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December 10, 2024: Hotel credit cards can be a great way to get free hotel nights. In most cases, hotel credit cards are the most rewarding cards to use to pay for your hotel stays if you want to earn free nights.
But some cards offer a free night just for having the card. Others can let you earn a free night when you spend a certain amount on the card. Here’s everything you need to know about credit cards that offer free hotel nights.
The list: Hotel credit cards that offer a free night
Free nights on your cardmember anniversary. These hotel credit cards offer a free night every year just for having the card. Unless otherwise stated, you’ll start earning your free nights annually on your first cardmember anniversary.
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Annual free night reward every year, including the first year you have the card.
- IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card: Free night award redeemable for award stays costing up to 40,000 points awarded each year.
- IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card: Free night award redeemable for award stays costing up to 40,000 points each year.
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card: Free night award valid for one-night stay at a property with a redemption level up to 35,000 points each year.
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: Free night award valid for one-night stay at a property with a redemption level up to 35,000 points.
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Free night award valid for one-night stay at a property with a redemption level up to 85,000 points.
- The Ritz Carlton Credit Card: Free night award valid for one-night stay at a property with a redemption level up to 85,000 points.
- The World of Hyatt Credit Card: Receive one free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort every year after your cardmember anniversary.
Earn (additional) free nights. These cards let you earn a free night, sometimes in addition to a free night granted for holding the card
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Earn up to two additional free nights—one after making $30,000 in purchases and a second after $60,000 in purchases in a calendar year.
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: Earn one additional 35k free night certificate after you spend $60,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year.
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Earn one additional 85k free night certificate after you spend $60,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year.
- The World of Hyatt Credit Card: Receive an additional category 1-4 certificate after you spend $15,000 in a calendar year.
Our experiences: How we use free nights
Generally, I like hotel cards that offer free night certificates. I can typically make use of the lower-end certificates for random one-night stays when I’m traveling to conferences and to visit friends.
The category 1-4 certificate I get with The World of Hyatt Credit Card is the easiest to use—I’m typically able to use that for a hotel that I’d otherwise spend north of $200/night on. The last two years, I’ve used it for a night at a hotel during a conference and that’s my plan for 2025. For me, this certificate offers more than enough value to justify keeping the personal Hyatt card.
I’m less diligent about using the free nights I get with my Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card and IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card cards. Last year I used a Marriott certificate the week it was expiring to spend a night near the airport in my hometown before catching an early flight—that’s pretty close to letting the certificate go to breakage.
Really, the key to getting value from free night certificates is to be sure you use them and don’t let them go to waste.
My recommendation: Use your certificate at the earliest opportunity that offers a reasonable value—don’t try to maximize the value from your certificates if there’s any chance you’ll end up not using them.
Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express
The free night awarded with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is one of the most valuable free night awards available on a credit card. That’s because it can be used at almost any property, worldwide. Better yet, you can earn up to two additional free nights, for a total of three each year.
Annual fee: $550 (See rates and fees. Terms apply.)
Welcome bonus: Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card after you spend $6,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 1/8/2025. Learn how to apply.
For more on the perks, features, and benefits of the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express and the other Hilton credit cards, see our overview of Hilton credit cards.
All information about the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express free night facts
Annual free night: You’ll earn an annual free night when you open the card, plus each year on your cardmember anniversary.
Earned free nights: Earn a second free night award after making $30,000 in purchases in a calendar year. Earn a third free night award after making $60,000 in purchases in a calendar year.
What your free night can be used for: One standard, double occupancy room in almost any of Hilton’s hotels worldwide. Hilton publishes a list of properties that are excluded. Free night certificates cover taxes and fees, excluding a few properties in Malaysia. Terms apply.
When and how you get your free night: Free nights are issued within 8-14 weeks after your account open date, your renewal month, or when you earn them. You’ll receive your free night via email.
When the free night expires: One year from the date it is issued.
IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
Every year after your IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card account anniversary, you’ll receive a free night certificate good for a standard room night costing 40,000 points or less. That translates approximately into a hotel room costing $240/night or less—enough for a mid-range hotel in a Kansas City or St. Louis or a budget hotel in New York City. Certificates can be “topped off” with points if you want to redeem them for a higher-priced night.
Annual fee: annual_fees
Welcome bonus: bonus_miles_full. Learn how to apply.
IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card free night facts
Annual free night: You’ll earn an annual free night on your account anniversary date.
