Last week, Kara and I redeemed a “free night certificate” that we earned through our IHG credit card for a free night at the Intercontinental Singapore. Rooms in this hotel usually cost between $400 – $500 per night, and we stayed there completely free!
For those of you who aren’t familiar with free night certificates, let me explain… Many hotel chains offer some form of free night certificates that can be redeemed for a free night at one of their hotels (usually with some restrictions). The easiest way to earn these free night certificates is by signing up for hotel credit cards.
After receiving such awesome value from our most recent free night certificate, it got me thinking… Which other hotel credit cards offer free night certificates, and how can I maximize the value of these free nights. After hours of research, I have compiled a list of 9 travel credit cards that offer free night certificates.
Most of the cards offer free nights on your cardmember anniversary. Basically what that means is you won’t receive the free night during the first year you sign up for the card, but every year when you renew your card membership by paying the annual fee, you’ll be rewarded with a free night. Many of the cards listed below are worth signing up for and keeping forever, because the value of the free night easily outweighs the value of the annual fee.
On the other hand, some credit card companies make you “earn” your free night by spending a certain amount of money on the card. The Hilton cards listed below are a good example of “earned” free nights.
Before you dive into the list, let me explain the 4 criteria I have listed for each card below.
- Annual Fee – This is the fee you must pay every year to renew your card membership.
- Free Night Details – This is what you need to do to earn the free night certificate.
- Free Night Restrictions – These are the restrictions you need to be aware of when redeeming the free night certificate.
- Maximize the Value of Your Free Night at These Properties: I took into account the restrictions of each free night certificate, and I listed 5 properties where you can use the certificate to get the maximum value.
If you find this post valuable and decide to sign up for a hotel credit card, you can support our work by using the links in this post to start your credit card application process. We’ll earn a commission that will motivate us to continue writing more helpful guides like this one 🙂
Without further ado, let’s jump into the list of awesome hotel credit cards that offer free night certificates!
Truly Free Nights (all you have to do is pay the annual fee)
1. IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
Annual Fee: $99
Free Night Details: Receive 1 free night certificate each year after your account anniversary
Free Night Restrictions: Only valid at IHG® Hotels with a current point redemption level of 40,000 points or less
Maximize the Value of Your Free Night at These Properties:
1. InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa
2. InterContinental Bangkok
2. InterContinental Prague
4. InterContinental Doha, Qatar
5. InterContinental Aqaba, Jordan
2. Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
Annual Fee: $95 (waived the first year)
Free Night Details: Receive 1 free night certificate each year after your account anniversary
Free Night Restrictions: Only valid at SPG/Marriott hotels with a current point redemption level of 35,000 points or less
Maximize the Value of Your Free Night at These Properties:
1. The St. Regis Bangkok
2. Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Midtown West
3. The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, Miami
4. JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa
5. JW Marriott Chicago
Search for other Marriott/SPG Hotels by category here.
3. Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express
Annual Fee: $95 (waived the first year)
Free Night Details: Receive 1 free night certificate each year after your account anniversary.
Free Night Restrictions: Only valid at SPG/Marriott hotels with a current point redemption level of 35,000 points or less
Maximize the Value of Your Free Night at These Properties:
1. The St. Regis Bangkok
2. Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Midtown West
3. The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, Miami
4. JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa
5. JW Marriott Chicago
Search for other Marriott/SPG Hotels by category here.
4. Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card
Annual Fee: $95
Free Night Details: Receive 1 free night certificate each year after your account anniversary.
Free Night Restrictions: Only valid at SPG/Marriott hotels with a current point redemption level of 35,000 points or less
Maximize the Value of Your Free Night at These Properties:
1. The St. Regis Bangkok
2. Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Midtown West
3. The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, Miami
4. JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa
5. JW Marriott Chicago
5. Marriott Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card
Visit our credit cards page to compare cards
Annual Fee: $99
Free Night Details: Receive 1 free night certificate each year after your account anniversary.
