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The Hilton free night certificate is a fantastic benefit that can easily offset the annual fee of your Hilton credit card. Lots of other hotel cards offer an annual free night to cardholders, but the versatility and high value of Hilton's free night reward make it stand out. In fact, we think it’s one of the best credit card perks available. In this post, we'll explain why and show you how to use it.
Page Contents
- Hilton Free Night: Quick Highlights
- What Is a Hilton Free Night Reward?
- How To Earn Hilton Free Night Certificates
- How To Use a Hilton Free Night Reward
- Finding Eligible Hilton Free Nights
- Hilton Free Night Certificate Cancellation and Expiration
- Tips for Maximizing Free Night Rewards
- Final Thoughts
- Hilton Free Night FAQ
- Can I transfer my free night certificates into another person's name?
- Can free night certificates be combined via Hilton's Points Pooling feature?
- Can Hilton free night certificates from more than one loyalty account be used on a single booking?
- Can I combine Hilton points with free night certificates and still receive the 5th night free?
Hilton Free Night: Quick Highlights
Here's a quick five-point overview of what makes Hilton free night rewards so valuable:
- No cap on categories or points cost.
- Certificates can be used on any day of the week.
- Stays with the certificate count toward elite status.
- You can use more than one award on a multiple-night reservation.
- Nearly all properties are available to book with the free night certificate.
Related: Complete Guide to the Hilton Honors Program
What Is a Hilton Free Night Reward?
The Hilton free night reward is pretty much exactly what the name says: a certificate for a free night stay. But it's not just any old free night.
First, this free night can be used to book a stay at nearly any hotel in the Hilton portfolio. There is a small list of exclusions, but these mostly consist of residences, Hilton Club, and Hilton Grand Vacations properties. That still leaves you with thousands of options for your free night reward.
The second reason the Hilton free night certificate is worth much more than your average award is that there is no cap on the number of points the free night can cover. If the property has a standard reward night available, you can use your certificate for it. In fact, Hilton has award nights that go all the way up to 150,000 points, but you can still use your free night at these properties!
The certificate used to be only valid for weekend nights. However, in October 2022, Hilton changed its policy to let travelers use free night rewards any day of the week.
Thus, you can use these rewards at places like the Conrad Bora Bora Nui. This property typically charges more than $1,000 per night, so redeeming a free reward night reward can save you a bundle of money.
Related: The Complete Guide to the Hilton Honors Program
How To Earn Hilton Free Night Certificates
Two of the American Express Hilton Honors co-branded credit cards include annual free night certificates as perks:
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Earn a free night reward when you open your account and every year after renewal. Cardholders also can earn an additional free night reward after spending $30,000 and another after $60,000 in eligible purchases within a calendar year. Read our full Hilton Aspire review for more information.
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: Earn a free night reward after spending $15,000 within the first year and each calendar year thereafter. Read our Hilton Surpass review for more information.
- 14X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio
- 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly through select rental companies, and at U.S. restaurants
- 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card
(Terms Apply)
- 12X bonus points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio
- 6X bonus points for each dollar of eligible purchases on your card at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations
- 4X bonus points on U.S online retail purchases
- 3X bonus points for all other eligible purchases on your card
Note that the ability to earn an annual free night on The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card ended on June 30, 2024.
In addition, the Hilton Honors American Express Card and the Hilton Surpass sometimes include a free night reward as part of limited-time welcome bonus offers. If you don't currently have a Hilton card, it can be a good time to apply when the welcome bonus comes with that free night reward.
Related: Why I Spend $15,000 Each Year on My Hilton Surpass Card
How To Use a Hilton Free Night Reward
After meeting the specific requirements, Hilton says your free night reward will arrive in your email in eight to 14 weeks and include your unique reward ID. However, keep watch because it often arrives much sooner than that. You can also see your available free night rewards and their expiration dates on the Hilton Honors website and in the mobile app — found in your account dashboard.
Free night certificates are automatically tracked along with your Hilton Honors point balance in AwardWallet, as well. Click here to add a Hilton account to your AwardWallet dashboard.
Unfortunately, a free night reward reservation cannot be booked online. You will either need to call Hilton or use Hilton's website chat. You can reach Hilton by phone at 1-800-446-6677. To use the website chat, log into your Hilton Honors account and click the chat button in the bottom right corner of the page.
The Hilton Honors representative will be able to see any available reward certificates in your account. Still, it's also helpful to have your unique reward ID handy just in case when you call or chat.
