Most loyalty programs have switched to dynamic pricing. That can make it difficult to know how many points you need for each hotel night on your upcoming vacation.
you will free night certificate full? Or will you be overcharged, with hotels asking for more points than the value of your free night certificate?
Here’s how to search for hotels with a free night certificate, filtering for hotels that match the value of your free night bonus.
Hilton title
Hilton Free Night Award can be used any night of the week (an improvement over the previous weekend restriction) at any time Hilton Hotel asset (exclusion list here). While these rewards must be redeemed over the phone, you should still search for availability online first, verifying that the hotel you want has a standard room available on the night you want it.
Here is a search using Hilton title point in Honolulu.
Next to the point value, look for the words “standard room bonus”. You need a standard room to use the Hilton free night bonus. Once you’ve found a property you like, call Hilton at 800-446-6677.
Marriott Bonvoy
Marriott Bonvoy possibly the most complicated program on this list to use free night certificate. It issues free night certificates with lots of value.
When searching for a hotel in Seattle, the results are astounding. In the top right corner, click “All Filters”.
Click the arrow for “Score”. From here, you can filter hotels in certain ranges of points. Choose the right band for the maximum value of your free night prize.
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If you are using a 35,000-point certificate, choose the 0-40,000-point option. You should now have a more manageable hotel listing to review.
Related: How to use Marriott Bonvoy’s 35,000-point certificate
Keep in mind that this will show hotels charging up to 40,000 points—slightly more than the value of your free night. You can only choose hotels that include your full free night bonus, or you can choose hotels that cost up to 15,000 points more than your free night value — top the prize with your Marriott points.
See these for some booking inspiration:
Hyatt’s World
Start your search after your login Hyatt’s World account, click “My Awards” then click “Discover Hotels” on the free night available in your account.
You can search for a location (but not a specific date) from here.
this search for San Francisco The hotel offers a variety of results. But clicking “Filters” in the top right allows you to choose the category of hotels you want to see. If you have a Free 1-4 night category (such as the annual award offered by Hyatt World Credit Card), select only Category 1-4 hotels.
You now have a manageable list of properties that match the value of your free night bonus.
This doesn’t show availability on specific days — only hotels that may be active. Three East Bay hotels that are right for me 1-4 . Free Night Rewardsso I can check availability in any hotel I want.
Related: How to Earn, Use, and Make the Most of Your Hyatt Free Night Certificate
However, with the World of Hyatt app, this is much simpler. Start your search as usual. Once you have the results, click “Filters”.
From here, you can filter by award category. Click on categories 1-4 to see only the results that are available and compatible with your free night bonus.
Unfortunately, neither of these search methods show real-time availability for properties that accept points. The results page only shows what the nightly score rate will be — you’ll need to click the “View rate” icon to verify that a standard room is available at a given property.
bottom line
You may see multiple results on your intended travel date when searching for hotels. Unfortunately, not all of these hotels can be booked with your free night bonus. Understanding how to limit your search results to hotels that match the value of your free night certificate will help you have a better booking experience, provide realistic options, and help with decision making more effective.
