We’ve talked a lot about airlines and how to rack up tons of points to fly across the world. But what happens when we actually get to that exotic destination? We have to stay somewhere, unless we just want to hop back on the plane and sleep in that first class seat again. This is where hotel points come into the picture. The good thing is hotel points are much easier and more straightforward to use.

Just like airlines, there are a lot, though not as many hotel chains out there. The big ones that come to mind are Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton and IHG. Other chains out there that you may not have heard of that you can also transfer credit card points to are Choice Privileges, Wyndham and Accor.

Typically, if a hotel has available rooms for sale, you are able to use points to book them. Unlike airlines, hotels don’t usually have capacity controls in place. Most hotel properties aren’t actually owned by the hotel they are affiliated with but are in fact owned by a management company instead. They’ll partner with a major hotel brand who handles all the marketing and bookings to help fill beds.

Hyatt is my go-to hotel as they have great recognition for their elite members. For years I was loyal to Marriott but made the switch a few years ago to Hyatt. They take great care of me and consistently provide proactive room upgrades without even having to ask. When I stay at a Hyatt 60+ nights per year this makes a big difference. Hyatt is also a transfer partner of Chase which makes earning points much easier.

These hotel chains have various categories of properties where the lower end limited service properties are in the lower categories that require fewer points and the high end luxury properties are at the top end of the scale. They all fall into a category between 1 and 8. The higher the category the more points you need to book a night. For the most part a hotel’s category is determined by the type of property (limited service vs luxury), location (near the airport or downtown), and demand. They also have a set price for each category but also off-peak, standard, and peak. So for a Category 1 property, it can cost either 3,500, 5,000, or 6,500 per night. At the highest Category 8 a free night will cost 35,000, 40,000 or 45,000 points. Peak vs. non-peak pricing really boils down to demand. If you’re trying to stay close to a big sporting event the hotel will probably be charging their peak rates. Now if you’re staying at the Greensboro Airport Hyatt Place on a random Tuesday it’ll most likely be off-peak. This is a rule of thumb and won’t always be the case.

Marriott is similar in that they have varying categories of hotels but they have also added dynamic pricing throughout their schedule where the number of points needed can fluctuate depending on demand and the cash price of a stay. You can generally find Marriott properties for anywhere between 5,000 and 120,000 points per night. Yes, that is a huge range but that covers properties from an airport Residence Inn all the way to St Regis in the Maldives.