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Which hotel credit card offer gets you the most free nights?
Ethan's been a frequent flier for as long as he can remember, from studying abroad in Paris to moving to Shanghai after graduating college, where he served as TPG's eyes and ears for all things travel in the Asia-Pacific region. If you asked him where he wants to travel next he'd quote Anthony Bourdain and tell you "anytime I'm eating spicy noodles in a bowl, I'm happy."
May 13, 2021 • 9 min read
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don't cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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Quick summary
Hotel credit cards remain valuable largely due to annual free night certificates, which can significantly extend the value of sign-up offers.
Comparisons among major hotel chains show that some cards can provide up to two weeks of free nights at lower-tier properties when maximizing bonuses and certificates.
Certain premium cards offer an additional free night certificate upon account opening, sometimes without restrictive category limits, enhancing overall value.
The number of free nights varies based on hotel brand, property category, and redemption strategy, with some programs offering extra nights on longer award stays.
What to consider
Free night certificates are typically awarded after the first year or at card renewal, except for select premium cards that provide one at account opening.
Award night value depends on hotel category or dynamic pricing, so actual free nights may differ based on location and travel preferences.
Some programs offer additional free nights when booking longer stays, such as every fifth or fourth night free.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed comparison of how each major hotel program's credit card can maximize free night redemptions for different travel styles.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
While cobranded airline credit cards have lost some ground in recent years thanks to transferable points cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, the same is not true of hotel cards.
The key difference that keeps the value proposition of hotel credit cards thundering along is the annual free night certificate offered by most of them. While a single airline credit card might not be enough to plan your entire vacation, when you stack a hotel credit card's valuable sign-up offer or welcome bonus alongside its annual free night certificate, you can end up with close to a week's worth of free hotel nights.
Today, we'll take a look at how the credit cards from the four major hotel chains stack up and which one can get you the most free nights.
Our criteria
For the purpose of this guide, I'm only going to consider the hotel credit cards that offer an annual free night certificate.
I'm also going to stick to personal credit cards to keep things simple, although you could, for example, swap out the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card.
And one last note before we get started. Since almost every card awards its free night certificate at the end of the year (or after your card renewal month), we're going to be looking at the total first year-value, not just the sign-up offer or welcome bonus, to get an accurate comparison. Let's dive in.
The cards with a free night award
Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall (Photo by Benji Stawski/The Points Guy)
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
Welcome bonus: Earn 75,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after using your new card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first three months. Plus, earn up to $200 in statement credits for eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants within the first six months of card membership.
Perks: Up to $300 annual Marriott statement credit towards eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program, complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold elite status
Annual fee: $450 (see rates and fees)
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card
Sign-up offer: Earn 100,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
Free night: Worth up to 35,000 points
Perks: Marriott Bonvoy Silver elite status, earn Bonvoy Gold by spending $35,000 a year
Annual fee: $95
World of Hyatt Credit Card
Sign-up offer: Earn up to 60,000 bonus points, 30,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 more points by earning 2 points total per $1 spent on purchases that normally earn 1 point, on up to $15,000 in the first six months of account opening.
Free night: Valid at a Category 1-4 hotel
Perks: Enjoy Hyatt Discoverist status, receive an extra Category 1-4 free night by spending $15,000 a year
Annual fee: $95
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Welcome bonus: Earn 150,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of account opening
Free night: Enjoy one free weekend night on account opening and another each year on your account anniversary
Perks: Automatic Hilton Diamond status, up to $250 annual airline fee credit, up to $250 annual Hilton resort credit, up to $100 credit on eligible stays of two nights or more at Waldorf Astoria or Conrad Hotels, Priority Pass Select membership. Enrollment required for select benefits.
Annual fee: $450 (see rates and fees)
The information for the Hilton Aspire Amex card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
Sign-up offer:Earn 140,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. Plus, earn up to $100 in statement credits on purchases at IHG properties during the first 12 months from account opening.
