Gone are the days when a credit card was purely to manage payments and build credit. Now, credit cards can offer you myriad travel perks, earn you airline miles and also give you free hotel stays at some of the world’s leading brands. In the UAE, a country with a globetrotting population with keen collectors of loyalty points and miles, there are a handful of fantastic credit cards for hotel stays and travel perks. Brands like Marriott and Accor have partnered with the UAE’s biggest banks to bring you co-branded ADCB and Emirates NBD credit cards, which earn you loyalty points with each spend, and in turn, free hotel stays around the world. Here are the best credit cards in the UAE for hotel perks.
ADCB ALL Signature Credit Card
Cost per year: AED1,050
Minimum salary requirement: AED20,000
Apply now: adcb.com
ADCB’s ALL Signature Credit Card is a failsafe way to secure free hotel stays in Accor’s expansive portfolio of hotels, which includes iconic brands like Raffles, Fairmont, Rixos and Sofitel, along with lifestyle hotels like SLS, 25hours and SO/ (the latter having just opened in Dubai). The ADCB All Signature Credit Card comes with an attractive 25,000 reward points, equal to €500 in hotel stays at Accor properties and gives two reward points per US$1 spent at participating Accor hotels in the UAE and other spends.
What’s more, the card offers some priceless lifestyle and travel benefits, including an upgrade to ALL Gold Status, which gives benefits like room upgrades, early check-in and late check-out, to name a few, and there’s also a 50% discount on pool and beach access across select Accor hotels in the UAE. Other benefits include 35% off all-inclusive access at select Rixos Resorts in the UAE, 25% off select Accor restaurants and 25% off at select Accor spas – plus unlimited complimentary airport lounge access for the cardholder and multi-trip travel insurance.
Emirates NBD Marriott Bonvoy World Mastercard Credit Card
Cost per year: AED1,575
Minimum salary requirement: AED25,000
Apply now: emiratesnbd.com
Marriott is one of the world’s most prolific hotel groups, with brands spanning St Regis, Ritz-Carlton, W Hotels & Resorts and EDITION. This Emirates NBD credit card, in partnership with Marriott, allows you to enjoy a host of perks as part of the loyalty scheme Marriott Bonvy. Cardholders will also be able to earn up to 200,000 in bonus points and be automatically upgraded to Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status.
Holders of Marriott Bonvoy Emirates NBD credit cards will also earn up to six Bonvoy points for every US$1 spent at Marriott Bonvoy hotels and three points per US$1 spent on other purchases, plus a chance to earn up to 50% more points each month by enrolling in the Express Points Programme for a monthly fee of AED300. Other perks include being able to transfer points to over 40 airlines for flight bookings, unlimited complimentary access to over 1,000 airport lounges and complimentary access to golf courses across the UAE.
ADCB ALL Infinite Credit Card
Cost per year: AED1,575
Minimum salary requirement: AED40,000
Apply now: adcb.com
Offering even more rewards, but with a higher income threshold and annual fee, is ADCB’s ALL Infinite Credit Card – which offers some incredible perks and comes with fantastic point-earning potential. New cardholders are able to avail a welcome bonus of 50,000 reward points, equal to €1,000 in Accor stays across the world, and earn up to three reward points per US$1 spent at participating Accor properties in the UAE and on other spends. A step up from the Signature Credit Card, the ALL Infinite Credit Card offers cardholders free beach and pool access at select Accor properties in the UAE – with big names like Raffles, Fairmont and Sofitel – and gives a complimentary upgrade to ALL Platinum status. With Platinum, all the perks of Gold are available, plus upgrades to suites and use of properties’ Executive Lounges.
Lifestyle benefits include 50% off all-inclusive access to select UAE Rixos Resorts, 25% off restaurants at select Accor hotels in the UAE and 25% off spa treatments at select UAE Accor hotels. What’s more, cardholders are given complimentary airport lounge access for themselves plus one guest and access to a global concierge.
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