Wells Fargo Choice Privileges Select Mastercard

The Select's case is mostly arithmetic: a 30,000-point anniversary bonus, described as roughly three reward nights at participating Choice hotels, set against a $95 annual fee. If you would use those nights, the fee covers itself before you spend a dollar. The earn rates hold up for the price too, at 10 points per dollar at participating Choice Hotels properties and 5 points per dollar on gas, groceries, home improvement and phone plans, alongside automatic Platinum Elite status and a $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit once every four years. The signup bonus is 60,000 points after $3,000 of spend in three months, with no foreign transaction fees on the card. The catch is the one every single-brand hotel card carries: the points are worth little unless Choice properties are genuinely part of your travel, and everything outside the bonus categories earns just 1 point per dollar.