‘The White Lotus’ Experience, But Better: How Credit Cards Can Earn You Free Nights

The cast of “The White Lotus” could be headed to Europe for season four, with a high likelihood that the show will be shot at a Four Seasons resort.

Fans of the show can book stays at hotel locations from the previous three seasons, and travelers can earn free or discounted stays with travel credit cards.

Four Seasons, Five Stars

France is the likely locale for season four of “The White Lotus,” according to Deadline. While the exact resort has yet to be revealed, HBO has a marketing partnership with Four Seasons that explains why all previous seasons were filmed at the chain’s luxury locations.

David Bernad, an executive producer of the show, explained to The Wall Street Journal that the partnership came after the cast initially struggled to find a shooting location when plans to shoot season one in Australia fell through.

“We ended up at Four Seasons because that was the one hotel that let us shoot there,” Bernad told the Journal.

Four Seasons executives saw the opportunity as a win during a time when the pandemic tanked tourism.

“We wouldn’t have gotten any business at the Maui resort during Covid without the show,” Marc Speichert, chief commercial officer and executive vice president of the Four Seasons, told the Journal.

Season one of the show was filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, season two at the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace in Sicily, and season three at various locations throughout Thailand, including the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas and Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort.

High Class Experience, Low Prices

Unlike the out-of-touch characters of the show, not everyone can afford the top-dollar price tag these hotels come with. However, Citi, Chase, American Express and Capital One all have in-house travel cards that allow cardholders to redeem rewards for stays at Four Seasons resorts through their travel portals.

Travel credit cards can help you earn free or discounted stays and rewards at all of “The White Lotus” resorts. Here are some of our favorites for the most efficient way to earn:

  • Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: While the upfront annual fee of $395 might hurt a little at first, quick rewards do much to soothe the pain. The card offers an annual $300 travel credit and a 10,000 anniversary points bonus that essentially covers the cost of the fee, as long as you utilize the perks. Best of all, the current welcome bonus makes it easy to redeem comped stays, with 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. Any other travel expenditures put on the card can be put toward a future trip, with multipliers of 2 miles per dollar on all eligible purchases, 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar on Capital One Entertainment purchases through 12/31/25 and 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars when booking via Capital One Travel.
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: A great card for travel reward novices, the Sapphire Preferred has a low entry barrier with an annual fee of $95 and the opportunity to rack up points quickly with an offer of 75,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Generous multipliers make everyday spending lucrative for future trips with 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3 points per dollar on dining, select streaming services and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs), 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases and 1 point per dollar on other purchases. Cardholders might find their points worth up to 1.5X more on select Chase Travel hotel bookings eligible for the Points Boost program. The card also offers a $50 statement credit toward hotel bookings through Chase Travel each account anniversary year.
  • Citi Strata Premier® Card: Frequent travelers might find more bang for their buck with the Strata Premier, which has some of the highest travel portal multipliers in the card industry, at $95 per year. Like the Preferred, the card has an annual fee of $95 and an enticing welcome offer of 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening. If you can hit the spend under the time frame, it’s a worthy pickup of points that can be used to redeem quick complimentary nights. It also includes an annual offer of up to $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when booked through CitiTravel.com.
  • The Platinum Card® from American Express (terms apply, rates & fees): Though it has one of the highest annual fees in the market at $695, The Amex Platinum is a luxury travel card with a hefty reputation and great benefits, including 5 Membership Rewards® Points per dollar for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® on up to $500,000 per calendar year, 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel® and 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases. Alongside a plethora of transfer partners, the card offers new cardholders an annual up to $200 hotel statement credit on select prepaid hotel bookings through American Express Travel (requires a minimum two-night stay) and a welcome bonus, a personalized offer as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $8,000 on eligible purchases on the card in the first 6 months of card membership (approval required, welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer) that can go far to comp a vacay.

Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.

Bottom Line

While a “White Lotus”-themed getaway can get expensive quickly, with the resorts clocking in at hundreds of dollars a night, travel credit cards can help consumers rack up points toward complimentary stays.

To view rates and fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express please visit this page.

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