6 surprising ways to use credit on your hotel property

Depending on the type of credit card you have, you could get a $100 credit toward the property on your next hotel stay. Usage of this benefit may vary from hotel to hotel. Furthermore, the use of credits on this property can range from obvious to ingenious.

Let’s look at some surprising ways to use credits on your property at hotels, starting with how you can get this benefit.

The most common way to get property credit when booking a hotel is to book through a luxury hotel program from a credit card issuer. These include Luxury hotel & resort collection from Chase (LHRC), Top collection from Capital One and two services from American Express: Fine . Hotel + Resort (FHR) and Hotel Collection (THC). Remember, if you have Platinum Card® from American Expressyou can get max $200 in statement credits per year for hotel bookings through these programs.

Related: Compare luxury hotel plans from credit card issuers: Amex, Chase and Capital One

Along with benefits such as room upgrades at check-in (where available), free Wi-Fi, and daily breakfast for two (except with The Hotel Collection), another key benefit that comes with bookings This room is credit spot. LHRC bookings promise a single property credit or amenities of $100. This is usually a meal for two, although other services may include spa treatments, airport transfers, or complimentary golf at hotels with golf courses.

Premier Collection includes a $100 credit on all bookings. Eligible charges for your room may be covered by this benefit, and credit usage will vary depending on the property.

With FHR, you get a unique amenity at each property, worth $100. This is usually a spending credit on on-site restaurants or spa treatments. THC booking, on the other hand, offers a $100 credit to spend on qualifying dining, spa, and resort activities.

These benefits are what you should expect when booking through these programs. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t get other benefits. You can get a credit and a free meal at some properties, allowing you to use the credits at your property for other expenses.

With a credit card

People have Hilton honors American Express Aspire card You can take advantage of a statement credit of up to $250 to spend at participating Hilton resorts, available on each cardholder’s year. You can use the $250 credit towards dining, living, spa treatments and even room rate and taxbut you cannot use these credits for pre-purchase or non-refundable prices.

Aspire cardholders can also receive up to $100 on-site credit for bookings of at least two nights at Waldorf Astoria or Conrad properties using Hilton Honors Aspire Card Website or make a reservation on the phone using code ZZAAP1. With this benefit, you will receive a credit up to 100 USD for incidental expenses during your stay. Note that pre-registration is required for some benefits.

Information about the Hilton Aspire card has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Another example comes from Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. Cardholders can receive an on-site credit of up to $100 for incidentals when booking a paid stay of at least two nights at the Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis joins the program using “$100 Property Credit, Premium Credit Card Rate.”

With an elite position

Also you can get benefit from your elite status, depending on the hotel and rewards program. This is not guaranteed, but it does happen. If you get free parking and breakfast as a status benefit, you can use your onsite credits to cover other expenses during your stay.

Undesirable resort fee. These can come as a real surprise when you think your hotel room will cost $150 and then get a bill for $185, thanks to a resort fee or “destination fee”. charged to your bill.

You can Avoid these by redeeming points or free night rewards at some hotels, but programs like Marriott Bonvoy still evaluates resort fees even while on vacation at some hotels and resorts.

The good news is that you can use your property spending credits to cover resort fees in many cases. Logically, using your credit to pay for resort fees will save you less money to spend on other things, such as activities and meals, but it can reduce Reduce the burden of fees that are uncommon in popular destinations like Hawaii and New York City.

I recently used my property credit from a booking with The Hotel Collection to cover pet fees. Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel in City of San Diego my honor The State of Globalization of Hyatt World for this booking, that means they free parking, gave my wife and I free breakfast every morning, and still offer a $100 property spend credit.

Fees for two dogs in our room for the weekend? $100.

In addition to receiving a statement credit of $200 when booking this hotel with my account Amex Platinum Cardannual hotel creditwe were able to remove the pet fee with a spend credit from our booking.

When I stay Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi Hotel last year, I booked a one night room through Fine Hotels + Resorts to use $200 hotel credit of Amex Platinum Card for the year. Since this hotel participates in the Marriott Bonvoy, they recognized me titan elite status and give me free breakfast and dinner. That freed up a $100 credit on my property for other uses.

In addition to including lunch at the hotel’s restaurant, I can also charge a taxi to my room. From the queue of taxis waiting near the hotel entrance, I was able to inform the driver of my room number and destination. After dropping me off, the taxi driver charged me to take me to my room.

I used this feature a few times on city trips for sightseeing, then I removed the charges from my bill at checkout — thanks to a $100 property credit for my reservation.

Beach chairs and tents

If you’re staying at a hotel that rents beach chairs or cabanas around the pool or by the ocean, see if you can charge these to your room; you should be able to, as long as they are managed by the property and not by a third-party vendor. If you can count these toward your room, you can cover those purchases with your on-site spending credit.

Of course, the flexibility of your spending credits will be important here. Ask at check-in if you can use the credits for everything that counts towards your room or only for certain categories of spending.

Related: Top picks: The best family hotels you can book with points

When my wife and I stay The roof of the Hilton Sao Paulo Jardins in Brazil, part of The Hotel Collection, the hotel provided us with free breakfast and $100 in property credit. Because we had friends in the area, we invited them to the hotel bar one night and charged everyone’s drinks to our room. Luckily, $100 goes pretty far when converted to Brazilian Reais, and using our spot credit this way will set you up for a great evening out with friends.