Spending $15,000 to earn a free night certificate might sound like a hefty commitment, but when that certificate has no blackout dates, resort fees, or weekend-only restrictions, it becomes a game-changer for savvy travelers.
Shifting Focus to Hilton
In 2023, I decided to pursue the free night offered by the Hilton Surpass AMEX card. The Hilton free night requires $15,000 in spending, but it comes with one significant advantage over a similar offer from the World of Hyatt card. The Hilton free night can be used at nearly any Hilton property worldwide. Unlike Hyatt’s certificates, the Hilton free night has no category restrictions.
To streamline meeting the spending requirement, I handed the Hilton Surpass card to my wife, Sharon, to use as her primary card. Its 6X earning rate on supermarket, gas station, and restaurant purchases helped us hit the $15,000 mark by the end of the year. Along the way, we earned at least 45,000 Hilton Honors points, plus bonus points from category spending.
Maximizing the Hilton Free Night
The flexibility of the Hilton free night makes it an attractive option. Whether you’re eyeing properties like the Waldorf Astoria Maldives or the Conrad Bora Bora, where nightly rates often exceed $1,000, there are countless ways to extract exceptional value.
Our travel style doesn’t typically include high-end resorts. However, the flexibility allows us to splurge when we want. Even with our best plans, we used the free night at a Homewood Suites, a $300 value—not quite the luxury experience we had in mind. Even so, I planned to earn another free Hilton night in 2024 and use it in 2025.
Is It Worth It?
Earning a free night certificate by spending $15,000 is not for everyone. To determine if it’s worth it for you, consider:
- Spending Habits: Can you meet the $15,000 threshold through everyday spending categories without forcing unnecessary purchases?
- Travel Goals: Do you value flexibility in redemption, and do you have plans to stay at properties where the free night will deliver exceptional value?
- Additional Benefits: Factor in the points earned during the spending period. For the Hilton Surpass, the 6X earning rates on specific categories can add significant value.
For us, the Hilton free night certificate has proven to be a worthwhile goal. Its flexibility and potential for high-value redemptions make it a standout benefit, especially when compared to free night certificates offered by other programs.
Where Have You Used Your Hilton Free Night?
What’s the most valuable redemption you’ve made with a Hilton free night? Share your favorite destination or dream booking in the comments below—we’d love to hear your tips!
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2 comments
I realize my experience is unique but I have no problem running $15,000 of otherwise unbonused spend on my Surpass card (and also on my Hyatt card to get the extra free night). In fact I usually run over $40,000 on the Surpass to keep Diamond (retired now and don’t travel as much but a few years from lifetime Diamond). I run around $225,000 a year through my cards and pay them off every month so easy to hit about any spend total I want. IMHO if you have the Surpass you have to spend $15,000 and get the free night to get value from the card – otherwise just get the no AF version
Great question. I was wondering the same thing last night. Last year I spent my way to a few free nights on the Hilton business card at the Conrad in London for this past May. I consider that a good value, particularly since I was meeting my spend to hit the signup bonus and spending my way to top status. With the card having been nerfed I plan on signing up for personal cards for my wife and I late in the year and spending for free nights this year and next. The free night certificates are really only useful to us for fancy hotels but once in a while you can pull out a real valuable usage.