If you Google ‘How to Maximize Hotel Promotions’ virtually every result is focused on explaining how to increase bookings for hotel owners.
But if you’re a frequent traveler maximizing promotions is a subject of crucial importance. Even if you’re only making 3-4 short trips a year you could be leaving some free nights on the table by not paying attention to hotel promotions or not making the most of them.
In the US there are six major, nationwide hotel chains that run promos usually on about a quarterly basis. Some hotel promotions may be on a shorter, overlapping time scale but generally around the time a chain ends an ongoing promotion a new one will be set to begin shortly after.
I recently detailed how I collected 200,000 Hilton Honors Points in two weeks. Earlier this month I earned 33,300 IHG One Rewards Points in a week and 10,000 Wyndham Points in two nights without a credit card. So as little as 2-3 nights can be enough to get you a free night if you’re planning carefully. Here’s a list of all the ways I make the most of hotel promotions.
1: Find Hotel Promotions Online
You can’t claim a hotel promotion if you don’t know it’s happening. Step one is to check all six of the big chains before you book. If you don’t find anything terribly exciting you might want to check smaller chains like Sonesta and Best Western as well. For a trip overseas Accor Hotels is worth looking into.
If you’re a more frequent traveler and have some brand preferences you may already be receiving news of new promotions in your inbox. Belonging to most or all of the loyalty programs and being opted in to emails is especially important because some promotions are targeted and may just be going to members on the mailing list.
I track promotions on a spreadsheet so I can see at a glance what’s available at the time of booking.
2: Read the Fine Print
It’s important to take a minute to scan the conditions of these offers as they do very a lot. Some offers are just available for a single booking and some are unlimited throughout the promotional period.
Most offers are broadly applicable but some exclude certain hotel brands or regions of the world. Most also require that users register in advance to claim the offer. This is typically a simple one-click process but you have to be sure you actually do it.
3: Prioritize Available Hotel Promotions
Now that you know what’s out there it’s time to decide which offers are the most valuable or at least the most useful for you. If you’ve already got a store of points with one or two chains the ability to add to it is a big thumb on the scale versus starting from zero in a new program. But if the new program will give you enough points for a free night after one stay, that may well be the better offer.
It’s also crucial to know what points are worth. I like to use the Frequent Miler Reasonable Redemption Values Chart for this purpose. It’s updated periodically and sets a realistic expectation for earning and redeeming points. Note: the point values have no correlation to hotel quality. They’re just a measure of the value obtained vs. cash for the same booking.
Personally I think if you’re traveling frequently or living in hotels like I am then maximizing the number of nights you can pay $0 in a year is the most important goal. Quality is less important as long as some basic minimum standards are in place.
4: Two is Better Than One: Stack Hotel Promotions
In the examples I cited in the intro I was able to earn points in the tens of thousands on short stays because multiple hotel promotions were being offered simultaneously. Corporate points promotions usually do stack with each other. If you can take advantage of two at a time the deals can turn into free nights quickly.
So now I’m on the gravy train and staying at Hiltons and Holiday Inns for free right? Not so fast…
5: Never Redeem Free Nights During a Promo
Okay maybe not never but in the case of IHG right now they’re giving out double elite nights, 1500 points a night, and 3000 more points at five select brands until the end of the year, more than two months away. So if you’re trying to pile up the points it makes sense to get them while the getting is good.
Of course if rates are up on the dates you need and all that’s on offer is one or two thousand points it makes sense to book with points instead. Cash is king, after all.
6: Use a Hotel Branded Credit Card
If you travel several times a year you’ve probably developed a preference for one or two chains over the others. If you find yourself choosing from the same chain’s brands it’s worth holding one of their credit cards. Many people like to hold hotel cards like the Chase IHG Premier because they confer elite status and because the annual free night is often worth more than the annual fee.
But even without these considerations, paying at a hotel with its own card will really boost the points you earn. In the 7 days I spent in IHG hotels recently I earned 8872 points just from the credit card. That’s not quite enough for a free night but it’s in the ballpark.
7: Attempt a Status Match at Every Stay
If you have at least one hotel credit card it probably confers some level of status. Some cards like the Hilton Aspire or Wyndham Earner Business confer the top level of status permanently. But you don’t need a top level to gain some real benefits.
