Get Free Hotel Nights with Credit Card Certificates

Several hotel credit cards give you or let you earn a certificate, every year, that you can use for a free night at one of their hotels.

This is in addition to the reward points that you would normally earn with the card.

With some cards, there are no additional requirements. You get an annual certificate just for having the card. With other cards, you need to spend a certain amount of money during the year, in order to qualify for the certificate.

The main drawback to Free Night Certificates is that they are only valid for one year. If you don’t use them, you lose them. If you don’t expect to have a good opportunity to use a certificate every year, it isn't worth paying the annual fee for the credit card.

For most people, signing up for credit cards, just to receive travel benefits, good reward earning rates, or lucrative signup bonuses, isn't an irresponsible thing to do. It won't kill your credit rating—it just might improve it. But, if you have a problem with credit, or you aren't organized enough to avoid unwanted credit card fees, you'll need to stick to our other strategies for discounted travel. For more information, see our Credit Cards 101 guide.

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Free night certificates from the major hotel programs
Which certificates are the best options?
Other options
Tips

To provide a rough idea of how much a certificate is worth, we calculate the point value of an award redemption at the maximum category or point cap of the certificate. For example, the "Point value" of an IHG certificate (that can be used for a hotel room that costs a maximum of 40,000 points) is the calculated as the value of 40,000 IHG points.

But certificates are not actually as valuable as the equivalent number of points, because they are less flexible. You can't split the point value of the certificate to use for multiple nights, or augment it with additional points to use at a more expensive hotel. If you use it for a hotel that cost fewer points, you don't receive any extra points back. Just as importantly, certificates will expire after a single year, while points won't expire if your account remains active.

So, our calculated point values are more useful for comparing the values of different certificates, rather than deciding whether a credit card is worthwhile.

Marriott / SPG Certificates

There is no spending requirement, but Marriott certificate can only be used for hotel nights that don't exceed a specified point cap. For example, the certificate from the “regular” Marriott card (Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card) can only be used for rooms that would require up to 35,000 points to book. Marriott Free Night Certificates.
35,000 point Marriott certificates substantially limit your ability to use your certificates at nicer hotels. 35,000 point certificates should be good enough to book solid hotels in most cities, and at least some hotels in expensive cities like New York. However, you are most likely to want to use your certificate when hotel rates are high, and Marriott is now increasing the required number of points during each hotel’s peak season. During peak season, certificates will only work at Marriott’s category 1-4 hotels, which tends to restrict you to Marriott’s lower tier brands, on the outskirts of cities.

Nevertheless, you should still be able to get more value than the effective cost of the certificates. Just don’t expect to find many opportunities to use your certificates for hotel rooms that cost $200 or more.

50,000 point certificates can be used at nicer hotels—Category 6 hotels during “standard” season, Category 5 hotels during “peak” season, and Category 7 hotels (out of 8) in “off-peak” season.
If you are interested in additional certificates, you can sign up for multiple cards. However, if you want to also receive a signup bonus for each new card, you'll need to follow some restrictions that are detailed in our Marriott credit card guide.

Card	Max Points	Point "Value"	Effective "Cost"
Currently available cards
Marriott Boundless	35,000	$250	$95
Marriott Business	35,000	$250	$125
Marriott Brilliant	50,000	$350	$150
No longer available for new signups
Old SPG Card	35,000	$250	$95
Ritz Carlton	50,000	$350	$300
(Older) Marriott Premier	25,000	$180	$85
Marriott Premier Business	35,000	$250	$99

You can earn a 2nd certificate by spending $60,000 with the Marriott business card. This "benefit" is available for both the current and the older cards. However, the amount of reward points you would miss out on, by using the Marriott Business card instead of a better rewards card, makes spending this a bad deal.

