If you want to stay in the top resorts without paying a resort fee, you should consider earning hotel points with certain brands and booking an award stay. Hilton Honors and World of Hyatt have policies that allow them to waive resort fees on award stays, which can present a significant savings.
As an example of how this can work, nights at the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino cost 80,000 points each, and if you have at least Hilton Honors™ Silver status, you get your fifth night free when you book with points. In total, that means a six-night stay would cost 400,000 Hilton Honors points, and in January, those rooms would cost over $900 per night.
This property charges a resort fee, but they call it a 15% service charge for each night you stay. By paying with points, this fee is waived.
Also worth noting: My Diamond status with Hilton Honors did help me receive $12.50 per day in food credits for two people at this property. We also got a discount on our beachfront cabana and we were told we would have gotten a room upgrade if the hotel hadn’t been booked up.
If you want to pay for stays with rewards and don’t want to pay resort fees, there are several hotel credit cards to consider that can help you achieve these goals. For example, you could consider the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (terms apply) or the $0 annual fee Hilton Honors American Express Card (terms apply, see rates & fees).
You could also consider the $550-annual-fee Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express*, which is the hotel credit card I have. This card comes with automatic Hilton Diamond status, an up to $400 annual resort credit, an up to $200 airline fee statement credit and a $189 CLEAR® Plus credit as cardholder perks (enrollment is required for select benefits).
To earn rewards in the World of Hyatt program, you could choose among Chase travel credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®. These cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points that can be transferred at a 1:1 rate to World of Hyatt. You could also apply for The World of Hyatt Credit Card or the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card and earn Hyatt points directly.
All information about Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express has been collected independently by Forbes Advisor