Free Night Restrictions: Only valid at SPG/Marriott hotels with a current point redemption level of 35,000 points or less
Maximize the Value of Your Free Night at These Properties:
1. The St. Regis Bangkok
2. Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Midtown West
3. The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, Miami
4. JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa
5. JW Marriott Chicago
6. The World of Hyatt Credit Card
Annual Fee: $95
Free Night Details: Receive 1 free night certificate each year after your account anniversary. Plus, receive an additional free night if you spend $15,000 on the card during a calendar year.
Free Night Restrictions: Only valid at category 1-4 Hyatt hotels and resorts
Maximize the Value of Your Free Night at These Properties:
1. Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo
2. Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf San Francisco
3. Andaz Xintiandi, Shanghai
4. Grand Hyatt Washington
5. Hyatt Residence Club Sedona, Piñon Pointe
7. Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express
Visit our credit cards page to compare cards
*All information about this card has been collected independently.
Annual Fee: $450
Free Night Details: Earn a free weekend night reward during your first year of card membership and every year after that. Plus, earn an additional free weekend night reward after spending $60,000 on the card in a calendar year.
Free Night Restrictions:Â When available, you can use your free night on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday at almost any Hilton Hotel except the ~40 properties that are on this list.
Maximize the Value of Your Free Night at These Properties:
1. Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
2. Conrad Bora Bora Nui
2. Conrad Maldives
4. Conrad London St. James
5. Conrad Koh Samui
Free Nights That Require Work
8. Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card [Learn More]
All information about this card has been collected independently us.
Annual Fee: $95
Free Night Details: Earn a free weekend night reward when you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year.
Free Night Restrictions:Â When available, you can use your free night on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday at almost any Hilton Hotel except the ~40 properties that are on this list.
Maximize the Value of Your Free Night at These Properties:
1. Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
2. Conrad Bora Bora Nui
2. Conrad Maldives
4. Conrad London St. James
5. Conrad Koh Samui
9. Hilton Honors American Express Business Card [Learn More]
All information about this card has been collected independently by us.
Annual Fee: $195
Free Night Details: Receive 1 free night if you spend $15,000 on the card during a calendar year. Terms apply.
Free Night Restrictions:Â When available, you can use your free night on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday at almost any Hilton Hotel except the ~40 properties that are on this list.
*Rates and Fees
Maximize the Value of Your Free Night at These Properties:
1. Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
2. Conrad Bora Bora Nui
2. Conrad Maldives
4. Conrad London St. James
5. Conrad Koh Samui
Cool. That’s the end of the list. I hope you got a lot of value out of this post! If you did, don’t forget to use our links in this post when signing up for your next credit card. It supports the work we do because the credit card companies pay us a commission if you get approved. This enables us to continue writing more helpful guides like this one 🙂
Still not sure which travel credit card is right for you? We’re happy to help! Click the link below to request a free consultation.
Doris says
Can a Hong Kong citizen apply those hotel chains credit cards?
nbuchan1 says
Unfortunately, you must be a U.S. resident to qualify.
Jocelyn lahaie says
Out of curiosity, do you mind if I ask you how many credit cards you have? And since you and Kara travel full time, how to you deal with all the mail sent to you which often includes promotions and certificates if you are not home to get them.
Regards,
Jl
nbuchan1 says
We have signed up for 20+ cards. We usually try to time our applications when we’re traveling home so we can pick up the cards.
Marilyn says
Hey yall! – Very informative. Do you ever cancel any of them over the course of time? I’m super conservative about having that many cc open.
Kim says
Thanks for sharing. I forgot my SPG card had a free night. Thanks for the reminder
Jennifer says
I was thinking the same thing, Kim! I’ve had SPG for more than five years and never redeemed a single night. Thanks Nate!
Angelo says
Good information and I respect the work required to gather it all! I’ll be spending a lot of time in Southeast Asia so I will maximize the benefits within that locale.