One of the most valuable and underrated aspects of holding elite status is earning bonus points on paid stays. The amount of points varies depending on the program and the level you achieve. But if you were set to earn 2000 points a night and you can earn 4000 instead that adds up quickly.
I recently achieved the top tier in Choice’s program by matching from the status that comes with the IHG Premier card. I then stayed in a Cambria and submitted the receipt via email to get diamond status. That two night Cambria stay cost $106 a night and earned 11,100 points total worth about $74.
8: Stack With Merchant Offers
While all points promos require booking directly, other discounts are sometimes available. Often the source of these is the credit card you use to pay. If you’re not using the hotel’s card, check your own credit card’s ‘offers’ section online or in its app.
My next stay booked with Chase will get me a bonus of 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points on my Chase Sapphire Preferred. Worth $125 in the Chase portal, that’s enough for a free night after a four night stay. I’m also using the $50 annual credit that comes with the card to bring the price down further.
If your credit card is offering some percentage back with the merchant those are still dollars you’ll earn points on. The rebate comes from the credit card issuer.
9: Stack With Milestone Rewards
After that stay I’ll book four nights at a Hilton property. That will get me 2500 bonus points with the current hotel promotion. It’ll also trigger the quarterly credit of $50 on my Hilton Surpass card. Also it will award me a milestone bonus of 10,000 points because it’s my 40th night this year.
Likewise with IHG I’ve currently got two milestone selections to make, either 10,000 points total, food and beverage credits, or suite upgrades. The points are the least valuable but may also be the easiest and most practical.
If you’re receiving a number of elite night credits for holding a credit card and also taking advantage of double elite credit promotions, 40 nights a year is a much easier number to hit than it sounds like. Remember, the nights you stay on points count too. You could conceivably get credited for 40 nights while only paying for 10-12, and that’s without an employer paying for any nights.
10: Fourth or Fifth Night Free
Marriott and Hilton offer your fifth night free on award stays. IHG offers your fourth night free. In the case of IHG they average the points needed four four nights and knock off 25%. With Hilton and Marriott you can maximize by ensuring your fifth night would be the most expensive to book points-wise.
With any of these programs it mostly makes sense to stay in multiples of four or five nights. If you need six or seven nights it probably makes more sense to book the last night with cash, particularly if there’s a promotion going that gives you something for a 1-2 night stay. The hotel can probably combine the reservations and not make you switch rooms.
11: Don’t Be Afraid to Split Your Stay
The promotion I’m staying on now is ‘stay two nights earn 8000 points’ at the Cambria Dania Beach. If I needed more than two nights the smart thing to do would be to stroll on over to the Comfort Suites next door and collect another 8000 points for the next two nights. To reach the maximum three stays in the fine print I could come back to Cambria again for two more days and have 24,000 bonus points in less than a week.
This can be a bit inconvenient as opposed to a six night stay in one room. But if you plan it out it’s not so bad. Most hotels hold luggage for you if you haven’t got a car. If you have status you can often ask for late check out/early check in for free. Even without status, sometimes they just feel like being nice if you ask for late check out the night before.
Go have lunch and hit the beach or a museum. Then check in to the new hotel afterwards. The key is picking two hotels that are close to each other. You can also use the pool/gym in either hotel in the afternoon. They just want you out of the room so they can clean it.
12: Only Stay the Minimum Required Nights
This isn’t a hard and fast rule but if you really want to maximize point earning the way to do it is to not overstay the offer. If they give out 10,000 points for a 3 night stay then you’re not getting any bonus for nights 4 and 5. If you can split your stay and go somewhere that will give you additional bonus points for those nights, it’s very much worth considering.
Alternatively you might want to stay the 3 nights and then use points to stay two more nights in the same hotel for free. Earn and Burn is the name of the game when you’re not chasing luxury stays.
13: Earn Cheap, Redeem Expensive
Many who pursue the points and miles hobby enjoy using rewards to stay at aspirational properties that they couldn’t afford otherwise. That’s a valid approach but for those of us spending a month or more in hotels each year it’s possible to earn points at a much faster rate than the occasional vacationer.
One point both approaches share is that you should spend as little as possible to acquire points and redeem them for the best value possible. For frequent travelers that doesn’t mean luxury as much as it means using points in more expensive cities or on in-demand dates.
