The traditional route to elite status, earning the base number of points or night credits needed for each elite tier within a hotel chain, requires a substantial investment of time and money. Thankfully, we have a number of options that will allow us to get hotel elite status for free.

The SimplyMiles program lets users earn additional American Airlines miles with hundreds of partners when they shop using a Mastercard. There are no fees and no requirement to use an American Airlines co-branded card. If you want to earn AAdvantage miles on everyday purchases, SimplyMiles is a program worth taking a closer look at.

American Express announces a new partnership with the Calm app. All U.S. Amex cardholders can now signup for a free premium subscription to the app for one year. That’s 12 months of access to guided meditations, calming music, and even soothing bedtime stories—all for free!

IHG looks to boost participation in its InterContinental Ambassador program during these tough travel times. New members—and those who renew their membership—can earn a free night award after a single paid stay. You’ll need to sign up (or renew) by December 31, 2020 and stay before January 31, 2021.

Hilton Honors announces updates to Elite Rollover Nights for the 2020 calendar year. The new changes will allow members to roll over all of their qualifying stays from 2020 into 2021. Use this to maintain or upgrade your Hilton elite status through March 31, 2023!

COVID-19 all but shuttered the travel industry in March, but just how bad did things get and how have AwardWallet members been affected? We recently took a look at how many reservations AwardWallet users added to their timelines before and after the pandemic took hold. Check out the results for yourself with the interactive tool we built to track air, hotel and auto reservations.

IHG is making it easier for InterContinental Ambassadors to redeem their complimentary weekend night certificate. Members can now redeem their certificates at InterContinental properties and at Kimpton properties! Better yet, the certificate can be used at Kimpton properties on any night of the week!

Are you a few points shy of being able to book an award ticket? Want to save some money on a cash fare now? JetBlue recently rolled out a flexible new program for TrueBlue loyalty members to use Cash + Points to book flights. We take a look to see if it makes sense to use this option.

There’s enough worry about these days without worrying about missing out on a sign-up bonus from a new credit card account. Thanks to Chase’s “New Account Bonus Tracker”, it is easier than ever to track your progress. And that’s as important as ever with bonuses of up to 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points.

IHG Rewards Club members should be pleased to hear that IHG is extending elite status for elite members through January 2022. Plus, IHG has reduced elite status requirements, extended Ambassador membership, extended free night certificates, and more.