Hilton Certificates

The Hilton Certificates work differently from the other programs—they can be used at (almost) any of their hotels, but only on weekend nights. For example, you could use your certificate for an bungalow at the Conrad Maldives that would cost over $1,000 per night, or a luxury Waldorf Astoria hotel in locations all around the world. Weekend means Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights. Despite only being able to be used on weekends, these certificates are generally much more valuable than the capped certificates from other cards. Hilton Free Weekend Night Certificates.
With the regular Hilton credit cards, you need to spend $15,000 with the card to earn the certificate. You’ll qualify for the certificate as soon as you reach $15,000 in spending each calendar year, and receive it shortly thereafter. If you decide you want to make the Hilton card part of your core credit card collection (for the breakfast benefit that comes with its automatic Gold status), it is usually worthwhile to try to spend enough to earn the certificate, as it only costs an incremental $150. However, it might not be worth getting this card just for the certificate, as the total cost is $250. Get Free Breakfast or Club Floor Access with the Right Credit Card.
You can get multiple certificates, by signing up for multiple Hilton credit cards. Amex typically limits each customer to a total of five credit cards (across both personal and business cards), so you may need to limit how many Hilton cards you get.

Card	Points Cap	Required Spend	Effective Cost
Hilton Surpass	Unlimited	$15,000	$250
Hilton Business	Unlimited	$15,000	$250
2nd Certificate	Unlimited	$60,000	$450
Hilton Aspire	Unlimited	0	$135
2nd Certificate	Unlimited	$60,000	$600

The premium Hilton Aspire card gives you a free certificate when you first get the card, and an additional certificate every year you renew. When calculating the effective cost, we count the $250 Hilton Resort credit at full value, and the $250 airline incidental credit at 25% value. Depending on how you much value you can get from these credits the effective cost for the certificate can range from the full $450 down to negative $50.
With both the Business and Aspire cards, you can earn a 2nd certificate if you spend a total of $60,000 per year—but we wouldn't recommend it. Even if you are capable of generating this amount of spending, you'll wind up paying too much for the certificate, especially since it will expire in only one year. You'll miss out on about $450 in rewards by spending enough to earn a second certificate on the Business version of the card, and about $600 in rewards by spending enough to earn a second certificate on the Aspire version of the card. The cheaper way to get multiple certificates is simply through one of the other cards (at an incremental cost of perhaps $250), and it is hard (but not impossible) to get more than $450-600 in value from one of these certificates.

Hyatt Certificates

Every year you have the Hyatt Credit Card, you’ll receive a certificate for a free night, that can be used at Category 1-4 hotels (out of 7). This corresponds to hotels that cost up to 15,000 Hyatt points per night per night during regular season, and 18,000 points per night during peak season. Hyatt Free Night Certificates.
You'll qualify for a second certificate, as soon as you spend $15,000 during your cardholder year. The opportunity cost of earning this certificate is around $100-120. So, if you are holding onto the card, and you are sure you will be able to use both certificates, it is usually worthwhile to try to use the card for $15,000 worth of spending.
You can earn a second certificate by spending $15,000 with the card, during the year. The opportunity cost for doing so is about $100-150. If you know you are able to use the certificate, it is typically worthwhile to try to earn the certificate.

Card	Reg. Points	Point "Value"	Required Spend	Effective Cost
Hyatt Card	15,000	$260	0	$95
2nd certificate	15,000	$260	$15,000	$115

Even if you don’t have the credit card, you’ll earn an Hyatt free night certificate when you reach 30 elite night credits each year, and when you stay at your 5th (and your 10th) Hyatt brands. The credits you earn from your Hyatt credit card count towards the 30 night cap. In addition, you’ll earn an “uncapped” certificate if you hit 60 nights.

There is no time limit for earning the certificates you get by staying in a variety of Hyatt brands. For example, if you stay in a Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Place, and Hyatt House over a period of a few years, and you complete a stay at a Hyatt Regency, you’ll immediately qualify for the extra certificate.

IHG Certificates

IHG Certificates can only be used for rooms that would cost up to 40,000 points per night. IHG is the loyalty program for several hotel chains, including InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, and Holiday Inn hotels. Up to recently, they could be used at any hotel, and were the best free night certificates available from any card. IHG Free Night Certificates.
Unless you still have the older IHG card, you can’t earn more than a single certificate each year. You’ll receive your certificate some time after you renew your cards.

Card	Points Cap	Point "Value"	Effective Cost
IHG Premier	40,000	$200	$89
IHG Select	40,000	$200	$49

You can sometimes use your IHG certificates even if rooms aren’t available for points. We’re not really sure why that is true, but if you want to use your certificate (at an eligible hotel), always try to make a “free night certificate” booking, even if the hotel isn’t showing regular points availability.