Reward night: Worth up to 40,000 points
Perks: Enjoy IHG Platinum Elite status, Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/NEXUS application fee credit (up to $100)
Annual fee: $99
Which card offers the most free night awards?
Hilton Rose Hall Resort (Photo by Benji Stawski/The Points Guy)
You expect to get more when you're paying for a premium credit card, so it's no surprise to see the Hilton Aspire jump out with an early lead.
While welcome bonuses may include free nights from time to time, this is the only card that will always award you a free night certificate when you open your account without having to wait a full year. You also get a second free night on your account anniversary, meaning in your first year you'll get two uncapped weekend free night certificates valid at just about any property in the Hilton portfolio. In 2021, weekend free night certificates can also be used on any day of the week.
Not only is two obviously better than one, but the lack of point or category restriction makes these some of the most valuable free nights on the market.
Every other card here offers one free night on your account anniversary, so the difference comes from the welcome bonus or sign-up offer.
Nights from the sign-up bonus/welcome offer
We can't just compare 100,000 Marriott points to 60,000 Hyatt points, so instead, we'll look at a hypothetical example to see how many nights each card would offer you if you went for the lowest-tier awards possible.
For the sake of comparison, I'll be looking at standard award redemptions (instead of peak or off-peak).
(Screenshot courtesy of Marriott)
Marriott's lowest category, 1, costs 7,500 points for a free night at the standard redemption level. Standard Category 2 nights jumps up to 12,500.
This means that the 100,000-point sign-up bonus on the Bonvoy Boundless card could get you up to 13 nights at 7,500 points. Meanwhile, the 75,000-point welcome bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card can get you 10 nights.
Marriott offers every fifth night free on award stays, so you can get up to 16 nights total on the Bonvoy Boundless and up to 12 nights on the Bonvoy Brilliant.
Total: 16 nights on the Boundless, 12 nights on the Brilliant
Hotel 50 Bowery, a Hyatt property in New York (Photo by Chris Dong/The Points Guy)
Hyatt is a much easier case to address since Hyatt's 5,000-point-a-night Category 1 properties are among the main reasons the brand is so popular with award travelers. This means your 60,000-point bonus on the World of Hyatt card translates to an even 12 free nights.
Total: 12 free nights
Low-category awards: Hilton
Hilton doesn't publish an award chart anymore but instead uses a quasi-dynamic pricing system where each hotel has a range of prices with a published minimum and maximum.
Hilton Playa Del Carmen (Photo by Madison Blancaflor/The Points Guy)
This makes it difficult to figure out what a reasonable low-tier award is, but I'm going to use 20,000 points a night as the lower threshold here. It's certainly possible to find cheaper rates if you stick to small cities and less popular destinations, so feel free to adjust the numbers accordingly if you're a deal-hunting budget traveler.
At 20,000 points a night, the 150,000-point welcome offer on the Hilton Aspire card could stretch into a full seven nights of free hotels (eight nights since the fifth night is free on award stays).
Total: 7 free nights
Low-category awards: IHG
While IHG uses dynamic pricing and no longer publishes an official award category chart, for now, the cheapest free nights start at 10,000 points a night. However, properties this cheap are relatively hard to come by in the U.S. Either way, this makes the 140,000 point bonus on the IHG Premier card good for roughly 14 nights.
Cardholders will receive the fourth night free on award stays, letting you stretch your bonus to a total of 15 free nights when booking stays of three nights or more.
Total: 15 free nights
Bottom line
At the end of the day, figuring out which card will get you the most free nights depends on the way you travel.
If you're looking to simply get the most nights in lower-category hotels, there's no competing with the Marriott Bonvoy and IHG cards, which offer large bonuses and can get you at least two weeks of free hotel nights.
If you're looking for a slightly more luxurious stay, Hyatt starts to gain a considerable advantage as you move up the rungs of the award chart. Don't forget about the Hilton Aspire, though, as the two weekend free night certificates you'll get in the first year can easily be worth several hundred dollars each at the right property.
Additional reporting by Chris Dong.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex, click here. For rates and fees of the Hilton Aspire Card, click here.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
