As the saying goes, “Everybody makes mistakes.” This covers many aspects of life, but it especially applies to using your hotel points. Even the most seasoned traveler can slip, resulting in less comfortable rooms, extra fees, or an inability to travel.
Fortunately, you can easily avoid the most common mistakes when booking a stay with a hotel award. So in this guide, I’ll walk you through these mistakes and explain how to make sure your future redemptions go as planned.
Missed Bonus Nights
This first mistake is common for inexperienced travelers. Hopefully many of you know that some loyalty programs allow you Maximize a longer stay by using the free night benefit. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the great loyalty programs that offer this perk:
Interestingly, these discounts automatically show up when you redeem your points online. The mistake of planning a shorter stay without knowing that the next night will be completely (or almost entirely, in the case of Marriott) free.
Related: Which hotels charge a stay bonus for elite status?
Skip the points and cash options
Another common refrain I hear is: “I don’t have enough points, so I can’t book a bonus vacation.” This is simply not true, as most hotel loyalty programs allow you to use a combination of money and points to pay for hotel stays. Again, here’s a quick rundown of the most popular programs:
- Hilton title: Hilton cash and points rewards are flexible, allowing you to specify how many points you want to use for a reward. Cash copays are adjusted based on the points you choose, but you can use any combination of points and money to pay for your stay in 1,000 point increments, starting from 5,000 points.
- Hyatt’s World: Hyatt’s points and cash awards let you redeem half of your regular points plus a cash copay. You can redeem 50% of the points needed for your stay and get a discount of 50% to 70% off the standard rate for your room.
- IHG One Rewards: IHG’s points and cash rewards allow you to pay for part of your stay in points and the rest in cash. You can use as little as 5,000 points to make a reservation.
- Marriott Bonvoy: Marriott cash and points rewards let you reserve a standard redemption for as little as $55 and 3,500 points.
Always check to see if these options are available wherever you are, as they could be the best deal.
Related: Your Ultimate Guide to Hyatt’s Hotel Brands
Sign up for our daily newsletter
Do not check turnover rate
If you’re like me, you want to maximize the value you get from your points. That’s why it breaks my heart when I hear friends or family members use their points to redeem suboptimal points.
Especially since most hotel loyalty programs now use dynamic rewards pricing, you’ll often get the value you deserve when you exchange hotel points for a standard room. However, the exchange for upgraded rooms can range in value from excellent to poor.
TPG . Monthly Valuation gives you an idea of your goal when redeeming your points and miles. Check turnover rate and calculate your conversion rate before booking bonus holiday. Sometimes you can find better value by booking a paid stay and saving points for another trip.
Related: Insider information on how much hotels are paid when you redeem points
Switch to an airline
Another mistake when it comes to hotel points is passing them on to airline partners.
For the most part, transferring your hotel points to an airline partner is a terrible value proposition. Most hotel loyalty programs give you very low transfer rates, and you usually lose almost half (or more) of the value through the conversion process.
An exception is Marriott Bonvoy, has many unique airline transfer partners and offers reasonable transfer rates. Even so, you’ll usually get the most value out of hotel points when you use them for what they were originally intended—for award nights at hotels and resorts.
Related: Can I transfer points and miles between loyalty programs?
Don’t search every night
Another common mistake occurs when looking for a longer stay. I have repeatedly witnessed hotels that either don’t have bonus rooms available for each night of your stay or don’t have the same room type for your entire stay. But you can still use points (or a combination of cash and points) by searching once a night.
For example, let’s say you want to stay at Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel, in February 2023 for Valentine’s Day. You can book a standard bonus night with 78,000 points on February 13. But the lowest bonus on February 14 is 115,000 points for the premium room. If you’re looking for a two-night stay on those dates, you’ll be quoted 115,000 points per night as no standard room bonus is available on the night of February 14.
If you book the first night with the second night separately, you’ll save 37,000 Hilton Honors points (worth $222 based on Valuation of TPG). Alternatively, if you call Hilton Honors and ask them to link the bookings, the hotel may allow you to keep the same room for both nights.
Related: These promotions will make your next hotel more rewarding
Skip the resort fee
While you’re not subject to the regular room tax when staying under the award, you may still be charged a resort fee. Most programs will list resort fees (if applicable) at some point during the reward booking process. And you would be smart to notice them.
Automatic Hilton and Hyatt Free resort about the award stay. But if you’re staying with other plans, resort fees can cost you a significant amount per night (resort fees of $60 or more are not unheard of).
Related: Marriott Bonvoy members, claim your resort fee replacement benefit
Forgot to cancel
Another mistake that can cost you dearly is forgetting to cancel a bonus stay within the hotel’s published cancellation timeframe. You might think this is not a big deal, assuming that you will only lose the points you redeemed. Unfortunately, that’s not how most loyalty programs work.
When you don’t cancel your rewards booking, most properties will charge you one night plus tax at the best available rate for that day, which can easily run into the hundreds of dollars. You should pay attention to each program’s stated cancellation policy when booking a bonus holiday using points.
Related: Make rates work for you: How hotel rebooking can save you on bonus nights
Skip the credit card
The last mistake has nothing to do with using your hotel points, but it will still affect your hotel bonus stay. Many credit cards offer free elite status just to keep the card and (in some cases) pay the annual fee. One credit card offers elite status as a privilege can unlock valuable benefits like room upgrades, premium internet, bonus points etc.
Your card may even unlock a redemption option that would otherwise not be possible. For example, the Hilton Thursday night free benefit is only available to elite members and IHG Wednesday Night Rewards only for select IHG cardholders.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of the co-branded cards for each program that offer hotel elite status as a perk:
Information about the Hilton Aspire Amex 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.
Most Hyatt and Marriott cards give you elite night credits to gain higher elite status levels. Some cards also offer extra elite night credit or higher status when you reach a specific spending threshold in a calendar year.
Related: Guide to Marriott and Hilton Elite Status with Amex Platinum and Business Platinum
bottom line
Staying at a hotel for free can be a wonderful thing. But mistakes can reduce some (or most) of the value of your ransom. Hopefully this list has provided you with some strategies to avoid those mistakes in your next bonus bet.
Additional reporting by Ehsan Haque.
