Airfare is normally the biggest value when people get into the world of free travel. There’s no denying that. You can get enormous value when you use points for free flights, especially in business class. However, to ignore the free hotels would be like scraping the icing off of a cake just to eat the cake!
At Travel Freely, we’re all about maximizing rewards. So, we believe in using points primarily for airfare. However, if you don’t travel often, or you already have a good amount of points stored up for flights, you want to be thinking about free hotels.
There are some great hotel programs out there. This article will focus on three of them: Hyatt, Hilton, and Marriott,
HYATT EXAMPLES
In 2016, Hyatt had a bonus for 2 free nights at any Hyatt in the world. My wife and I both got this card and thus had 4 nights. Hyatt is extra amazing because the free nights normally comp resort fees AND taxes. (Note: there is a new card called Chase World of Hyatt card)
When we stayed at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands in Carmel, CA, our bill should have been $1,426.00. But, it was $0.00. No taxes. No valet fees. Nothing. Wow. Carmel is an amazing place in and of itself, but to stay at a 5-star hotel for $0 is a whole lot of icing on the free travel cake.
The lushly landscaped pool at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands.
Across the street from the Hyatt Carmel Highlands.
We didn’t even pay taxes!
This also happened at the incredible Royal Palms Resort in Scottsdale, AZ, part of the Unbound Collection by Hyatt. When we checked in, we were upgraded to a Valencia Casita room. There were no resort fees. All tips and parking fees were included. The orange snickerdoodles in the lobby were quite tasty, too. Two free nights and no extra fees or taxes. And in both cases, our room was upgraded, too.
The grounds at the Royal Palms are hard to beat.
Upgraded Casita at the Hyatt Royal Palms comes with a peaceful front patio.
Hyatt recap:
Hyatt Carmel Highlands in Carmel, CA
Retail price for 2 nights = $1,426.00 including taxes.
Our Price = $0.00
Royal Palms Resort in Scottsdale, AZ
Retail price for 2 nights = $973.42 including taxes.
Our Price = $0.00
Also, Hyatt has an anniversary night (Category 1-4 hotels) when you pay your annual fee of $95. Some people don’t like annual fees and will cancel or downgrade a card to avoid them. Read Being Strategic About Upcoming Annual Fees for more info. We like paying these fees because we get great value out of these free Hyatt nights, and it forces us to use them. =)
You can’t get the category 5-7 hotels with the anniversary night, but you can get some great value. For example, we stayed 2 nights at the Hyatt Santa Barbara.
Check out more information on the Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card.
This is a two-tiered signup bonus with the first bonus being 30,000 points earned after spending $3,000 on the card within the first 3 months. The second bonus offer is dependent on how much you spend, where you'll earn 2x points per dollar spent in the first 6 months (on purchases that normally earn 1x point), on up to $15,000 spent.
The beach across the street from the Hyatt in Santa Barbara.
MARRIOTT EXAMPLES
On the same California trip when we stayed at the Hyatt in Santa Barbara, we drove south and spent 2 nights at the Marriott hotel The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. This hotel is 35 minutes north of San Diego and a few miles inland. A small town of 3,000 people, Rancho Santa Fe was laid out by a famous architect in 1921. It is also home to the famous Del Mar horse racetrack. The closest beach is gorgeous, in the town of Del Mar, about 15 minutes away. We spent two nights here in casita style villas.
For The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, we used 2 free hotel nights we received as a welcome offer for an Amex SPG (now Marriott) Business card. We had to pay a $25/day resort fee, but everything else was covered.
The town square at Rancho Santa Fe filled with quaint restaurants and a charming bakery.
Walkway up to the lobby at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe.
The second Marriott example is from our stay in Kauai, Hawaii. We highlighted our whole Hawaii trip in How We Did It: 6 Days and 5 Nights in Hawaii. On that trip, we got 5 free nights at the Kauai Sheraton at Poipu Beach. It was an incredible stay. We did have to pay resort fees and taxes, but the savings on the room was substantial. Marriott runs various promotions, and we were able to get the 5th night free when we booked 4 nights.
We still had to pay state taxes ($1.25/night) and a resort fee ($30/night), which came out to $156.25 for the whole stay.
