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Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
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10 ways to use points to book vacation home rentals
Summer Hull has been covering (and using) travel tips, rewards credit cards and loyalty programs for over a decade. She has flown close to a million miles, often on points and miles and with her family in tow.
Stella is a full-time writer with expertise in credit cards, points and miles, and all things travel. She is a journalism graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and previously worked as a copywriter at JetBlue Airways and as a credit cards writer at LendingTree.
also contributed to this story
March 12, 2024 • 13 min read
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don't cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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Quick summary
Vacation home rentals can be booked with points and miles from various loyalty programs, offering alternatives to traditional hotel stays for families or groups.
Options include redeeming hotel points, fixed-value points, or transferring rewards to partner programs for entire home rentals through select platforms.
Some programs offer fixed award charts for home rentals, while others provide less favorable redemption rates compared to traditional hotel bookings.
Booking processes and redemption values vary widely, with some requiring phone reservations or having limited availability and blackout dates.
What to consider
Redemption values for vacation rentals often differ from standard hotel stays and may not always maximize the value of your points, per TPG's valuations as of June 2024.
Certain programs require phone bookings and may have blackout dates or limited transparency on availability for points redemptions.
Gift card redemptions for vacation rentals are possible but typically offer lower value compared to direct travel bookings.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed comparison of major loyalty programs, including step-by-step booking advice and tips for maximizing value when using points for vacation home rentals.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
When traveling with your family or a large group of friends, vacationing "together" and not in separate hotel rooms using your points and miles can get a bit complicated. Luckily, there are vacation rental platforms aside from Airbnb and Vrbo that will let you use your hard-earned points and miles to book entire homes instead of paying cash.
Vacation home rentals have always been a great tool to have in your travel toolbox. At TPG, we've been curious about the best ways to use your points to book a vacation home rental because plunking down cash gets old in a hurry.
And just like choosing the best home rental for you takes some skill, figuring out the best way to redeem your points for a home rental isn't as simple as reading an award chart and hitting "book now" — but it absolutely can be done. Keep reading to find out the best ways to use your points to book vacation home rentals.
Redeem fixed-value points for vacation rentals
If you have a credit card that earns fixed-value points in your wallet, such as the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, those are some of the best types of points to use to pay for vacation home rentals.
For example, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card earns 2 miles per dollar on all purchases and allows you to redeem those points at 1 cent each toward travel. However, it may not be the best use of Capital One miles, as TPG values them at 1.85 cents apiece; nevertheless, you can redeem those miles for travel. But be aware that while vrbo.com sometimes codes as travel, it doesn't always code as travel, depending on who owns and manages the property, so proceed with caution in that regard.
Another card that is great for stacking points for home rentals? The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card. For TPG Director of Content Summer Hull, this card turned out to be a points powerhouse for home rentals and any other charge that didn't fall under any one particular umbrella.
It earns 1.5 points per dollar on non-bonus charges and 2 points per dollar on travel and dining. But it gets better if you bank with Bank of America, as your deposits with the bank can earn you up to a 75% bonus on points earned with this card via the bank's Preferred Rewards program.
Since I'm in that top tier for banking with Bank of America, it bumps up my earnings on everyday charges to about 2.63 points per dollar and on travel or dining to 3.5 points per dollar. This is now one of my go-to cards for everyday spending, and I'll be able to just cash the points out at 1 cent each to offset what I spend on a home or cabin rental — or anything else.
Your per-point redemption value may not be as great as some other uses, so do the math before redeeming. However, if you have Marriott points you aren't sure what to do with, it can be an easy way to lock in a fabulous home rental using your hotel points.
SCOTT MAYEROWITZ/THE POINTS GUY
Just know that while you are booking via Marriott's program, your individual bookings will be turned over to property management companies that handle it from that point on.
At the beginning of 2021, Wyndham announced a partnership with Vacasa, a vacation rental management company. This partnership allows you to use your Wyndham Rewards points to book over 15,000 vacation rentals around North and Central America.
With Wyndham's fixed award chart — even on home rentals — it'll cost 15,000 Wyndham points per bedroom per night. That means a studio or one-bedroom costs 15,000 points per night, a two-bedroom costs 30,000 points per night, a three-bedroom costs 45,000 points per night and so on. This can actually be a much better value than using your points on a traditional hotel room, as some properties cost as much as 30,000 points per night — for just a studio hotel room.
The process, however, to book a vacation rental with your points is quite cumbersome. While you can search for homes and availability directly on the Vacasa website, you cannot confirm a reservation immediately, like you normally can with a regular hotel room. Instead, you need to call Wyndham at 800-441-1034, and the representative will ask you a bunch of questions, including your Wyndham Rewards number and your desired location.
If you already know the home rental you want to book, you can also give them the listing number straight from the Vacasa site. Having a home rental already in mind will definitely speed up the process.
Unfortunately, due to blackout dates, there's no way to know whether or not a property is available to book with points in the reservation calendar, and you'll need to wait for the Wyndham representative to look up your specific dates.
Stowe Mountain, Vermont. SHUTTERSTOCK
TPG contributor Jennifer Yellin has booked different vacation homes at ski resorts in New England and is about 50-50 with properties being able to be booked with points (even though they are all available for a paid reservation).
Once you confirm a vacation rental and date that works, the representative will lock in your reservation with points and explain the cancellation policy. When using Wyndham Rewards points for a vacation rental, you'll typically have to cancel at least 30 days in advance. As long as you cancel within the window, all points will go straight back to the account they came from and there are no additional fees. However, if you cancel within the 30-day window, you'll forfeit all points redeemed.
