The Cons of Free Hotel Night Certificates | New

However, cardholders may not know how difficult it can be to redeem these free night rewards. They expire. They are mired in limitations, as some properties are completely ineligible, and other reservations are also ineligible for certain nights. And they are often subject to blackout dates.

Before you decide to pursue a hotel card with this benefit, whether it’s offered as part of a sign-up bonus or an ongoing benefit, here’s what you need to know — and, perhaps, do instead.

Here are the unintended drawbacks you might face if you add credit cards with free hotel nights to your wallet.

It is relatively easy to keep Hotel Points active since any earning or redemption activity will extend their expiration date. However, free night awards at Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott all expire 12 months after issuance. Period. Nothing will extend their expiration date.

Hilton’s COVID-19 policy is still in effect, so if you still have a free night certificate issued from May 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, your certificate is valid for 24 months. All certificates issued in 2021 will expire on December 31, 2022. Once these certificates are depleted, Hilton Free Night Award expirations will revert to 12 months from date of issue.

When you book reward nights with travel rewards, the cost of the room in points is exactly what you will pay when redeeming. So if a room costs 30,000 points, you will pay that exact amount.

However, when redeeming a free night award, you will not recover any points if you redeem the award for a hotel night that costs less in points.

This may give the impression that you are not getting your money’s worth.

Rita King, a traveler who lives in Warrensburg, Missouri, found herself in a similar situation with her IHG Anniversary Night Certificate.

“Part of the problem is that I want a good exchange, so I don’t think I’ll use the certificates when we spend a night, for example, at the airport – even though I realize that saving money or points is worth better than missing out on using the advantage,” she says.

Hilton and Hyatt free night awards can only be used on standard rooms, which are more basic than deluxe or premium offerings. Also, some brands don’t allow you to use a free night award during a popular time period (i.e. holiday season or other peak travel season). Finally, different hotel brands offer different “types of rewards”, which may further limit your options for redeeming free certificates.

Let’s take a closer look at Hyatt award-winning stays. Only standard rooms can be booked, and only during off-peak nights and standard price nights. Say you want to stay at the Andaz San Diego (a Category 4 hotel) in July 2023. Hyatt Category 4 hotels cost 12,000, 15,000, and 18,000 points for off-peak, standard, and peak nights, respectively.

Since the free night certificate can only be used on standard rooms for off-peak and standard rates, you can only use it when the hotel price is 12,000 or 15,000 points per night.

So, if you have two Hyatt free nights and want to stay at the Andaz San Diego for three nights starting July 13, 2022, you will only be able to use your free night on the first night. The other nights must be paid in points or cash.

“The other issue with free night certificates is finding a hotel that’s both under 40,000 points and available on the dates we need,” says King.

You might also run into a situation where the hotel simply won’t allow you to use the free night award, which is exactly what happened to Florida-based Angela Sparks. She accumulated several Marriott free night awards but was unable to use them during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Marriott had extended the certificates, by the time the new expiration date rolled around, Sparks and her husband still didn’t feel comfortable traveling.

When they were finally ready to make the trip, the hotels they chose didn’t accept the free nights.

“Although the certificates were worth 50,000 and 60,000 points each and the nightly rate at the hotel was 50,000 points, the property did not accept the free night certificates, wanting us to use points instead,” says Sparks.

Hilton credit cardholders who earn free night certificates can use them at any eligible property as long as a standard (not premium) reward is available. These credit card offers usually grant one free night per year unless you meet high spending requirements to earn additional certificates.

Hilton brands range from basic to luxury, so when you apply for Hilton-branded credit cards, you might be quick to dream of ambitious buyouts at properties like the Conrad Bora Bora Nui or the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi.

A nightly rate at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi can cost upwards of $2,000 per night, or 150,000 points per night. Hilton’s Free Night Award will cover this, as long as a standard award is available.

While using your free night certificate at this hotel can be a great way to splurge, what are you going to do after one night—go home? The Maldives is in the Indian Ocean, so it’s not exactly an ideal choice for a short weekend getaway from the US. Plus, food and drink at such luxury properties are going to be expensive, so even if a nightly rate is covered, you need to spend some money.

While this is just an example, consider how realistic it will be for you to use the certificate at a high-end hotel (if that’s your goal) – not to mention the other costs you’ll incur. sign up to take advantage of this “free benefit”.

Hotel points generally have no limit beyond possible expiration. If you have points, you can use them to pay for a room. Free night certificates, on the other hand, always have an expiration date and are subject to numerous limitations.

Instead of applying for hotel credit cards that offer free night certificates, opt for ones that offer a hotel points welcome offer, which are much more flexible. Plus, there are several ways to earn extra hotel points after getting the sign-up bonus, so it will be much easier to use your points for free nights.

The Downsides of Hotel Free Night Certificates article originally appeared on NerdWallet.