How to Get Free Hotel Stays with Credit Card Reward Points

How to Get Free Hotel Stays with Credit Card Reward Points

It’s 2022 and we are all in desperate need of a weekend getaway, but we don’t want to break our New Year’s Resolution of saving money. Good thing we know a few tricks to getting a free hotel stay without breaking the bank!

Hotel Credit Cards

In addition to loyalty programs, most major hotel chains have associated credit cards that allow you to earn points towards a free stay.

Here are just a few examples of hotel credit cards:

  • Hilton Honors Card from American Express: American Express offers the Hilton Honors Card with a sign-on bonus of 70,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points and a free night reward. With the Hilton Honors card, you can earn 7x points on hotels and resorts, 5x points on dining, 5x points on groceries, and 5x points on fuel. 

 

  • Marriott Bonvoy from American Express: American Express also offers the Marriott Bonvoy Card with a sign-on bonus of 75,000 points. With the Marriott Bonvoy card, you also earn 6x points on eligible Marriott purchases, 3x points on U.S. restaurants and American Airlines flights, and 2x points on all other purchases. 

 

  • IHG Rewards Card from Chase: Chase offers the IHG Rewards Card, or InterContinental Hotel Group. There are sixteen hotels that are part of the IHG brand including Holiday Inn, Atwell Suites, and Candlewood Suites. With the IHG card, you can earn points towards a stay at any of the sixteen hotels included in the IHG. Chase is also offering a 125,000 bonus point sign-on bonus. (However, keep in mind that the IHG Rewards Card does have an annual fee where some other hotel cards do not.)

Cashback

Even if you don’t have a hotel credit card, there are still ways to use your current credit card rewards towards a hotel stay. Most major credit cards offer some form of cashback program. With cashback programs, you can earn back a percentage of money spent on qualifying purchases that you can then put towards your next vacation. 

Travel Rewards

Another common type of rewards program offered is travel rewards. Travel rewards typically manifest in the form of airline miles or points earned towards purchasing airline tickets. However, some travel rewards programs are flexible and will allow you to trade in your points earned for cashback or put your points towards a hotel stay rather than an airline flight. This has become even more of a common practice since the COVID-19 crisis, so double-check what flexibility your credit card company is currently offering or what travel partners are available.

Maximize Rewards with Kiwii.

With the right credit card and the free Chrome extension Kiwii, you can be on your way to earning huge rewards. Kiwii is secure and easy to use; it doesn’t require any personal information or credit card information. The only thing you have to input is the type of credit cards that you use, and that’s it. Then, as you shop online, Kiwii will let you know which credit card to use to earn maximum rewards. You never have to worry about missing out on cashback, points, or miles ever again. Make the most out of your credit card rewards program with Kiwii.

This article was written by Chloe Allen in association with Nouvel Age Media.