Hotels are a good chunk of the budget on any trip. One of the reasons we are able to travel so much for so little is because we try to make the most out of credit card signups and manage our free nights. As a family, we have 4 hotel credit cards – 2 Marriott, 1 Hyatt
Here’s How to Get Free Hotel Stays:
1. I make a list of all the card anniversary renewal dates (meaning I have one year to use them). That will tell me how many free nights I have available. Then I start checking how many points I have in my accounts. I usually travel big in the summer, so when I get an email saying that my free night is available, I hold on to it until then.
2. Start researching the cities we are staying at and see the rates and points throughout all my 3 brands. Most of the time it will be cheaper to stay just outside the city center. I always try to do that to maximize value.
3. If I am 2-3K points away from a reward night, I will transfer some Chase points to top it off. This strategy is very easy and points usually post within one business day or automatically.
4. I also make sure that if I do need to pay for some nights, I use the hotel card so that I can maximize the
Why I Chose Those Hotel Brands:
1. They all have the ability to transfer points from my Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card – which is very important when I’m close to a reward and am only a thousand or two away. That is the easiest way to get a complimentary hotel stay when you are near a reward threshold.
2. Marriott is just a trusted brand and they have hotels everywhere! I also love that many of them have free breakfast (huge savings with the family). Fairfield Inn, Springhill Suites and Residence Inn’s all have a free hotel breakfast which is perfect when we are traveling with our family and want to save money. Sometimes, we splurge too. We have stayed at a Marriott Vacation Club that is one of our favorite hotels – The Best Family Resort in Marco Island Florida.
3. Hyatt is my newest addition. I added this card because I was familiar with the brand and the annual fee was low $60. Their reward nights each year are also the best in my opinion because they don’t limit a category. Meaning if you do your research right, you can stay at a top of the line resort in the heart of the city for FREE. You can also redeem points for as low as 5,000 (which is great). Check out my free hotel stay at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point due to my Hyatt free night.
4. My favorite though is IHG. I was skeptical about the Holiday Inn brand to be honest because it seemed pretty basic. However, the annual fee was $49 and even though they just changed the anniversary night and added some point restrictions, I still believe it is a great value. Once I stayed at a few Holiday Inn Express hotels, I realized that they are fantastic for the cost. Basic, yes, but clean, modern and spacious rooms. Add that they have free breakfast and there are many options around the country.
Getting a complimentary hotel stay isn’t that hard. For a
Click here to sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred
Travel Hacking E-Book
I recently wrote a short
If you are interested in how we save on travel besides hotel stays, click on my posts below:
How to Get Cheap Flights with Southwest Airlines
How to Use Credit Cards to Save on Family Travel
Smart Ways to Use Your Chase Sapphire Credit Card
Five Easy Ways to Save up for Travel
If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to DQ Family Travel. I send monthly emails about my latest posts which include places we have visited and travel tips.
Please follow me on Facebook and Twitter for post updates and travel advice. If you would like to see daily travel pictures of where we have visited, follow me on Instagram. If you would like a place to keep of these travel posts organized, consider using Pinterest and following my boards.
DQ Family Travel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees. Your price does not change when you click on these links, but it does provide me with a small commission.
