Wells Fargo Choice Privileges Select Mastercard

The Choice Privileges Select is built for loyal Choice Hotels guests: its 30,000 anniversary points each year, worth about 3 reward nights at participating Choice hotels, can easily outweigh the $95 annual fee on their own. It earns 10x points at participating Choice properties and 5x on gas, groceries, home improvement, and phone plans, which is strong everyday earning for a hotel card. Automatic Platinum Elite status, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit of up to $120, and no foreign transaction fee add to the value. The tradeoff is concentration: points only pay off if you stay with Choice, and the 10x rate applies only at Choice properties, not hotels in general. The welcome offer of 60,000 points after $3,000 in spending in the first 3 months matches the no-fee version, so the case for upgrading rests on the anniversary points and elite status.