Can I Combine Hilton or Hyatt Free Night Certificates?
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available – Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Card, The Hyatt Credit Card
TPG reader Jared sent me a message on Facebook to ask about redeeming free hotel night certificates:
“Are there any restrictions with using Hyatt or Hilton free nights consecutively? In other words, if my wife and I both earn two free nights, can we combine them for a four-night stay?”
Hotel free night certificates are among the top travel rewards, since you can score huge savings by redeeming at top-tier properties like the Conrad Maldives and Park Hyatt Tokyo. Hyatt and Hilton offer co-branded credit cards that come with free night certificates, both as part of a sign-up bonus and as an anniversary or spending bonus. However, there are some restrictions to keep in mind if you're planning to redeem these free nights back to back.
The Hyatt Credit Card offers two free nights at Hyatt properties worldwide after you spend $2,000 in the first three months of cardmembership. You also get a free night at any Category 1-4 property each year upon your cardmember anniversary, which easily offsets the $75 annual fee. The only limitation on these certificates is that you have to find standard award availability to redeem them. So long as there are standard rooms open for the dates and property you're interested in, you can book as many free nights as you have available.
That means if Jared and his wife were to individually sign up for the card and meet the spending requirements, they could effectively pool their bonuses by booking four nights consecutively. The reservations would initially be separate, but you should be able to link them so you don't have to switch rooms in the middle of your stay. For more info, check out Nick Ewen's post on maximizing Hyatt free night certificates.
The story is a bit different with the Citi Hilton Reserve, which offers two weekend night certificates after you spend $2,500 in the first four months, as well as an anniversary bonus of one weekend night certificate when you spend $10,000 in a cardmember year. These free nights also require standard room availability, and there's a small list of properties that are excluded. However, the greater distinction from Hyatt's free nights is the use of the word weekend, which limits these certificates to Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
That means aside from a well-planned crossing of the international date line, the best you could do is redeem three of those free nights consecutively. If your stay is long enough to cover more than one weekend, then you could use all four certificates during your visit, but not in a row. See Nick Ewen's post on maximizing Hilton free nights for details on earning and redeeming these certificates.
For more on Hyatt, Hilton and co-branded hotel credit card options, check out these posts:
- The Award Traveler's Guide to Hyatt Gold Passport
- The Award Traveler's Guide to Hilton HHonors
- Which Hilton HHonors Card is Best for You?
If you have any other questions, please tweet me @thepointsguy, message me on Facebook or send me an email at info@thepointsguy.com.
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