Faster Free Nights are Back!

by Gary Leff

It was just back in September that I pronounced the famous Faster Free Nights hotel promotion dead. Not just resting. Not just simply ‘stunned’ or ‘pining for the fjords.’ Definitely deceased.

And yet I opened up the front cover of February’s Inside Flyer to find this:

Now, Faster Free Nights was the Greatest. Hotel Promotion. Ever run. Two stays — even one nights — with Hyatt and you earned a free night at any Hyatt in the world. Two airport nights and you’d have a night at the Park Hyatt Tokyo.

Back in the day it was even better, because as long as there was some sort of charge on your folio a Priceline room would count. What’s more, as long as something billed to your room when staying on your free night, your free night would count. If you were doing one-night stays and redeeming for one-night stays during the promotion period, it was actually buy one, get one.

Greatest. Hotel Promotion. Ever.

If you’re curious here’s a promotion FAQ from 2008. Back then the nights had to be paid for with a Mastercard. More recently that wasn’t required, and the promotion was marketed under a variety of names (“Big Welcome Back Nights” for instance).

So I did a double take in the magazine until I saw the tagline from Club Carlson. Heh. I searched the trademark database and didn’t see the term registered to Hyatt. And I suppose Club Carlson is simply saying you’ll earn free nights more rapidly under their program. And it’s certainly true that they have a generous credit card benefit where your last night on an award redemption is free. Effectively it’s “buy one get one” award nights. Just like… Faster Free Nights.

Nonetheless, and while there are certainly some nice Radisson Blu properties, I was excited for just a moment. No more airport Hyatt Regency stays turned into Park Hyatts in Asia or Europe, sadly…

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  2. I second Ace. You and Club Carlson are both too clever. 🙂 I will hold out hopes for FFFN (“Freaky Fast Free Nights”) and see if Hyatt can get around the Jimmy John’s trademarks.

  11. Refering to promotion FAQs from 2008? I guess you just couldn’t resist. Promotional memories from 1995 didn’t want any of this?

  12. This is off topic but do you have any idea why MasterCard seems to be a distant 3rd in the credit cards points/miles arena? All of the best promos are either Visa or Amex.

    I went to MasterCard’s web page and use their select a card for you gimmick and it picked the Sapphire Card. Right now I’ve been trying to avoid applying for anymore Chase cards (just got the United card from them).

    Just curious.

  13. Gaaaaary, that was such a tease. My heart skipped for a moment when I saw your post title. 🙁

  16. (*channels Emily Litella*) “What’s all the fuss I hear abour ‘Foster’s Freeze Nights?’ …nevermind.”

  21. Dude! I was about to drive to DC! Seriously, I was about to RUN out the door and book on the way. :-p
    But seriously, I’ve been waiting for their promo and saw this on twitter… *shakes head*

  22. Club Carlson is so underrated. Or at least the CC Is. On sign up, you get 2 free nights at their top hotels. Or several more at lower end redemptions. thats equal or better than any other hotel CC sign up bonus (having hyatt diamond before sign up for the hyatt card notwithstanding). then, assuming you hit the $2500 spend minimum you basically earn another 2 free nights at their top hotels. So, 4 free nights at top hotels. Or several more at their lower tiers. You choose how you break it up. That’s excellent. Sign up for the personal and business cards and youve got over a week in their top tiers. Better for the layman than Hyatt for sure. Arguably hilton gold gives breakfast which is a plus that Hyatt platinum and Club Carlson gold seem to offer. It’s true, park Hyatts and Conrad’s are probably a higher eschelon, but there are still some very nice properties in the chain.

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