What your free night can be used for: The free night certificate is valid for rooms with a redemption value of up to 40,000 points.
When and how you get your free night: Free nights are issued within 8-14 weeks after your account open date, your renewal month, or when you earn them. You’ll receive your free night via email. IHG has announced that you can top off your free night certificates and Frequent Miler has reported that this feature is live.
When the free night expires: 12 months from the date of issue.
IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
Like with the personal card, every year after your IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card account anniversary, you’ll receive a free night certificate. The certificate can be redeemed for a standard room night costing 40,000 points or less—the cash-price equivalent of about $240/night or less. Certificates can be “topped off” with points if you want to redeem them for a higher-priced night.
Annual fee: annual_fees
Welcome bonus: bonus_miles_full Learn how to apply.
IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card free night facts
Annual free night: You’ll earn an annual free night on your account anniversary date.
What your free night can be used for: The free night certificate is valid for rooms with a redemption value of up to 40,000 points.
When and how you get your free night: Free nights are issued within 8-14 weeks after your account open date, your renewal month, or when you earn them. You’ll receive your free night via email. Like with the personal card, you can top off these certificates with points to redeem them for higher-priced nights.
When the free night expires: 12 months from the date of issue.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
The 35,000 point certificate you get with your Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card can be redeemed for one night in a standard guest room at a participating Marriott Bonvoy hotel. To be eligible for redemption, the hotel must have a standard redemption award rate or PointSavers award rate for the requested stay date that is less than or equal to the value of the free night award.
Annual fee: $95
Welcome bonus: Earn 3 Free Nights valued up to 150,000 points (up to 50,000 per night) after spending $3,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months from account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Card. Certain hotels have resort fees. Learn how to apply.
Learn more about the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card and the other Marriott credit cards in our overview of the Marriott credit cards.
All information about the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card free night facts
Annual free night: You’ll earn an annual free night on your account anniversary date, starting 12 months after you open your card.
What your free night can be used for: Standard rooms costing up to 35,000 points. You can use up to 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points in addition to your certificate if you want to redeem it for a hotel night costing up to 50,000 points.
When and how you get your free night: Within eight weeks of your account anniversary date, a free night certificate will be deposited into your Marriott Bonvoy® account.
When the free night expires: 12 months from the date it is earned.
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card offers both an annual 35,000 point certificate and the ability to earn an additional 35,000 point certificate after spending $60,000 in eligible purchases in the card in a calendar year.
Annual fee: annual_fees (See Rates and Fees)
Welcome bonus: bonus_miles_full Learn how to apply.
Learn more about the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card and the other Marriott credit cards in our overview of the Marriott credit cards.
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card free night facts
Annual free night: You’ll earn an annual free night each year in your renewal month after you renew your card.
Earned an additional free night: Spend $60,000 in eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year and earn an additional free night.
What your free night can be used for: Standard rooms costing up to 35,000 points. You can use up to 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points in addition to your certificate if you want to redeem it for a hotel night costing up to 50,000 points.
When and how you get your free night: Within 8-12 weeks of your account anniversary date or earning your additional free night, a free night certificate will be deposited into your Marriott Bonvoy® account. Amex terms mention that you should receive an email from Marriott informing you that the certificate is available.
When the free night expires: One year from the date it is issued.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card offers the possibility to earn up to two 85,000-point free night certificates. You get one upon your card renewal and can choose one of you earn a Choice Award by spending $60,000 in eligible purchases on the card in a calendar year.
Annual fee: annual_fees (See Rates and Fees)
Welcome bonus: bonus_miles_full Learn how to apply.
Learn more about the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card and the other Marriott credit cards in our overview of the Marriott credit cards.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card free night facts
Annual free night: You’ll earn an annual free night each year in your renewal month after you renew your card.
Earned an additional free night: Spend $60,000 in eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year and select a free night award as your Choice Award to get an additional 85,000 point free night certificate. You must select your Choice Award by February 1st of the year following the year in which you earned the award.
What your free night can be used for: Standard rooms costing up to 85,000 points. You can use up to 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points in addition to your certificate if you want to redeem it for a hotel night costing up to 100,000 points.
When and how you get your free night: Within 8-12 weeks of your account anniversary date or earning your additional free night, a free night certificate will be deposited into your Marriott Bonvoy® account. Amex terms mention that you should receive an email from Marriott informing you that the certificate is available.
