Wells Fargo Choice Privileges Select Credit Card: 60,000-Point Welcome Bonus, 30,000 Points Every Year

Wells Fargo Choice Select Credit Card Review

Benefits

• Complimentary Platinum status: Just by holding the card, you get 20 elite nights and automatic Platinum status, with perks such as 25% bonus points on eligible stays.
• $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck reimbursement
• 30,000 points every year: On each card anniversary, you receive 30,000 Choice points. At a value of 0.5–0.6 cents per point, that is worth at least $150+.
• Cell phone protection: If you pay your monthly cell phone bill with this card, you can receive up to $800 in coverage if your phone is damaged or stolen ($25 deductible applies). See also: Guide to credit card cell phone protection
• Free FICO score: You get a monthly Experian FICO credit score. See also: Which free credit score service is best?
• No Foreign Transaction Fee (FTF): Most cards with no foreign transaction fee come with an annual fee, so it is nice that this card has no FTF. See also: What is an FTF?

Introduction to Choice Hotel Points

• Point value: The average value is about 0.6 c/p, so 100 Choice points = $0.6 (Point Values & Analysis). In other words, a hotel stay worth $60 would require about 10k Choice Hotel points.
• Redeeming for hotels: You can search for eligible hotels directly on the Choice Hotel website. There is no fixed award chart, and the number of points required fluctuates with the cash price. Awards start at just 6,000 points, usually top out at 35,000 points, and some hotels in Oceania can go as high as 75,000 points. You can also use Cash + Points, which usually costs 6,000 points plus $35–$180 in cash, but it is not always a good deal compared with booking entirely with points.
• Transfer to miles: 5,000 points can be transferred into 1,000 miles with programs including AS, UA, AA, AC, Spirit, Czech Airlines OK, AeroMexico, and more. This can be useful when you only need a small top-off for miles in a major airline program.
• Point expiration: Points expire after 8 months with no activity; if there is account activity, the expiration is automatically extended by 18 months. If your points are about to expire, you can also consider transferring in 1,000 MR points to extend their validity.
• My take: Choice Hotel points are often a good value for booking hotels in Europe or major US cities. If you have a specific stay in mind, it is worth checking whether your target hotel offers solid redemption value. Their transfer-to-miles feature also creates some interesting opportunities, especially when combined with promotions to buy Choice points cheaply and transfer bonus offers.
• Related credit cards: Wells Fargo Choice Privileges 、 Wells Fargo Choice Privileges Select
• Detailed analysis: Introduction to Choice Privilege Points

My Take

The annual points alone are worth more than the annual fee. If you can make use of the Choice Hotels benefits and points that come with the card, this is an easy card to keep long term. Of course, if you still do not want to pay an annual fee, you can consider downgrading to the no-annual-fee version or simply closing the card.

• Wells Fargo Choice Privileges Credit Card

How to Apply

Wells Fargo Credit Card Application Guide

• Application status check link. Or call: (800) 967-9521
• If you applied for one of their cards within the past 6 months, you will not be approved for a new personal card. For Hotles cards, the restriction is 15 months. For business cards, the restriction is 12 months.
• Wells Fargo credit cards appear to have an unknown limit on the total number of cards you can hold. You may need an SSN, and you may need to be a U.S. citizen or green card holder to apply.
• You can call the reconsideration line at 866-412-5956 to speed up credit card approval or request a review of a denied application.
• Having a Checking account may help with getting approved for a credit card.
• More about applying for Wells Fargo credit cards

Application Link

• Wells Fargo Choice Select