Maximize Your Travel with Hotel Points and Free Night Certificates

In this blog post I'll discuss ways to earn hotel points and free night awards, as well as share our real-world examples. So, let's get started!

How to Earn Points to Use for Hotel Stays

There are multiple ways you can earn points. From credit card sign up bonuses to earning points from paid stays, here is a list of the best ways to accumulate points to make your next stay free!

Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses

The quickest way to earn points and free nights is through credit card sign-up bonuses. The concept is simple: you apply for a hotel travel credit card that offers a sign-up bonus after you spend a specified amount within a certain timeframe. Some of these bonuses are once-in-a-lifetime offers, depending on the issuing bank. To earn the bonus, just sign up, meet the spending requirement within the given period, and voilà—watch the points or free nights appear in your account. This is a basic travel hacking strategy and the one that is the most rewarding.

As always, there are a few basic rules to follow when it comes to getting started in this hobby:

• When using credit cards, it's crucial to always pay your balance off in full every month to avoid interest charges and maintain a healthy credit score. This means paying the entire amount you owe by the due date, not just the minimum payment. If you cannot safely do this every month, then this is not a hobby for you. Interest charges will negate any points and miles you would earn.

• Additionally, you should only spend what your normal monthly expenses are to ensure you can comfortably manage your finances without overspending.

• Lastly, only open credit cards where you can meet the minimum spend requirement with your regular spending habits, so you can earn rewards without incurring unnecessary debt. This means you should only apply for cards if you can reach the spending threshold with your usual expenses, rather than making extra purchases just to earn the bonus.

There are 3 main different types of travel reward cards (hotel cards, transferrable points cards, and airline cards) and we open a balance of all 3 depending on the offers available, bank rules, and our current spending requirements. Opening a hotel card or two is a great way to earn enough points and/or free nights to start taking more trips you've always dreamed of.

Some of my current favorite hotel cards include:

• The World of Hyatt Card

  • Current welcome offer at time of publishing is 60K points broken down as 30K points after 3K spend in your first 3 months and up to 30K additional points by earning 2 points per $1 in the first 6 months (so you'd need to spend $15K in 6 months to earn the maximum 60K point welcome offer)

  • What I love about this card? Hyatt points are really valuable and free night awards start at 3,500 points. You can find a lot of free night awards for 5K points/night which is incredible value! Additional benefits of the card include automatic Discoverist status and one category 1-4 free night award on your cardmember anniversary.

  • $95 annual fee

• The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card

  • Current welcome offer at time of publishing is 95K points after $6K spend in first 6 months

  • What I love about this card? Immediate Marriott Platinum Elite Status, a yearly 85K Free night award on your card anniversary, $300 dining credits/year, and a free credit for Global Entry or TSA Precheck

  • $650 annual fee

• The IHG One Rewards Premier Card

  • Current welcome offer at time of publishing: Four 40K free night certificates after spending $3k in first 3 months

  • What I love about this card? Automatic Platinum Elite Status, redeem 3 nights, get 4th night free benefit, and a 40K free night every year on your cardmember anniversary

  • $99 annual fee

• The Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Card

  • Current welcome offer at time of publishing: Earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $2K in your first 6 months of card ownership.

  • What I love about this card? Automatic Platinum level status, 7.5K points on your card member anniversary every year, the ability to use Wyndham points to book Vacasa (15K points per bedroom) and point redemption rates starting from 7.5K points.

  • $75 annual fee

• The Wyndham Earner's Business Card

  • Current welcome offer at time of publishing: Earn 80,000 bonus points broken down as follows: 40,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 90 days and earn 40,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 on purchases within the first 365 days.

  • What I love about this card? Automatic Diamond level status, 15K points on your card member anniversary every year, the ability to use Wyndham points to book Vacasa (15K points per bedroom) and point redemption rates starting from 7.5K points.

  • $95 annual fee
    

Refer your player 2 to the same card

After you have signed up for the card, some hotel credit cards will offer a referral bonus for you to refer someone else to the card, so referring your spouse or other travel buddy to the card can help you earn a few additional points and then your spouse/travel buddy will also earn the sign-up bonus.

Here's an example of what this could look like:

• I open the IHG One Rewards Premier card and earn the 4 free night certificates (up to 40K points each). I then refer my husband (after I complete the required spend and earn the sign-up bonus), and in the process, I earn an additional 20K points as a referral bonus.

• My husband signs up for the card through my referral link and earns 4 free nights (up to 40K points each) as well.

• In 6 months, we earned a total of 8 free nights (up to 40K points each) and 20K points for IHG hotel stays.

• We could use those 8 free night awards to book 8 nights at the Holiday Inn Express Waikiki. (As shown in the screenshot below)

Stay at the same hotel chain for all of your paid stays

To maximize your points earning, I'd recommend choosing one hotel chain and staying there for all of your stays. If you open the Hyatt card, I'd stay at Hyatt anytime it's possible. There are a few caveats though. If you travel a lot, you likely won't be able to stick with one brand out of pure availability. For example, while Hyatt has a lot of properties, they aren't as widespread as Marriott and IHG. Sometimes, you may need to stay somewhere where there is not Hyatt. Additionally, as you get into the points and miles game deeper, you will likely open hotel credit cards across all the brands purely because you want to open a new card to earn the sign-up bonuses.

