- Day 1 – What’s Travel Hacking all about?
- Day 2 – Getting Organized
- Day 3 – Types of Miles and Points
- Day 4 – Credit Card Strategy
- Day 5 – Southwest Companion Pass
- Day 6 – Business Credit Cards
In the ‘Types of Miles and Points’ lesson, we learned that certain credit card (Chase IHG, Chase Hyatt) earn points at hotel chains. While some of these credit cards come with a certain amount of points as a sign-up bonus, other come with free nights at the hotel. Free nights can be an AMAZING value – sometimes worth more than points.
Sign-Up Bonus Free Nights
Here is a current (as of this writing) sign-up offer for Chase Hyatt that is pretty typical:
So after spending $2000 in 3 months and paying the $75 annual fee, you will receive 2 free nights at ANY Hyatt hotel in the world. You might as well use them at amazing properties. Here are a few examples of how I used my free nights:
Park Hyatt Maldives (January 2017)
Just under $1500/night x 2 nights = $3000 value. **See more photos here**
Park Hyatt New York (December 2016)
$1267/night x 2 nights = $2534
Free night certificates are NOT limited to just Hyatt. American Express regularly offers free night certificates with Hilton too.
Annual Certificates
There are two hotel credit cards that I keep and pay the annual fee year after year because they offer a free annual certificate – Chase Hyatt and Chase IHG.
Chase IHG
While Chase’s old IHG Rewards Club card was by far my favorite credit card since it offered a free night certificate good at ANY property every single year you paid the $49 annual fee, all great things must come to an end.
In April 2018, Chase introduced a new version of the IHG credit card (IHG Rewards Premier) and capped the free anniversary night to hotels that cost 40,000 points or less. They also increased the fee to $89/year. While not as great as an uncapped anniversary night with a lower annual fee, I still think this is a good deal. The new Premier card also gives you automatic Platinum Elite status and gives you a fourth night free benefit when using points (use points for a three night stay and the fourth is FREE).
Pro Tip:
If you have a partner or spouse, it’s best to apply for cards at the same time so you will both get your free annual night certificate at the same time each year so you can use them on back to back nights for a weekend getaway.
The certificate expires one year from when you earned it, but you only have to make a reservation before it expires, not actually complete the stay.
Let me show you how to turn this into a 4 night stay. Assume you and your spouse were approved for the card in April 2018. In May 2019 you both received your free night in your IHG account and keep it there until April 2020. In late April 2020, you go ahead and book a hotel for August 25th, 2020 and your spouse books August 26th, 2020 using your free night certificates you earned first.
Wait a couple weeks until May 2020 and receive two more certificates, now you can increase your 2 night stay to 4 nights by booking August 23rd, 24th, 27th or 28th.
Intercontinental Bangkok
Chase Hyatt
While not as great at the Chase IHG, the Chase Hyatt credit card also offers an annual free night certificate. I say it’s not as good because the free night certificate is limited to Category 1-4 Hyatts. Category 7 is the highest for Hyatt. The annual fee is also a little higher at $75/year. And finally you have to book and use the free night certificate before it expires (unlike IHG where you only have to book it).
But, there are still some amazing properties that you can use the free annual night certificate at. The one Category 4 (15,000 pts/night) Hyatt property on my to do list is the Andaz Papagoya Resort in Costa Rica. It looks amazing:
Andaz Papagoya Resort – Costa Rica
Here is a list of credit cards that offer annual night certificates:
| Card | Annual Fee | Details |
|---|---|---|
| American Express Hilton Honors Ascend | $95 | Earn a Weekend Night Reward after you spend $15,000 in a calendar year |
| American Express Hilton Honors Aspire | $450 | Earn a Weekend Night Reward after renewal every year. Also earn an additional night after you spend $60,000 in a calendar year |
| American Express Starwood Preferred Guest | $95 | Receive Free Night Award (35,000 points or less) every year after your Card account anniversary |
| American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury | $450 | Receive Free Night Award (50,000 points or less) every year after your Card account anniversary |
| Chase IHG Premier | $89 | Free night at any IHG property (up to 40,000 points) every card year annivesary |
| Chase Word of Hyatt | $95 | Free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt every card year anniversary |
| Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus | $95 | Free night at any Marriott property (up to 35,000 points) every card year anniversary |
| Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Business | $99 | Free night at any Marriott property (up to 35,000 points) every card year anniversary |
| US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature | $75 | Earn one Free Night E-Cert for each $10,000 in spend, up to $30,000, then renew your card |
| US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature | $50 | Earn one Free Night E-Cert for each $10,000 in spend, up to $30,000, then renew your card |
| US Bank Radisson Rewards Visa | $0 | Earn one Free Night E-Cert for each $10,000 in spend, up to $30,000, then renew your card |
| US Bank Radisson Rewards Business Visa | $60 | Earn one Free Night E-Cert for each $10,000 in spend, up to $30,000, then renew your card |
Need to Knows
- Don’t hesitate to sign-up for credit cards that offer free hotel nights as a sign-up bonus – you can can get tremendous value (over $3000!)
- Typically the free nights sign-up bonus expires in a year so have a plan to use them
- A credit card’s annual night certificate can more than make up for the credit card’s annual fee