When the free night expires: One year from the date it is issued.
The Ritz-Carlton Credit Card
While The Ritz-Carlton Credit Card isn’t available to new cardmembers, you can still get the card. You just need to have a Chase-branded Marriott card for more than a year and call Chase to request a product change to the Ritz Carlton Card. If you do, you’ll get an 85,000-point Marriott anniversary free night award certificate each year.
Annual fee: $450
All information about The Ritz-Carlton Credit Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
The Ritz-Carlton Credit Card free night facts
Annual free night: You’ll earn an annual free night each year in your renewal month after you renew your card.
What your free night can be used for: Standard rooms costing up to 85,000 points. You can use up to 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points in addition to your certificate if you want to redeem it for a hotel night costing up to 100,000 points.
When and how you get your free night: Within eight weeks of your account anniversary date, a free night certificate will be deposited into your Marriott Bonvoy® account.
When the free night expires: 12 months from the date it is earned.
World of Hyatt Credit Card
With the The World of Hyatt Credit Card, you’ll get one category 1-4 free night each year after your cardmember anniversary. You can also earn up to one additional free night award by spending $15,000 on the card within a calendar year.
Annual fee: $95
Welcome bonus: Earn up to 60,000 Bonus Points: 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 More Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 spent. Learn how to apply.
Learn more about the benefits and features of the World of Hyatt Credit Card and the other Hyatt credit cards in our overview of Hyatt credit cards.
All information about the World of Hyatt Credit Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
World of Hyatt Credit Card free night facts
Annual free night: You’ll earn an annual free night each year starting on your first account anniversary, 12 months after you open your account.
Earned an additional free night: Spend $15,000 in purchases on your card in a calendar year to earn an additional category 1-4 free night.
What your free night can be used for: The certificate can be used for a stay at a category 1-4 hotel that makes standard award rooms available.
When and how you get your free night: A Hyatt free night award certificate will be deposited into your Hyatt account within 10 weeks from the date you earn it.
When the free night expires: 12 months from the date it is issued.
How to maximize credit card free night value
The most important thing to remember about credit card free night is that you must have a plan to use them. Here are our tips on maximizing the value you get from a credit card free night certificate.
First priority: Avoid breakage
For many people, using the free night certificate at the first opportunity is the best way to be sure that you get value from this benefit.
While you might not maximize the potential value of your free night this way, you’ll decrease that chance that this benefit goes to breakage. Breakage is what happens when a credit card benefit doesn’t get used… and credit card issuers love breakage. When you don’t use a credit card benefit by its expiration date, the credit card issuer gets the benefit (the annual fee you’re paying) but they don’t have to deliver on the benefit (the free night.) Breakage is great for businesses, but bad for you.
Secondary priority: Maximize value
If you can plan your travels ahead of time, you’ll have an opportunity to maximize the value you get from your free night certificate. Spending a bit of effort in planning and getting the most value from your certificate can increase the value of this benefit. Here are a few things to consider:
Consider what you would otherwise pay. If you use the free night certificate for a stay, don’t look at only the cash price of the hotel you are booking. Consider what you would otherwise pay for the stay. Using a certificate to stay in an $800/night luxury hotel when what you would otherwise pay $80 in cash to stay in an airport hotel means you’re probably not getting $800 of value out of the certificate. You might pay a few hundred dollars to stay in a nicer hotel, but you’re not getting $800 of value if you wouldn’t otherwise pay that price.
Be aware of location. Sometimes staying at a more conveniently-located property is simply better. One mistake I see people making (and I have made in the past) is staying at the highest-priced hotel in order to “maximize value.” If staying at a cheaper hotel means less time in transit, less transportation expense, or free parking, it can be worthwhile to use your certificate for a cheaper hotel.
Bottom line: Free nights can be a great benefit, but be sure to use them
Many credit cards offer a free night just for having the card. And they offer plenty of opportunities for value—in many cases, the Cards and Points team is able to use our certificate to displace cash we would otherwise spend on stays that we would otherwise pay for in cash, meaning we pay an annual fee and effectively get 2-3 times that as cash in our pocket. But be sure that you use your certificates—while free night certificates can be an easy win, if you let them expire, they no longer have any value.
American Express card disclosures
- For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express, please visit this link: See Rates and Fees
- For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, please visit this link: See Rates and Fees
- For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, please visit this link: See Rates and Fees
Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.