For Example:

• I currently hold the Hyatt personal card, the Wyndham Business Earners Card, and a Marriott Business card

• ND has a personal Marriott card, a business Marriott card and the IHG One Rewards Premier card

We will continue to open hotel cards based on current sign-up bonuses, bank rules, and future trip plans. Because we travel SO much, we like to have points and free nights available with most of the chains so we can typically find something that we can book on points or for a cheap cash rate due to our status/cardmember benefits. While loyalty to one brand is good for infrequent travelers, if you travel more, then I'd recommend a couple of different hotel cards to ensure you always typically have an option available.

Promotions and Special Offers

Another way to earn points or increase your points earned is to keep an eye out for promotions and special offers from hotel chains. These can include double or triple points promotions, which can significantly boost your points balance. For example, during certain times of the year, hotel chains may offer promotions where you can earn double or triple points for each stay. Additionally, some hotel loyalty programs run limited time offers that provide bonus points for booking specific properties or staying a certain number of nights within a promotional period. By taking advantage of these promotions, you can accumulate points much faster and enjoy free nights or upgrades sooner. Make sure to regularly check the hotel chain's website or sign up for their email newsletters to stay informed about these valuable offers. You can also check sites like doctorofcredit.com which not only shares points and miles deals, but also shares current bank account bonuses, credit card bonuses, and more.

Real Life Examples

We recently spent 9 weeks traveling through SE Asia. During that time, we booked a significant portion of those 9 weeks on points and free night awards. We stayed at some INCREDIBLE properties for free using our points and got incredible value and benefits due to the status we have from the cards we hold.

We spent a total of 61 nights away from home during our trip and it breaks down as follows:

• 37 nights during our trip were free using points and free night awards!

  • Total value of those nights at those hotels if we'd paid cash? $9,841

  • Of course, we wouldn't have booked those exact hotels if we were paying cash. Just another example of how this game of points and miles really can offer SO much value and allow you to experience places, flights, and hotels you never dreamed possible!

• 8 nights paid at one of our favorite hotel chains

• 7 spent at a friend or family member's house

• 5 nights' accommodations included in our motorbike tour in Vietnam

• 4 nights spent on planes or in airports

• Hyatt: total of 15 nights, 12 on points/free nights and 3 paid

  • 9 nights at a 5,000 point/night rate for a total of 45K points. Used for 1 nights at the Hyatt Place Kathmandu 7 nights at the Hyatt regency in Kathmandu, and 1 night at the Hyatt Regency in Doha. ($117/night value)

  • 2 Category 1-4 Free night awards used at the Grand Hyatt Erwan in Bangkok, Thailand ($232/night value)

  • 3 paid nights at the Hyatt Place in Kathmandu

    These points were earned via a sign-up bonus. The free night awards were earned as part of Hyatt cardmember benefits and promotions

• Marriott: total of 12 nights on points/free nights

  • One 40K Free night award at the JW Marriott Hanoi, Vietnam ($328/night value)

  • Six 50K free night awards--2 for the JW Marriott Juhu Mumbai ($301/night value) and 4 for the JW Marriott Singapore ($431/night value)

    • ND has Marriott Titanium status, and we always get lounge access and upgrades. (Platinum elite status from the Bonvoy Brilliant card also offers the same lounge access and a similar upgrade benefit)

  • 116K points for a 3-night stay in a 2-bedroom apartment in Hanoi, Vietnam ($300/night value)

  • 67K points for a 2-night stay at the JW Marriott in Hanoi, Vietnam ($328/night value)

    These points were earned via a sign-up bonus and quite a few paid stays over the prior 18 months. The free night awards were earned as a sign-up bonus and a milestone benefit.

• IHG: total of 9 nights on points/free nights

  • 168K points for an 8-night stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Kathmandu. We booked 2 rooms/night for a total of 84K points/room for the 8 nights. ($78/room/night value)

  • One 40K free night award at the Holiday Inn New Delhi Airport ($247/night value)

    These points were earned via a sign-up bonus and a couple of paid stays. The free night award was earned from the card anniversary.

• Wyndham: total of 3 nights on points and 5 nights paid

  • 3 nights, 2 rooms for a total of 40.5K points at the Ramada by Wyndham Udaipur Resort and Spa ($227/room/night value)

  • 5 paid nights at the Ramada Encore in Udaipur

    These points were earned via a sign-up bonus.

You can see from above that earning the points mostly through credit card sign-up bonuses with our normal monthly expenses as well as some promotions and paid stays offered us the ability to stay at amazing hotels for nothing!

By following the steps outlined above, you'll be on your way to free nights soon!