Finding Eligible Hilton Free Nights
Before calling Hilton to book your free night, check hilton.com to see if the room you want to book has a “Standard Room Reward” available on your desired date. Check the “Use Points” box under “Special Rates.” You’ll also want to make sure the hotel isn’t one of the excluded Hilton properties. If you have flexible travel dates, you can use Hilton's points calendar to search month-by-month availability.
Each hotel sets its own terms for what qualifies as a standard room, but they make it easy enough to find eligible accommodations. In the photo below, you can see that there are two types of bookings available for this specific property (the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi): Premium Room Rewards and Standard Room Reward. Only the Standard Room Reward is eligible for the Hilton free night certificate.
Selecting the 150,000-point Standard Room Reward will take you to the hotel's available rooms. The Waldorf Astoria shows a King Reef Villa with Pool available to book.
To summarize, we can book a night at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi because it is:
- Not on the list of excluded properties.
- Showing standard reward night availability.
The cash cost of this room is over $2,000 for this specific night, so using a free night certificate here is an absolute steal.
Hilton Free Night Certificate Cancellation and Expiration
If you need to cancel the reservation you made with a certificate, you'll need to first check the hotel's cancellation policy. For our example booking above, the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi allows cancellations with no penalty up to 30 days in advance.
Certificates expire one year after the date they are issued. Note that you must stay by this date — not just make a reservation. Be sure to plan your use of the free night well in advance of the expiration date, especially for high-demand luxury hotels.
While sometimes you can find last-minute availability, waiting until just before your certificate expires could leave you using it at your neighborhood Homewood Suites or an airport Hilton Garden Inn because that's all you could find for availability.
Tips for Maximizing Free Night Rewards
If you are a high spender or have more than one American Express Hilton card — or both — there's a good chance you may have several Hilton free night certificates at once. Hilton allows you to use more than one certificate per reservation. So if you can find the availability, you can book several nights completely free using your certificates.
To take it another step, Hilton offers a fifth-night-free perk if you hold any level of Hilton Honors elite status — which is another benefit of holding a Hilton credit card. Officially, the fifth-night-free benefit doesn't apply to reward certificate stays. But in practice, this benefit seems to apply to bookings of five or more nights that are paid with a mix of points and free night certificates.
Another way to maximize your certificate is by sticking with higher-tier properties where you can get the most bang for your (points) buck. You could use your free night at a Hampton Inn that only costs $90 a night, or you could use it at one of Hilton's top properties and save thousands of dollars instead. Need some inspiration? Check out our list of Hilton's best luxury properties you can book with points.
In addition, hundreds of Small Luxury Hotel properties are available for bookings using points thanks to Hilton's partnership with SLH. The award price for these properties is capped at 150,000 points, and they are bookable with free night certificates — meaning they can offer exceptional value.
For example, you can redeem your free night certificate at the Grand Hotel Victoria Concept and Spa in Italy's Lake Como region instead of using 140,000 points or paying around $1,000.
Final Thoughts
Hilton's free night certificate is really one of the best values around. The ability to book at nearly any property in the Hilton portfolio, without worrying about the points cost or category, means that aspirational properties like the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi — which costs 150,000 Hilton points a night or several thousands of dollars — are actually within reach for the average points-and-miles enthusiast.
- 14X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio
- 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly through select rental companies, and at U.S. restaurants
- 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card
Hilton Free Night FAQ
Can I transfer my free night certificates into another person's name?
No, Hilton will not allow you to transfer ownership of free night certificates. You can, however, redeem them for another person's stay — even if you won't be joining them for the stay.
Can free night certificates be combined via Hilton's Points Pooling feature?
No, the points pooling feature applies strictly to Hilton Honors points; you cannot pool Hilton free night certificates.
Can Hilton free night certificates from more than one loyalty account be used on a single booking?
Yes, you can combine free night certificates from different accounts into a single booking, but only the person named on the account can redeem the award when calling Hilton. For instance, if you and your spouse both have Hilton free night certificates, you can combine them into a single reservation by calling together.
Can I combine Hilton points with free night certificates and still receive the 5th night free?
Officially, the fifth-night free benefit is not valid for:
“…Points & Money Rewards, Premium Room Rewards, Room Upgrade Rewards, reward certificate stays or to any stays booked outside of Hilton channels…”
In practice, stays that contain a mix of points and free night certificates are eligible for a fifth night free. However, this is not always a great deal.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (Rates & Fees)
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