X points between the card’s rewards rate and Silver Elite status in the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program. The potential rewards rates that you can get with the Choice Privileges Select and Choice Privileges program beats out many other competitors.

Rates and fees: No foreign transaction fee

The Choice Privilege Select doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee, which is less common on hotel cards than on airline cards or general travel cards. This is a major boon for international travelers, as purchases made abroad won’t cut into your potential reward earnings. Given the potential value of the card’s perks, you’d expect the Choice Privilege Select card to cost more than its $95 annual fee. 

Cardholder perks: Free elite status piles on the value

While the Choice Privileges Select’s earning rate is nothing to sneeze at, the card’s true value shines through in the additional perks. Opening an account grants you an automatic placement into Platinum Elite status. This status is the penultimate elite tier in the Choice Hotels® rewards program and awards the following perks: 

• A 25 percent bonus to earned rewards
• Reserved parking at Choice Hotels® locations
• Early check-in and late check-out
• Welcome gift on check-in
• 20 elite rollover nights
• Exclusive member services hotline
• Status match with PENN Play Preferred casinos
• Room upgrades at eligible hotels

The 25 percent reward bonus alone is an excellent addition to the card’s strength, turning your 10X points rewards rate into 12.5X points on Choice Hotels® purchases. Add in the extra up to 10X points you get just from being a member in the Choice Privileges loyalty program and you’re earning up to 22.5X points between the card’s rate and the loyalty program rate. But the additional perks, such as reserved parking, early check-in and late checkout and potential room upgrades offer some extra comfort to your stay on top of their monetary value. 

Moreover, entering Platinum Elite status means you’re halfway to Diamond Elite status. In essence, this perk is worth 20 nights at a Choice Hotels® property. With just 20 more qualifying night stays at Choice Hotels®, you’ll reach Diamond Elite and enjoy even more value, including a 50 percent bonus to your earned rewards, 39 elite rollover nights, complimentary breakfast and guaranteed room availability at select hotels.

The Choice Privilege Select Mastercard also grants a 30,000-point bonus on each account anniversary. This is half of the value of the welcome offer and could be worth up to three stays at select Choice Hotels® properties.

Hotel credit cards cater to a niche audience, and the Choice Privileges Select is no different. Here’s why you might want to look at other card options.

Rewards value: Weak compared to the competition

While the Choice Privilege Select Mastercard offers a great assortment of perks for Choice Hotels® fans, the point value of the rewards program itself is lower than some competing hotel rewards programs. For example, Bankrate’s latest points and mile valuations place the World of Hyatt points at an average of 2.3 cents each and Wyndham Rewards at around 0.9 cents each. 

We place Choice Hotels® points in comparison at around 1 cent each on average.

This weak value is exacerbated by the fact that several credit card rewards programs can transfer points to the Choice Privileges program. Both American Express Membership Rewards and Capital One Miles can transfer points to Choice at a 1:1 ratio. And notably, Citi ThankYou Points transfer to Choice at a 1:2 ratio. This means you can open a more flexible rewards card like the American Express® Gold Card and potentially earn points in categories you couldn’t with the Choice Privilege Select while still turning those purchases into Choice Privilege points.

Interestingly, the Choice Privileges Select Mastercard allows you to transfer your earned points to various travel partners, such as Air Canada, AeroMexico and Qantas Frequent Flyer. However, points transfer at an especially poor value, with many transferring at a 5:1 ratio. This essentially makes point transfers a non-viable option and something of a “trap” redemption option.  

Welcome offer: A solid offer, but behind the competition

The Choice Privileges Select comes with a welcome offer that appears to punch above the weight of its ongoing annual fee. Spend $3,000 within your first three months of account opening and you’ll earn a hefty 60,000 bonus points. This is a strong number compared to competing cards on the market, but the weak point value of Choice Hotels® points drags this offer down: it's worth around $600 in value based on Bankrate's latest point valuations. This means many competitors still pull ahead.

For example, the Capital One Venture Rewards card offers: $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening – that’s equal to $1,000 in travel.  And the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless offers a $150 Statement Credit after you make your first purchase in the first 12 months from account opening, and 100,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening

Travel insurance: Not included with the card’s perks

The Choice Privilege lacks any form of travel insurance. That means if you book a hotel stay or flight and need to cancel at the last minute, you may lose out on your money spent. This is a shame, as travel insurance can save you hundreds of dollars when needed and offers a welcome peace of mind for frequent travelers. It’s also a common feature on mid- and high-tier travel cards, so it’s absence is notable on the mid-tier Choice Privilege Select. 

The ongoing value of the Choice Privilege Select Mastercard compares favorably with the card’s upfront value thanks to the card’s excellent perks. Since the card doesn’t offer an intro APR, the main advantage of your first year with the card is the welcome offer. 

You’ll pay $95 for the card. However, you’ll also receive 30,000 bonus points every card account anniversary. In addition, you’ll receive automatic Platinum Elite status starting from the first year, which usually requires you to stay 20 nights at eligible Choice Hotels® locations to earn. Here’s the estimated value if we assume each point is worth 1 cent each on average.

As a mid-tier hotel card, the Choice Privileges offers solid value at a low price. Here’s how it stacks up to some of the competition. 

Given the niche nature of the Choice Privileges Select card’s perks, there’s primarily one type of person who would best benefit from this card. 

Yes, but only if you primarily stay at Choice Hotels® properties when you travel. The card’s Choice Hotels® perks offer enough value to make it a no-brainer for travelers who prefer the Choice Hotels® brand. 

If you like to stay at various hotels during your travels or want a card that offers more flexibility and raw point value, there are other great travel cards on the market that can fit the bill.  

We rate credit cards using a proprietary card scoring system that ranks each card’s estimated average rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more against those of other cards in its primary category.

Each card feature is assigned a weighting based on how important it is to people looking for a card in a given category. These features are then scored based on how they rank relative to the features on other cards in the category. Based on these calculations, each card receives an overall rating of 1-5 stars (with 5 being the highest possible score and 1 being the lowest). 

We analyzed over 150 of the most popular rewards and cash back cards to determine where each stacked up based on their value, cost, benefits and more. Here are some of the key factors that influenced this card’s overall score and how the score influenced our review: