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Guides
How to earn Choice Privileges points
Featured image by CAMBRIA HOTEL COPPER MOUNTAIN/CHOICE HOTELS
Katie Genter is a digital nomad who has traveled full time since June 2017. She writes and edits stories about points and miles, and loyalty programs, often letting her personal experiences color these stories.
September 17, 2026 • 11 min read
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Quick summary
Choice Privileges points can be earned through hotel stays, partner activities, and by transferring rewards from select programs.
Award prices have increased in recent years, but valuable redemptions remain possible, especially for city-center stays and experiences.
Elite members receive bonus points and welcome gifts, with benefits varying by status tier and property brand.
Additional points can be obtained via milestone rewards, bonus packages, surveys, cruises, car rentals, and meeting planning.
What to consider
Points are only earned on eligible stays booked directly and not on taxes or certain discounted rates.
Milestone rewards and elite bonuses have specific requirements and exclusions, including caps for extended stays and restrictions on which nights count.
Transferring rewards or purchasing points may not always offer the best value, so compare options before committing.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed breakdown of earning rates, elite perks, and partner opportunities to maximize your Choice Privileges points.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Choice Privileges points have fueled many memorable stays for me over the years. For example, I once spent almost a month at an all-inclusive resort using Choice points. I've redeemed Choice points to stay near U.S. ski resorts. And I've also used Choice points to book numerous modestly priced award nights for city center stays in Japan and Europe.
While award prices in the Choice Privileges program have crept up over the last few years and you'll no longer find widespread 8,000-point award nights in Japan, it's still possible to get significant value when redeeming Choice points for stays. Sports fans and concert lovers can also find good value when redeeming Choice points for experiences.
But you need to earn Choice points before you can redeem them. So, here are some of the ways you can earn Choice points.
Earn Choice points with hotel stays
I'll start with the most obvious way to earn Choice points: staying at Choice hotels. You'll earn 10 Choice Privileges points per dollar spent on most points-eligible stays at Cambria, Clarion, Clarion Pointe, Comfort, Econo Lodge, Quality, Rodeway Inn, Sleep Inn and Ascend Collection properties in the following regions:
The United States
Canada
Europe (excluding Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden)
The Middle East
Mexico
Brazil
Ecuador
Colombia
Guyana
Central America
The Caribbean
The Asia-Pacific region (including China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and India)
This includes qualifying stays at participating Bluegreen Vacations resorts and Penn Entertainment casino hotels when you book through Choice.
You'll earn points based on how long you stay at Everhome Suites, MainStay Suites and Suburban Studios properties. If you stay six nights or less, you'll earn 10 points per dollar spent. However, if you stay seven nights or longer, you'll earn 5 points per dollar spent on the first 30 nights and no points for additional nights after the first 30.
QUALITY HOTEL BORDEAUX CENTRE/FACEBOOK
You'll also earn 10 Choice points per dollar when staying at Radisson Individuals, Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson Red, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inn & Suites by Radisson properties in the following regions:
The United States
Canada
Latin America
The Caribbean
You usually won't earn points on taxes and incidental charges. However, you'll earn points on food-and-beverage purchases made at participating Radisson Individuals, Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson Red and Park Plaza properties in the Americas when you charge the food and beverages to your room's folio.
You won't earn points on stays at WoodSpring Suites properties or at Radisson properties outside of the above regions. Additionally, you'll only earn points on points-eligible stays that are booked directly with a hotel or through Choice's reservation line, website or mobile app. However, the following types of stays aren't points-eligible:
Rooms booked using an ineligible rate plan or for less than $40 per night
Some hotel-initiated promotions
Reward night stays
Complimentary rooms
Points plus cash reservations
Rooms paid for as part of a convention or meeting
Rooms booked through a travel agent or third-party online retailer, including online travel agencies (unless otherwise expressly noted), wholesale packages and group tours
Stays booked using the employee discount or the friends-and-family discount
You can earn points on up to four rooms per night at the same hotel, though you will only receive bonus points for one room per stay. All the rooms must be in your name, you must pay in full for them and you must stay in one of them.
Elite bonuses
Except as noted above, Choice Privileges members earn 10 points per dollar spent on eligible stays. Members with Choice elite status also get bonus points based on their status tier:
Gold: 10% bonus
Platinum: 25% bonus
Diamond and Titanium: 50% bonus
Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Titanium elite members also get a welcome gift on points-earning stays at select properties. However, this welcome gift varies based on brand and location as follows:
Ascend Collection and Comfort: 250 points or a complimentary snack and beverage
Cambria Hotels, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Park Inn by Radisson, Park Plaza, Radisson, Radisson Blu, Radisson Individuals and Radisson Red: 250 points
Clarion, Clarion Pointe, MainStay Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn and Suburban Studios: 200 points or a complimentary snack and beverage
Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn: 100 points or a complimentary snack and beverage
Everhome Suites: 200 points
Based on TPG's September 2026 valuations, 100 to 250 Choice points are only worth 85 cents to $2.12, so don't feel bad about indulging if you'd value a snack and drink higher than the points.
Each calendar year, Choice Privileges members earn 1,000 bonus points after completing two separate points-eligible stays. You'll earn another 1,000 bonus points after completing a third points-eligible stay in the same calendar year.
