If you’ve been around in the miles and points space, then at some point you may have come across this feature while making a hotel redemption. As I was planning a hotel stay later this summer, I was looking up properties. Barring corporate stays, I use my airline miles and hotel points to ‘pay’ for my travel. When I’m booking a stay, I’m always tempted to stretch the stay to 5 nights instead of a 3 night stay. Why? Because many hotel programs allow you a 5th night free when you book using hotel points. Have you ever had to make a decision like the one I’m looking to make here?
5th night free benefit – How often do you use it?
If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you’d know that I primarily book my hotel stays with Hilton. Post Covid-19, I dipped my toes into the World of Hyatt program, while I was chasing top tier status.
Early last year, I signed up for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card, which gives you complimentary Platinum elite status as long as you have the card. Since then, I’ve been booking a few stays with Marriott points. While Hyatt doesn’t let you get a 5th night free while booking points, both Hilton and Marriott do.
3 or 5 nights
Here’s why I face this dilemma. Before having a kid, our travel plans were pretty nimble. We used to hop away from one city to another, take flights at odd hours and also make last minute travel plans.
Life changed after having a kid and now our pace of travel has slowed down. We always have to take into consideration our toddler’s nap times, sleep requirements and a host of other things. What it has meant is that we now take few trips, but the trips are longer. Therefore, a 3 night stay is pretty short for us while traveling with a kid.
The 4 night stay
So does that mean that the 4 night stay is completely out of question when it comes to family travel? No. We’ve booked 4 nights stays we’ve combined a free night certificate and points to book a stay. You always have the option to call customer service and ask them to combine the stays into a single reservation once you book your stay with points and free night certificates.
Points and free night certificates are not treated as the same. So, you don’t get any 5th night free while combining them.
Hotel Credit Card Offers
The fastest way to generate points and free night certificates is obviously by getting approved for limited time offers on co-branded hotel credit cards. At the moment, both Hilton and Marriott are offering multiple bonuses on their credit card products with Amex and Chase. With these limited time offers, you can leverage points or free night certificates to book your next stay.
| Card Name | Limited time offer and Application Link |
| Hilton Honors American Express Card | 70,000 points & 1 free night certificate |
| Amex Hilton Surpass Card | 130,000 points & 1 free night certificate |
| Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card | 175,000 & 1 free night certificate |
| Amex Hilton Business Card | 175,000 Hilton Honors points |
| Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card | 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points & $150 |
| Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card | 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points & 1 free night certificate |
| Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business Card | 125,000 Marriott Bonvoy points |
The Pundit’s Mantra
How has the 5th night free benefit helped fuel your family travel, especially hotel stays? I’ve been using the benefit even more after we started traveling extensively with our little infant, now a toddler.
Do you find the benefit to be really useful or is it one that you rarely use while booking stays with points? If you look back at your hotel stays in 2024, what percentage of your hotel stays included using the 5th night free benefit?
Tell us in the comments section.
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