Which certificates are the best options?

Every one of these certificates (except perhaps the older Marriott Category 1-5 certificates) provide good value. But you don’t want to have too many certificates. So which ones are best?

If you like luxury hotels, make sure to get one or more of the Hilton certificates. They are the only ones you can use to stay at (almost) any of the program's hotels. With Hilton, that includes most of the luxury Waldorf Astoria and Conrad hotels, super-expensive ski lodges during peak ski season, and extravagant beach resorts around the world. Hilton certificates are one of the most effective ways to get a discounted night at a spectacular hotel. Excluded hotels.

The 50,000 point certificates from the Marriott Brilliant card is a good option for most people. It provides access to significantly nicer hotels than the other certificates, and once you factor in the card’s $250 annual credit, only costs a little more than the other cards.
The Chase, IHG, and Marriott cards are affected by the Chase 5/24 rule, so you may not be able to get them. If you've gotten at least 5 credit cards in the past 24 months, you can't get approved. If you've gotten fewer than 5 cards, you may want to use any available "slots" on more valuable cards. Dealing with the Chase 5/24 Rule.

If you've gotten at least 5 credit cards in the past 24 months, you can't get approved for any of these cards, and you'll need to stick with the Amex options (Hilton, Marriott Business and Marriott Brilliant). If you've gotten fewer than 5 cards, you may want to use any available "slots" on more valuable cards, instead of one of these cards.

The other Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG certificates are pretty similar. They are all limited to lower category hotels, and the are all affected by the Chase 5/24 rule. You can occasionally find opportunities to get rooms worth $200-400 per night with these "capped" certificates. The IHG certificates have a lower effective cost, the Hyatt certificates can often be used at somewhat nicer hotels, and the Marriott certificates can be frustrating during peak travel times.

If we felt like we only had a single available Chase 5/24 slot, we would most likely choose the Hyatt card. You are likely to be able to use it for a nicer hotel, and it is helpful to be have the option of getting a second certificate each year. The Marriott card would be the last choice of these three, partially because you can already earn Marriott certificates from the Amex-issued cards, and partially because of the lack of Category 4 or lower hotels in more desirable locations where you can use certificate during peak travel periods.

With the possible exception of the Hyatt certificate, it is usually easy to "unload" your certificate at a hotel that would cost $100-150 per night. All these hotel chains (except Hyatt) have literally thousands of hotels where you can use your certificate. If it doesn't look like you'll have the ability to use your certificate at one of the more valuable hotels, you can usually just use it when you are staying in a less expensive location, at an airport hotel at the beginning or ending of a trip, or for a quick weekend trip to a destination near where you live. You might not get a room night that is worth hundreds of dollars per night, but you should easily get more value than it cost to acquire the certificate.

Other options

Most people will be interested in one or more of the options from Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, or Hilton. But, there are also some additional options.

Total Rewards Credit Card Webpage

Total Reward Visa card. Total Rewards is the loyalty program of the Caesar’s and Harrah’s family of casinos. Their credit card comes with automatic Platinum status the first year. That status renews every year that you spend $5,000 on the card. Total Rewards Platinum status comes with the ability to book a complimentary 3-night stay at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas every year. For each night, you'll only need to pay the $50+tax resort fee and $5 per person gratuity.

The card has no annual fee, but you’ll miss out on about $75 in rewards, by spending $5,000 on the card, instead of taking advantage of your general purpose reward card.

Wyndham Credit Card Guide

Wyndham Rewards card. You can also get the free 3-night stay at Atlantis via the Wyndham Rewards card. It comes with Wyndham Platinum status, which will be automatically matched to Total Rewards Platinum status, and entitle you to the Atlantis benefit. There is no minimum spending requirement, but the card has a $75 annual fee.