Truthfully, if you are looking to redeem your hotel points for a vacation rental, this has the potential to be one of the best programs out there. Especially since you can easily earn Wyndham points from Wyndham Rewards credit cards or transfer your Capital One miles to your Wyndham account at a 1:1 ratio.
Redeem Ultimate Rewards points for vacation rentals
Just as you can redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for as much as 1.5 cents each when booking flights and hotels via the Chase travel portal, you can do the same for home rentals. Though Chase no longer has a designated "vacation rental" tab on its travel portal dashboard, if you search under "Hotels," type in the area, dates and number of guests, you will see a list of hotels as well as a few vacation home rentals.
Unfortunately, there is no filter to search for vacation homes so you will have to scroll, but the option is available on the Chase travel portal.
For example, I searched for a "hotel" in Park City, Utah, for Jan. 8 to Jan. 10, 2025, for six guests and found a vacation rental available for $454 per night (not including taxes and fees).
CHASE.COM
If you hold the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can redeem your points at a fixed value of 1.5 cents each, which means one night at this vacation property (before taxes and fees) will cost you about 30,266 Ultimate Rewards points.
Use Hyatt points with Hyatt Homes & Hideaways
Hyatt launched its own collection of rental homes in late 2023, branded Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt. At the moment, Hyatt appears to only offer popular locations within the U.S. (think Hawaii, Florida, Colorado, etc.). Hyatt will eventually expand the program to international destinations.
Booking a stay at one of these properties confers many of the same perks as staying at a Hyatt hotel, such as 5 base points per dollar (plus any elite status bonuses), elite night credits and the ability to earn American Airlines miles when linking your account. You can redeem Hyatt points for award nights at any of these properties — though, after experimenting with some dummy bookings, the value proposition doesn’t seem to be as high as with traditional Hyatt hotels.
HYATT
Because you can transfer both Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio, it’s not difficult to accrue the points you need for a free night.
Homes & Hideaways gives customers a fixed purchase rate of 1.2 points per dollar. For example, if you book a three-night stay at a villa for $5,000, expect to pay about 416,667 points. TPG values Hyatt points at 1.7 cents apiece; therefore, if you redeem your Hyatt points for a Homes & Hideaways vacation rental, you are not maximizing their value.
Bluegreen Vacations offers cheap award prices for surprisingly large accommodations. Take a look at the above example of a three-bedroom suite for just 25,000 points at the Bluegreen Vacations Christmas Mountain Village in June 2025.
You can earn Choice points with Choice credit cards, or you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Choice at a 1:1 ratio (though we don’t usually recommend this; Amex points can be worth considerably more than Choice points, depending on how you use them).
Use Amex points via Amex Travel
American Express Select Homes + Retreats is a fancy collection of homes that are available exclusively to those who hold The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express. You can either purchase your stay with your eligible Platinum card to earn 5 points per dollar, or you can use Amex points to book your stay.
Click on "Vacation Rentals" on your Amex travel dashboard to see the select locations and properties available.
AMEX TRAVEL
At present, American Express Select Homes + Retreats are only found in 24 areas around the U.S. You’ll find them in the Panhandle area of Alabama and Florida; Maui, Hawaii; Charleston, South Carolina; and other popular vacation spots. As is the case with many programs on this list, Amex’s offering isn’t even in the same galaxy as Airbnb in terms of volume — but it provides properties you may not be able to find elsewhere.
Here’s the issue: You’ll only get a value of 0.7 cents per point for your booking. TPG considers American Express Membership Rewards points to be worth an average of 2 cents each — meaning this is a horrendous use of points in most cases.
If you’ve got either the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One Spark Miles for Business, you can access the Lifestyle collection. If you’ve got either the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One Venture X Business, you can access both the Lifestyle and the (more fancy) Premier collections.
CAPITAL ONE
When you book a stay through Capital One, you’ll receive bonus perks such as experience credits ($100 for Premier Collection stays, $50 for Lifestyle Collection stays), early check-in and late checkout when available, and destination experts to help you round out your trip. You’ll also earn 5 miles per dollar when paying for your stay — or you can redeem Capital One miles to offset your bill at a rate of 1 cent per mile.
Again, using rewards to pay for your reservation isn’t ideal, as TPG estimates Capital One miles to be worth 1.85 cents each toward travel when transferring to airline and hotel partners.
Another way to redeem points for a home rental is to cash in your points for a home rental gift card. Airbnb gift cards, for example, are available via several points programs.
Be careful when redeeming points for gift cards, as it isn't always the best return per point, but it is an option. With Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can redeem points for Airbnb gift cards at 1 cent each. While that is not a great use of points if you're looking to maximize your points, which TPG values at 2.05 cents apiece, it is an option if you want to save on your next vacation rental.
While not a home rental in the true sense, don't forget that multiple hotel loyalty programs have redemption options for multibedroom residences. You probably won't have a backyard and a pool with these, but the odds are good for a kitchen.
A casita with stairs at The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort. ANDREA ROTONDO/THE POINTS GUY
Many hotel chains, such as Hyatt and Marriott, offer multibedroom residence-style redemptions, though availability is more limited than when booking a standard hotel room. Keep in mind that Hyatt allows you to book suites online with points, too.
Bottom line
Your points can get you more than just flights and traditional hotel rooms — you can use them to book vacation home rentals.
If you know for sure you want to go that route, now may be the time to take stock of your wallet and see if you have the best card for this goal. The perfect program for you may vary as there are many different credit cards and loyalty programs that will allow you to use rewards toward that next vacation home rental.
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.