But whatever your approach, if Marriott is offering 2000 bonus points that number is the same whether you earn the points at the Waldorf Astoria or the Fairfield Inn. Same with bonus elite nights.
14: Plan Your Redemptions
As you’re picking up points throughout the year you should be thinking in advance about what might be the best way to use them. As mentioned above some points are best redeemed in four or 5 night blocks. But others; Choice, Wyndham and Best Western in particular, can be earned and burned 1-3 nights at a time.
Maybe you’re planning a move and want to stay between houses. Or a relative is coming to town and you want to put them up somewhere. You’re doing a road trip and want to stay overnight. You need one night by an airport before a flight. These are the cases where points from the less expensive chains really shine. A few months ago I earned over 16,000 Wyndham points on a three night stay. That’s enough for a free night at one of their mid-tier properties or two free nights at a basic property.
Some people find it convenient to use a site like AwardWallet to track their various point balances. No matter what you’re doing it helps to have a general idea how to best utilize what’s available to you.
15: Consider the End of the Year
Year-end is a big time in travel. While you’re earning with hotel promotions in the Spring it’ll help you to consider where you might like to be around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years’.
If you’re getting near to an increased tier of elite status year-end travel is even more crucial. By the end of Summer you should know which programs are giving you rollover nights and how many nights you need to get to the shiny tiers. Ideally you want to have the maximum amount of rollover nights possible if you can’t easily reach status this year. The best thing to do is reach a higher tier in January with rollover nights. That way you can either have that status for two years or have the maximum head start on to the next level.
16: Dine On-Property
This tip isn’t crucial but if you’re looking to earn the maximum points then buying some meals at the hotel can make that points total a little gaudier when it hits your account.
Eating on-site can really pay off if you’re using the hotel’s credit card to buy your room. If you’ve got a card that awards 10x for brand spend and you spend $100 on food over the course of a 3-4 night stay that’s an extra 1000 points from card spend plus 500 for the amount added to the room charge. It’s money you were going to spend anyway so if the dining options aren’t spectacular nearby you might as well take the convenience of dining at the hotel, along with the extra points.
17: Never Stay at a Half-Points Property
Marriott only awards half the usual amount of points for stays at a Residence Inn or Townplace Suites hotel. Hilton gives half points at Tru and Home2 Suites. IHG Gives half points at Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.
In many cases these hotels are the same price as competing hotels nearby. The half point brands are marketed as low-cost alternatives but the cost is seldom low enough to give up the points, not to mention any drops in quality or service you might experience.
18: Never Stay in an AirBnB
There’s a lot wrong with the vacation rental business. But staying in someone’s house means you earn zero rewards.
19: Take Advantage of Extras
Often hotels will offer some amount of extra points for using express check out or digital keys in the app. The reward for something like that is typically a few hundred points. Sometimes they’ll have someone in the lobby or breakfast area trying to generate leads for time shares. This isn’t the same as a full time share pitch. If you just be nice to this person they’ll toss you a few hundred points. Points are often available as a check in amenity as well.
You can also ask for points if anything goes wrong. Even something small. If an employee can make you happy and resolve an issue with a few points they’re glad to do it. If you can manage to do all of these in a one night stay you might double the points you’ve earned.
20: Double Check Your Booking
Cash rates can sometimes decrease as the date of your stay approaches. Because some programs maintain a direct relationship between the room rate and the points required, the price in points can drop as well.
Check two weeks, a week, and two days before your stay. Cancellation policies for reservations made with points are usually very good and the points are refunded quickly. It’s possible you might redeem 90,000 points for a stay and be able to book it again last minute for 70,000. This is especially true if the destination is affected by poor weather or another unforeseen event.
21: Never Buy Points
Yeah I know. Never say never. It can make sense to buy points to top off your account or for a specific stay where cash rates are high. But in a year of living in hotels I haven’t found buying points to be useful or beneficial, even at their lowest sale prices.
If you’re traveling several times a year and using all the strategies laid out here you should be earning enough points for a free night after about 4-5 paid nights, and maybe less.
Most travelers will find they see the best results focusing on two hotel programs: one primary and one backup. Actively collecting too many types of points can result in all of them having less utility and value. In most cases the best thing to do is to look at your two favorite programs and decide which has the better current hotel promotion. If you’re able to max that one out while it’s ongoing, switch to the backup program for your next stay.
