Elite status in a hotel loyalty program can get you room upgrades, free breakfast, late checkout and other on-property perks. Normally, you earn elite status by racking up lots of stays at participating hotels. But there is an easier way. Certain credit cards come with automatic status in hotel programs.

Many travelers sign up for a hotel card just to get card benefits like free annual night certificates and statement credits. But credit cards with free elite status at hotels can pile on even more perks that, in many cases, are worth more than the card’s annual fee.

Here are five cards that come with hotel elite status.

Top credit cards with free hotel status

1. World of Hyatt Credit Card

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Status: Complimentary Discoverist (worth $25).

Annual fee: $95.

What you need to know: Though Discoverist is the lowest tier of World of Hyatt status, the World of Hyatt Credit Card delivers on the number of perks that come with its slim annual fee. Normally, members must stay 10 nights or earn 25,000 base points in the year to reach Discoverist status. For 2021, those thresholds were halved, requiring members to stay just five nights or earn at 12,500 base points to reach Discoverist. It also comes with five qualifying nights toward the next tier of status, Explorist, which normally requires 30 nights in a calendar year but was lowered to 15 nights for 2021.

That means the card comes with automatic, entry-level status while putting you on the path to mid-tier elite status with Hyatt. Benefits of the card include an annual free night certificate. Benefits of free Discoverist status include waived resort fees at participating properties, bonus points, space-available room upgrades and bottled water.

2. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

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Rates & Fees

Status: Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite (worth $3,314).

Annual fee: $650.

What you need to know: To earn Platinum status in the Marriott Bonvoy program, you normally have to stay 50 nights during a calendar year. But if you have the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, you automatically qualify for Platinum status, which gets you space-available upgrades to select suites, faster wireless internet during stays, late checkout and Marriott’s ultimate reservation guarantee. Though this is not the top Marriott Bonvoy elite status, it is the easiest way to launch yourself up the Marriott loyalty tier ladder.

Other perks that come with the sizable annual fee are Priority Pass Select membership (enrollment required), a Free Award Night worth up to 85,000 points and up to $300 of statement credits (up to $25 each month) for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide. Terms apply.