My Experience Redeeming Choice Privileges Points for the First Time

I travel a lot. Most of my hotel stays are with Hyatt and Marriott, since these brands have worked best for my travels over the years — and because I have elite status with both of them.

When searching for a hotel on a recent trip to Northern California with my wife to see the giant redwoods, I redeemed Choice Privileges points for the first time. The process was smooth, and our stay was great.

Here’s a look at how my first-timer experience went and why some options for getting Choice points are better than others.

Why This Was My First Time Redeeming Choice Privileges Points

I have top-tier elite status with both World of Hyatt and Marriott Bonvoy, so my first thought is generally to look for hotels within those programs. However, that didn’t work for this trip.

After finding information about where to see the Redwoods — including where we could drive through one of the trees — we decided that Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Northern California was the right destination for us. That meant flying to Arcata–Eureka Airport (ACV) and finding a hotel nearby.

Without any options from Marriott or Hyatt, I expanded my search and consulted the list of credit card points transfer partners. Searching with Choice Privileges, I found 4 hotels in the area that I could book with points.

Using only points — not a combination of points and cash — the cheapest option cost 16,000 points per night. That led us to the Clarion Hotel By Humboldt Bay in Eureka, California.

For our 2-night stay, the cash cost (including taxes) would have been $215. Redeeming 16,000 points per night provided a value of 0.67 cents per point — slightly above our average value of Choice points at 0.6 cents each. Not bad for my first time!

After choosing to use points and confirming dates, there were multiple options for a room type — including a smoking room, which surprised me.

Transferring Credit Card Points to Choice Privileges

Luckily, there are multiple ways to earn Choice Privileges points. Options include hotel stays, the Eat & Earn dining program, and using Choice’s co-branded credit cards: the Choice Privileges^® Mastercard^® and Choice Privileges^® Select Mastercard^®.

There are also 4 options for transferring credit card points to Choice Privileges. Both American Express Membership Rewards points and Capital One miles transfer to Choice at a 1:1 ratio, but you’ll get an even better 1:2 ratio when transferring points from Wells Fargo Rewards and 1:1.5 from Citi ThankYou Rewards. I used the last option to make this reservation.

I transferred points from my Citi Strata Premier℠ Card to Choice. Since I needed 16,000 points per night, I transferred just 8,000 points per night — a total of 16,000 Citi points to yield 32,000 Choice Privileges points for our 2-night stay. The transfer ratio has since changed.

Our Experience at the Clarion Hotel By Humboldt Bay

Although it won’t win any awards for luxurious amenities, we enjoyed our 2-night stay at The Clarion Hotel By Humboldt Bay, which is right on Highway 101 in central Eureka, California. It even offered complimentary parking and breakfast for all guests.

Checking In

When we arrived, a friendly, smiling employee was at the desk. She quickly found our reservation and was excited to see we’d booked with points.

Elite Perks

We didn’t receive a room upgrade from my Gold status with Choice Privileges. Among the many hotel benefits for veterans, Choice offers discounted rooms and complimentary Gold status — something I claimed previously but hadn’t used until now.

We found dedicated parking for elite members right near the door, which was a nice perk on the day it rained. As I mentioned earlier, the hotel offers complimentary breakfast for all guests.

We also got offered a late checkout, though we didn’t need it.

Our Room

We stayed in the hotel’s standard room with 1 king-sized bed. It had everything we needed. In addition to the comfortable bed, there was a desk with a chair in 1 corner and a leather chair in the other corner. The window had blackout curtains, and there was an air conditioning unit under the window.

Each side of the bed had a nightstand with a lamp, 3-prong outlets, and USB-A ports for charging our devices. The nightstand closer to the bathroom also had a phone, alarm clock, and a form for requesting any amenities we needed, such as extra towels or more tissues.

While I would describe this room as “simple,” that’s not a bad thing. While it didn’t offer any unique extras, it wasn’t lacking anything and didn’t feel cramped.

The bathroom had a shower-tub combo with toiletries attached to the wall in pump bottles. We also found plenty of towels above the toilet.

The counter space in our bathroom can’t be described as anything other than generous. We had more than enough room for the ice bucket, bottled water, sink, and anything else we wanted to spread out. There was also a generously-sized bottle of hand lotion attached to the wall.

The bathroom’s most surprising feature was the coffee machine. We didn’t expect to find a Keurig machine inside the bathroom, but we were glad our room had a coffee maker.

Final Thoughts

We had a good 2-night stay at the Clarion Hotel By Humboldt Bay in northern California, and we enjoyed seeing the redwoods in the area. We also saved $215 by using Choice Privileges points for the first time. The process was simple, and I was glad to use my Citi ThankYou Points this way, as these and Wells Fargo points provide double the value with Choice than what I could’ve received with transfers from Amex or Capital One.