If you’re part of a hotel loyalty program, you’ve probably spent a lot of time and effort earning points for free hotel stays. But it’s important to know the value of your points so you don’t waste them on a cheap room or an overpriced redemption.
You can easily save up to 25% on hotel point redemptions at affordable and luxury hotels from three different hotel chains. To make the most of your points, do some research beforehand. By doing this, you can redeem your hotel loyalty points with confidence and get more value for your efforts.
Fifth (or Fourth) Night Free On Award Bookings At Marriott, Hilton and IHG Hotels
When you’re booking a hotel room by using your points, if you meet the requirements of each program, you’ll receive a free night if booking five nights or more at Marriott and Hilton hotels or a four-night or more stay at IHG hotels. Here are the rules for using the free night at each of the programs:
Marriott Bonvoy
Marriott Bonvoy offers all members a free night when redeeming points for five or more consecutive nights.
Stay for 5, Pay for 4 Offer. A Member who redeems Points for five consecutive nights for an Award Redemption Stay using a Standard Redemption Award or PointSavers Award under one reservation (i.e., one confirmation number) will only need to redeem Marriott Bonvoy® Points for four nights.
For every Five Consecutive Nights you redeem (pay with Marriott Bonvoy® Points), you will receive the lowest Point-value Night free.
- Your stay must be Five Consecutive Nights at the same Hotel.
- All-Inclusive Resorts participate in the Stay for 5, Pay for 4 Offer.
- The Free Night will be the lowest Marriott Bonvoy® Point cost night during your Stay.
- Stay for 5, Pay for 4 Offer cannot be applied to a stay comprised of multiple reservations with consecutive nights.
- If you make a reservation for more than 5 Nights we will consider the entire length of Stay when determining the Free Nights. For example, if you book a 10-Night Redemption Stay, we would deduct the two lowest Nights of the entire 10 Nights, no matter when they occur.
- This offer cannot be applied after Check-In to a Hotel.
- There are no Marriott Bonvoy® Point Refunds or Free Night Credits for any unused portions of the Stay.
- The Marriott Bonvoy® Point cost is based on a Standard Room only and does not cover the upgrade cost for a Premium Room.
- Stay for 5, Pay for 4 Award does not apply to Cash + Points Awards, Upgrade Awards, Nightly Upgrade Awards, and Promotional Awards (e.g. issued through Co-brand Credit Card, Annual Choice Benefit, etc.)
- If the Member makes a modification to the Award Redemption Stay, the Member is responsible for changes to the Points required.
- Stay for 5 for 4 Award is available for any Marriott Bonvoy® Member.
The free night is automatically applied when you book an award stay, so there’s nothing you need to do to activate the offer.
Hilton Honors
Hilton offers Honors elite (Silver, Gold, Diamond) members the fifth night free on award stays.
5th Night Free on reward stays : For every Standard Room Reward stay of five or more nights, every 5th night is free. Members can utilize the 5th Night Free on reward stays benefit on an unlimited number of stays annually. Applies only to five consecutive nights within the same full Points Standard Room Reward stay at the same property, up to 20 nights, when confirmed at time of booking. No more than four free nights will be awarded per stay. If free night is declined, reservation is cancelled, or check-out occurs before fifth night, the free night is forfeited and has no cash, Point, or Reward value. After the 5th Night Free benefit is applied, eligible members will be charged 0 points for the 5th night, 10th night, 15th night, and 20th night of the stay, as applicable. All other nights of the stay will be charged at the applicable full Standard Room Reward price. A standard room is defined by each hotel and subject to availability at participating hotels within the Hilton Portfolio. Applies to Standard Room Reward stays only, not to paid stays or Points & Money Rewards™. Does not apply when stay is booked as part of a Reward Stay offer, package, or promotion offered by Hilton or any of its partners.
You need to be at least a Silver Honors member to get the fifth night free, and you can earn status with four stays, 10 nights, or 25,000 base points earned in a calendar year. You can also get Silver status by having the no-annual-fee Hilton Honors AMEX card. You can get Hilton Honors Gold status with the Hilton Honors Surpass AMEX ($95 annual fee) and Diamond status with the Hilton Honors Aspire AMEX ($550 annual fee). American Express Platinum cardholders are also provided complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status.
Here’s an example from Hilton of how the program works.
IHG Rewards Club
IHG Rewards Club has a fourth-night-free benefit for award stays but only cardholders of the IHG Rewards Club Premier credit card ($89 annual fee), IHG Business Premier, and the IHG Rewards Club Traveler card (no-annual-fee).
Redeem Three Nights, Get Fourth Reward Night Free: For each standard room Reward Night stay of 4 or more nights, every 4th night is free. Applies only to 4 or more consecutive nights within the same Reward Night point redemption room stay at the same property. With this benefit, eligible members will be charged the Reward Night point redemption rate for the first 3 nights, and 0 points for the 4th night of the stay, as applicable. If 4th Reward Night Free reservation is cancelled, or check-out occurs before the 4th night, the 4th Reward Night is forfeited and has no cash or point value. Members can utilize the 4th Reward Night Free benefit on an unlimited number of stays annually. You are responsible for all incidental charges such as parking fees, and payment of mandatory resort fees at properties where resort fees are charged. IHG One Rewards Reward Night terms and conditions apply
I wish the free night benefit could be open to all IHG rewards club members because it has tremendous value. Being able to save 25% on any IHG award stay can save you 50,000 points or more on a stay at a hotel such as the Kimpton Gray in Chicago. I value IHG points at 1/2 cent each so saving 50,000 points is equivalent to saving $250.
Final Thought
If you’re staying for five nights or more, it pays to look at Marriott or Hilton hotels for reward stays. You can take advantage of the free night benefit and save 20% of the required points. If you’re staying for four nights and have an IHG co-brand credit card, I’d start my search with IHG hotels and take advantage of the fourth-night free perk.
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