Milestone rewards
You can earn points or gift cards as milestone rewards each calendar year when you accrue milestone qualifying nights or milestone qualifying credits.
Milestone
Points option
Gift card option (only for U.S. and Canada residents)
10 milestone qualifying nights or 20,000 milestone qualifying credits
1,500
$5
20 milestone qualifying nights or 40,000 milestone qualifying credits
2,500
$10
25 milestone qualifying nights or 50,000 milestone qualifying credits
3,000
$10
30 milestone qualifying nights or 60,000 milestone qualifying credits
3,500
$10
40 milestone qualifying nights or 80,000 milestone qualifying credits
4,500
$20
45 milestone qualifying nights or 90,000 milestone qualifying credits
5,000
$20
50 milestone qualifying nights or 100,000 milestone qualifying credits
6,500
$20
Milestone qualifying nights include points-eligible nights, reward nights and nights booked under employee or friends-and-family rates at participating Choice Hotels properties. Meanwhile, you'll generally earn 10 milestone qualifying credits per dollar spent on qualifying stays, excluding taxes and incidental charges.
U.S. members with a linked Choice Privileges credit card can also earn milestone qualifying credits equal to the points earned on qualifying card purchases. However, for extended-stay brands on stays of seven nights or longer, you'll earn milestone qualifying credits at the same rate as points and just one milestone qualifying night for every two nights, capped at 15 per stay.
Bonus points packages
When booking a stay at the flexible rate, you can often select a 1,000-, 2,000- or 5,000-point accelerator package. These packages provide the specified points each night in addition to the points you'd typically earn.
CHOICE HOTELS
In this case, you'd pay an additional $24.46 per night for the 1,000-point package, $30.89 per night for the 2,000-point package and $50.20 per night for the 5,000-point package. That means at best you'd be paying just over 1 cent per point.
Choice Privileges credit cards
You can earn Choice points with the two cobranded Choice Privileges credit cards.
The Choice Privileges® Select Mastercard® offers:
10 points per dollar spent on stays at participating Choice Hotels properties
5 points per dollar spent on phone plan services and purchases at gas stations, grocery stores and home improvement stores
1 point per dollar spent on other purchases
The card carries a $95 annual fee but offers 30,000 bonus points every account anniversary and 20 elite night credits each calendar year. See our Choice Privileges Select Mastercard review for more details.
The information for the Choice Privileges Select Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
COMFORT HOTEL VESTERBRO/CHOICE HOTELS
If you prefer a no-annual-fee card, the Choice Privileges® Mastercard® is also an option. This card earns:
5 points per dollar spent on stays at participating Choice Hotels properties
3 points per dollar spent on phone plan services and purchases at gas stations, grocery stores and home improvement stores
1 point per dollar spent on other purchases
Cardholders also get 10 elite night credits each calendar year, enough for Gold status. See our Choice Privileges Mastercard review for more details.
The information for the Choice Privileges Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
However, note that each program may only allow transfers in specific increments. It's also worth considering whether converting transferable rewards to Choice points is the best value way to use your transferable rewards.
Buy Choice points
You can also buy Choice points. Normally, you can buy up to 4,000 Choice points for 1.28 cents each, 5,000 to 9,000 Choice points for 1.14 cents each and 10,000 or more Choice points for 1.03 cents each. You can purchase or receive as a gift up to 180,000 Choice points each calendar year.
Hotel Aquarius Venice, an Ascend Collection Hotel in Italy. CHOICE HOTELS
Choice frequently offers promotions that let you buy points at a lower rate, so it's worth checking for an offer before purchasing points.
Here are several other ways you can earn Choice points.
Take surveys
You can earn Choice points by taking surveys through the e-Rewards Opinion Panel. You'll earn 500 bonus points when you take your first survey, and then you'll earn additional points for every subsequent survey you take.
Go on a cruise
There are many ways to get a good deal on a cruise. But if earning Choice points is important, you may want to book your next cruise through Choice Privileges Cruises. By doing so, you'll earn 5 Choice points per dollar spent when you provide your Choice Privileges member number at the time of booking.
Rent from Avis or Budget
You can earn Choice points on Avis and Budget rental cars when you use the Choice Privileges Avis worldwide discount number (O418900) or the Choice Privileges Budget customer discount number (T134900) and provide your Choice Privileges number when renting. You'll usually earn 1,000 Choice points per rental, but promotions occasionally let you earn more.
Plan a meeting
You can use the Planner Rewards program to earn points when hosting a qualifying event at participating Cambria Hotels properties and Radisson brands in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
You'll earn 3 points per dollar spent on eligible charges, including meeting space, guest rooms, food and beverages. There's no minimum spending requirement, but you can only earn up to 150,000 points per event at Cambria Hotels, and you'll need to book at least 10 sleeping rooms on at least one night of your event at Cambria Hotels.
Bottom line
I have gotten significant value from Choice Privileges points over the years, especially for award stays in Japan and Europe. So, even though Choice points aren't the most valuable hotel currency on paper, they're still a balance I like having available.
Staying at Choice hotels is the most obvious way to earn Choice points, but credit card spending, transferable rewards and several partners can also help you build your balance. Just consider how you plan to redeem your Choice points before transferring rewards or buying points.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
