free night

Tag Archives for free night.

Act Fast: Award Nights Wide Open At Waldorf Astoria Maldives

by Gary Leff on May 18, 2021

May 18 2021

At the beginning of the month I reported that Hilton had raised the top price of an award night to 150,000 points and that this applies only to the Waldorf Astoria in the Maldives. Some redemption nights there are 120,000 points, however.

When this was discovered there were no redemption nights available at all. Even with the higher pricing it wasn’t possible to spend Hilton points for a standard room, and could only use ‘points as money’ to book rooms based on the prevailing room rate (which can cost over a million points per night). All of a sudden that’s changed so act fast.

Extra People In Your Room? Your Hilton Award May Cost More Points

by Gary Leff on May 4, 2021

May 04 2021

One of the ways that Hilton Honors award prices can vary is based on the number of guests in a room. Extra person charges for paid rooms are common in Europe but not in the U.S.

At Marriott, award nights include the cost of extra person charges (except for a handful of all-inclusive properties, since extra guests would be eating, etc.). Not so with Hilton.

Marriott Extends Expiration Of Free Night Awards And Pauses Points Expiration Again

by Gary Leff on April 29, 2021

Apr 29 2021

Marriott free night awards, such as those awarded each year with their credit cards, won’t expire until January 2, 2022. They’ve also extended the pause on points expiration again through March 31, 2022.

Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country Tried To Pull A Fast One On Hyatt And Program Members

by Gary Leff on February 22, 2021

Feb 22 2021

The Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country has been playing games with free room night award availability. Most of the time you’ve been able to use Hyatt points for free nights there. However there’s a trick they’ve been using at peak times, like Memorial Day Weekend, to stop people from redeeming. They’ve been pulling a fast one on program members – and Hyatt. Fortunately after I pinged someone at Hyatt, they cracked down in less than 24 hours.

Tokyo Hotel Offering Free Rooms, You Just Have To Post A Photo To Social Media

by Gary Leff on September 13, 2020

Sep 13 2020

You even get a free drink at the bar, and you do not need to have a social following or call yourself an ‘influencer’.

Hyatt Extending Elite Status, Free Nights And Upgrades Through Next Year

by Gary Leff on April 3, 2020

Apr 03 2020

Hyatt has already extended reservations flexibility through June 30, including refunds for prepaid hotel reservations for those who need or want to cancel.

They’ve also now worked through how to handle elite status, upgrade certificates, and free night awards. And they’re also announcing a further pause to expiration of points.

What’s Happening To Expiring Hyatt Free Night Certificates?

by Gary Leff on March 26, 2020

Mar 26 2020

I’ve had several readers ask about expiring Hyatt free nights. They’re offering reservation cancellation flexibility, postponing peak season award pricing and hotel category changes and have paused expiration of points through May 31.

Like many other programs they haven’t said anything about elite status for the year yet. And they haven’t spoken to free nights – I have one myself expiring April 2. Here’s what I learned.

Offensive: Hotels.com Implementing a Fee to Redeem “Free” Hotel Nights

by Gary Leff on August 30, 2019

Aug 30 2019

You earn a Hotels.com free night after staying 10 nights, and that’s an effective 10% rebate on hotel stays. As a result Hotels.com offers a useful program for two types of people. It’s great for those who do not stay regularly enough to earn elite status in a loyalty program. It’s also good for those who don’t concentrate on a single chain.

That rebate will become worth a little bit less in three months.