What are the best hotel credit cards for bad credit?

The best hotel credit card bonus is 100,000 points by the Radisson Premier Visa Signature Credit Card. You get 100,000 points for spending $3,000 in the first 90 days. You can redeem those bonus points for up to 10 free nights at hotels around the world, starting at 9,000 points per night.… read full answer

You also get 40,000 points when you renew your card by paying the $75 annual fee. And you’ll get 10 points for every $1 spent at the Radisson Family of Hotels, as well as 1 point per $1 everywhere else.

Of course, it’s good to have a few backup options in your pocket as well.

Here are more good hotel credit card bonus offers:

• Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card: 75,000 point bonus for spending $3,000 in the first three months. That’s worth up to 10 free nights. $85 annual fee, waived the first year. 5 points per $1 at Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Starwood hotels. 2 points per $1 on tickets purchased directly with airlines, car rental agencies and restaurants. 1 point per dollar everywhere else. 1 free night for your account anniversary. This card requires good credit.

• IHG Credit Card: 60,000 point bonus for spending $1,000 in the first three months. 10% of your rewards back when you redeem, bumping your bonus to 66,000 points. That’s worth up to 6 free nights. $49 annual fee waived the first year. 5 points per $1 at IHG hotels and 2 at gas stations, department stores, and restaurants. 1 point per $1 everywhere else. This card requires good credit.

• Capital One Venture: 50,000 bonus miles for spending $3,000 in the first three months. The bonus is worth $500 when redeemed for travel, including hotels. $95 annual fee, waived the first year. 10 points per $1 at Hotels.com/venture, and 2 on all other purchases. This card requires good credit.

A hotel credit card bonus can save you serious money if you’re a frequent traveler. And since all the chains behind the major hotel credit cards operate around the globe, you can redeem your points for free nights anywhere you want. Radisson operates hotels in over 50 North American locations, as well as 16 South American, and 20+ Asian and African. Marriott has 5,301 hotels around the world. And IHG operates in over 100 countries.

The best credit card for a 550 credit score is the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card. There’s no credit check when you apply, so approval is almost guaranteed. You just need $200 for a refundable security deposit and enough income to make monthly payments. This card also reports to all three major credit bureaus every month, which is your ticket to a better credit score. And a $35 annual fee isn’t too much to pay for that.… read full answer

The Discover it® Secured Credit Cardis another great 550 credit score credit card. It has a $0 annual fee and actually rewards you for making purchases. A 550 credit score won’t keep you from getting approved either. But a pending bankruptcy will.

Those aren’t the only credit cards you can get with a 550 credit score. In fact, there are two kinds of credit cards for people at that credit level: Secured credit cards and unsecured credit cards for bad credit. A 550 credit score is within the bad credit range, unfortunately. Bad credit goes from 300 to 639. But picking the right 550 credit score credit card and using it responsibly could help you improve your score to “fair” territory within 12-18 months.

The best credit cards for a 550 score:

• OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card
• Discover it® Secured Credit Card
• Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® with Cash Back Rewards
• Secured Mastercard® from Capital One
• Milestone® Mastercard® - Less Than Perfect Credit Considered

Before applying for a card, make sure to check out its terms and conditions, or a FAQ page if there is one, just to make sure you fit the criteria for eligibility. You can also try getting pre-approved for a credit card. It won’t hurt your credit, and it will give you a good idea of your odds if you decide to apply.

The Fingerhut Credit Account is the easiest unsecured card to get approved for. But it won’t suit everyone’s needs. Fingerhut is an online marketplace, and its card can only be used to make purchases on the site. So, while it will give you an unsecured line of credit, it won’t really help you cover emergency expenses.… read full answer

If you’re looking for a card that can be used for anything, the Credit One Bank® Visa® Credit Card is your best bet. You can get approved for it with bad credit. It offers a $300 starting spending limit. And you can use it wherever Visa is accepted.

Those aren’t your only options, though. WalletHub’s editors compared all of the unsecured credit cards in our database of 1,000+ offers. And we selected our favorite easy-to-get offers.

Here are the easiest unsecured credit cards to get:

• Good Overall: Fingerhut Credit Account.
• With Rewards: Credit One Bank® Visa® Credit Card.
• For Small Businesses: Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business.
• For Limited Credit: Petal® 2 Visa® Credit Card.
• For Students: Deserve® EDU Mastercard for Students.

The easiest unsecured credit cards to get generally work best for minor emergencies. You will only receive a small amount of spending power, after all.

Unsecured credit cards for people with bad credit also tend to be very expensive, charging lots of fees and high interest rates. So if you don’t need a small emergency loan, the best course of action is to improve your credit inexpensively with a secured card. Secured cards are cheaper than unsecured cards, build credit just as effectively, and offer the closest thing you’ll find to guaranteed approval.

To learn more, check out WalletHub's complete list of the year’s easiest credit cards to get approved for​.