Radisson Rewards Credit Card Guide

Radisson Rewards cards. These certificates only work at their US locations. Unfortunately, most of the Radisson Hotel Group's nicest hotels are in Europe. Unless you regularly travel to one of the few US locations that have super nice Radisson hotels, it is hard to get good value from these certificates. However, if you can make good use of these certificates, you can earn up to 3 per year per card (by spending a total of $30,000). Radisson Rewards Free Night Certificates

There are four different Radisson Rewards cards, so you could possibly earn up to 12 nights per year. With each of the cards, you’ll need to spend $10,000 per year, to qualify for the certificate. Depending on the card you use, you’ll earn 1x to 5x points on your spending, worth from .4 – 2%. So, for each $10,000 you spend, you’ll be giving up $50–200 in rewards, that you could have earned from your general-purpose reward card.

With annual-fees ranging from $0 - $75, the best value is the Premier Rewards card, with a $75 fee, and $50 worth of lost rewards.

Free night certificate tips

In most cases, you won't receive a certificate when you first get the card. One exception is the Hilton Aspire card which provides your first certificate as part of the signup bonus itself. With other cards, you’ll receive your certificate some time after you pay the fee to renew the card, or when you first meet any spending requirement. Note that you typically only receive anniversary certificates 1-2 months after your annual fee, so that you can’t receive the certificate and then quickly cancel the card to avoid paying the annual fee. However in some cases, you can downgrade the card after you receive your certificate, and get a partial refund.

Unfortunately, this means you can't wait until you have a specific trip planned to decide to get a credit card that provides annual free night certificates. You'll need to signup proactively.

It is helpful to get multiple certificates from the same program. If you only receive a single certificate each year, it can sometimes be hard to use conveniently. If you choose an expensive hotel to use your certificate, and you need to stay more than one night, you’ll either need to switch hotels or pay a lot for the additional nights.
Spending enough money to qualify for a certificate is a better deal during the initial year. You will have already spent a bunch of money in order to qualify for the signup bonus. For example, if you spent $2,000 to earn the signup bonus on the Hilton Surpass card, you will only need to spend an additional $13,000 to earn the signup bonus. Because the Hilton card's spending requirements are calendar year based, it is best to signup for the card earlier in the year, to give you more time to spend the full $15,000.
If you would struggle to meet the spending requirement, it may be worthwhile to leverage an option that allows you to shift more of your spending to your credit cards. For example, you could use Plastiq to shift your rent or mortgage payments to your credit card. You'll typically pay a fee of around 2.5% to increase your spending in this way, but you'll receive extra points along with your certificate. For example, if you spent the full $15,000 to earn the Hilton certificate, you'd pay $375, but you'd earn 45,000 Hilton points, worth $160, plus a certificate good at any hotel. Pay Any Bill with a Credit Card (To Increase Your Credit Card Spending).
Your stay needs to take place within 12 months of receiving your certificate. This is the biggest drawback of free night certificates. If you have a certificate that is about to expire, you can try calling in, tell them you are having a problem, and see if they can extend the certificate date. You might get lucky—just don't count on it.
Don't get too many certificates. You want to make sure that you have natural opportunities to use your certificates every year. If you get too many certificates and you need to let one expire, you're wasting money. Scale slowly, so you can gauge how many certificates you can comfortably use each year.
ALWAYS use your certificate, rather than points, for hotels in the certificate's highest category. For example, if you are staying at an IHG hotel that costs 40,000 points or a Marriott hotel that costs 35,000 points, you should use your certificate (if you have one). It is worth holding onto a Hyatt certificate if you know you'll have a chance to use it for an 18,000 point peak night, but you might typically use it whenever you have the opportunity to save the regular 15,000 points. Certificates are less flexible and expire more quickly than points, and you can never get more value than using one at the maximum point limit. However, if rooms are not very expensive, you may want to pay cash, and save both your certificate and your points for a later stay.
In any event, don’t hold onto your certificates for too long. Unless you already have a trip planned, where you know you will get better value from your hotel certificates, considering using them whenever you have an opportunity, even if it is not at the highest possible category hotel. Many people decide to hold onto them, hoping to get more value later in the year, and then wind up not getting a chance to use them before the expire. A bird in the hand...
If you have a spouse/partner, you can each get cards and earn twice as many certificates. t is usually better to spread your applications across the year, to spread out the expiration dates. You can use certificates from different people to book multiple nights in a row, and then have the front-desk link the reservations, so that you don’t have to switch rooms.
You’ll keep any certificates in your account, even if you cancel your credit card. Just like any points you earn, they are associated with your loyalty account, not with your card.