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.

With 5,600 properties in nearly 100 countries around the world, IHG hotels are ubiquitous. Thanks to generous promotions, reasonable award rates, and a great credit card, IHG Rewards Club is a favorite hotel loyalty program for many. In this post, we cover everything you need to know about the program—from how to earn and redeem points to program features and elite status.

Atlantic City casinos are currently offering generous status match incentives. With the right strategy, learn how to maximize your next trip to the East Coast gambling center and earn hundreds of dollars worth of free play, free nights and lucrative status benefits.

Hotel loyalty programs such as Hilton Honors and IHG Rewards Club are a fantastic way of leveraging hotel stays, and everyday spend for free nights, upgrades, free meals, and rockstar treatment. But hotel chains aren’t the only providers to offer bonus nights and elite status. Hotels.com offers a simple, easy reward structure that is especially useful when booking stays with independent and botique properties.

Hotel rewards cards are the most cost-effective way of scoring free stays and elite status benefits at major hotel chains. There are plenty of good options, so we’ve picked our favorites based on their welcome bonus, earning potential, and the benefits you get just for holding the card.

Le Club Accor has announced that you can now transfer points between Club Eurostar and Le Club Accor. Since most Accor properties are in Europe, this potentially is good news for European travelers wanting a little more flexibility in their points.

A few days ago, 80% of Airbnb listings in Japan disappeared. The total number of properties available plummeted from over 62,000 to a meagmeager800. According to the Japan Times, the move comes in response to a new law in Japan as of June 15, 2018.

Airbnb has introduced the ability to split your payments for a stay. The new system, called “Pay Less Upfront”, came into effect January 15, 2018. According to the Airbnb press release, the functionality comes in response to the fact that 40% of its customers opted to use this option in testing. Most of those who opted for a split payment also opted to take up higher priced bookings when making a split payment.

If you want the benefits of elite status within a hotel program but don’t happen to have that status, leveraging luxury hotel programs could deliver just what you’re looking for. Upgrades, complimentary breakfast, and late check-out are just a few of the perks you’ll be eligible for with the right program.

How far out you can book a hotel? And does making reservations at the far side of the booking window provides any tangible benefit? Each hotel chain handles reservations differently, with the booking windows of major hotel chains ranging from 11 months through to a mammoth 3 years.