Reading Time: 3 minAnyone who’s ever looked at traveling to Japan has probably dealt with some shock. First, pricing for hotel rooms can be exorbitant in this densely populated city. And once you find a room, well, there’s a reason capsule hotels were invented in Japan. Space is at a premium.
That’s why Choice Privileges points happen to be one of my absolute favorite ways to book Tokyo hotel stays. Save your money and points from other programs, because Choice comes in clutch when you’re heading to Japan. Let’s talk about why.
You’ve probably seen a Choice hotel or two if you’ve ever spent any time in the United States. With thousands of properties, Choice is best known as a mid-tier hotel chain, though it also has some luxury options.
I'm not saying you should splurge on a suite in Tokyo — unless you really want to. What I am saying is that you should take advantage of Choice’s incredibly cheap deals on its Japanese hotels.
Depending on where you’re staying, you can spend as few as 8,000 Choice points per night for your hotel.
That’s an incredible deal, especially when you look at what other loyalty programs are charging.
Another great thing about Choice is that you can book multiple room types for the same price. That’s not something you’ll find elsewhere, and it’s especially valuable in places like Tokyo, where room sizes are so small.
For example, here’s a look at a one-room suite at the Comfort Suite Tokyo Bay. You’ll pay just 8,000 Choice points per night for a room that sleeps five adults. It’s tough to emphasize how uncommon this is!
And although not all of these hotels will offer benefits like free breakfast, that doesn’t mean it’ll be expensive to enjoy a meal. The Comfort Suite Tokyo Bay serves a breakfast buffet and charges just ~$13 for adults, ~$6 for kids, and nothing for anyone under the age of three.
If you thought 8,000 points per night for a room was cheap, how does 4,000 points per night sound? Perhaps our favorite part about using Choice points for hotel stays is that they’re extraordinarily easy to earn.
This is thanks to their ability to transfer over from multiple partners, including American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One miles, Citi ThankYou points, and Wells Fargo Rewards.
More importantly, however, is the fact that both Citi ThankYou points and Wells Fargo Rewards have very favorable transfer rates over to Choice Privileges.
Amex and Capital One both transfer over at a 1:1 ratio, meaning one flexible point becomes one Choice point. But Citi (depending on which Citi card you have) and Wells Fargo Rewards (all of them) transfer to Choice at a 1:2 ratio!
That means you can end up paying just 4,000 points per night for a hotel room in Tokyo that sleeps five. We’ll see you at the cherry blossom festival!