Sunrise at the Sheraton Kauai
Sheraton Kauai, beachside with the pool and palapas in the background
Total price in Hawaii was $156.25, which were resort fees and taxes (we charged $46.75 worth of food).
MARRIOTT Recap:
The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe
Retail price for 2 nights = $908.00
Our cost = $50.00 (resort fees)
Kauai Sheraton at Poipu Beach
Retail price for 5 nights = $1,656.25 with taxes and fees.
Our cost = $156.25
Check out another great use of Marriott points in my post on Our $0 Free Mexico (W Hotel – Punta de Mita) trip. Learn more about any of the Marriott Bonvoy cards:
The Marriott Business Amex card offers several perks for those who love to stay at Marriott hotels. Certain hotels have resort fees. Terms apply.
With an annual fee of $650, perks include Platinum status, dining credits and a free night award annually (after your card renewal month). This is a very intriguing card for those looking for instant status and a lot of Marriott benefits. Terms Apply.
With this unique offer, you'll earn 3 free night awards (up to 50,000 points per night). The free nights expire 12 months after they are earned. This is a solid card from Marriott, plus there are many benefits, such as the annual free night certificate you receive on each account anniversary.
HILTON EXAMPLES
Hilton is normally valued at the lower end for redemption value compared to Hyatt and Marriott. However, they usually offer high welcome bonuses so you can still get some good value in free hotel stays. Two examples are from our trip to Arizona, and 24-hour trip to San Francisco for a Coldplay concert.
Sedona is pretty pricey in high season for hotels. You could do day trips from Scottsdale or Phoenix, but that’s quite a drive. So, we were glad to have Hilton points to stay for 2 nights at the Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock. The scenery of Sedona and the surrounding hikes were far more beautiful than the grounds at the hotel, but we thoroughly enjoyed our free 2-night stay.
The Hilton Sedona at Bell Rock is located at the beginning of some incredibly scenic drives. (Photo: Hilton.com)
The scenery in Sedona is reminiscent of Zion National Park in Utah
When you can travel for free, epic moments can present themselves. My friend Reid and I are huge Coldplay fans. Since we both had Southwest miles, I threw out the idea of meeting up in San Francisco for Coldplay’s final show of their A Head Full of Dreams U.S. tour.
I was excited when I saw that Hilton had a hotel (Hilton Santa Clara by Levi’s Stadium) within walking distance of the concert. The retail price was something crazy like $450 + taxes for the night. But we were able to use points to get the room completely free. So we soaked it up, went to the VIP lounge for some treats before the show, and didn’t have to worry about driving or parking. It was awesome.
The view from our hotel before walking over to the Coldplay concert.
HILTON Recap:
Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock
Retail price for 2 nights = $691.36
Our price = $85.44 (Resort fees and taxes)
Hilton Santa Clara by Levi’s Stadium
Retail price for 1 night = $522.00
Our price = $31.00 in taxes.
Learn more about any of the Hilton cards:
If you stay at Hilton properties throughout the year, you should really consider this high-end card. Lots of great benefits with a total value that exceeds the higher annual fee. Annual Free Night Reward upon signup and every year upon renewal. Terms apply.
For those who love Hilton, this is a great option for a welcome offer and an easy way to get and/or keep Hilton Gold status. Know that Hilton points are lower in value relative to other rewards programs, so don't be enamored by the big earning bonuses. Terms apply.
Limited time offer ends 6/5/24. This is a great business card for those who love Hilton. Terms apply.
This is a great no-fee card for Hilton fans. Terms apply.
How we earned the points:
For all of these stays, we used points or free night awards from spending bonuses that we received from credit cards. Each bonus took roughly 60-90 days of normal spending to earn. We didn’t over-extend our spending to earn these rewards. We were smart about the cards we wanted and made sure to put all of our regular spending on the cards. Over the span of three years, we received the following bonuses for these stays:
In Summary
Taking 4-star and 5-star vacations can be as simple as getting a few extra welcome bonuses on hotel cards. While you can normally get some great deals at hotels.com or priceline.com for hotels, free rooms allow your budget to go even further. You can eat out more or extend your vacation.
Total: 16 nights in Hyatt, Marriott, or Hilton Hotels
Retail Cost of Hotels = $6,527.03
Actual Cost = $322.69
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