Which hotel card is worth the fee this year (mock)

The honest answer is that a free night certificate you will actually use covers the fee on all four cards. The difference is in what else comes with it.

Automatic mid-tier status matters most where it changes the stay: breakfast, late checkout, and a shot at a better room. On the pages here you can see how each tier fares at a given hotel.

We hold no card partnerships, so there is no link to click. Pick the card for the program you already stay with.