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Most hotel and airline credit cards let you spend your way to free flights and hotels by earning points. However, some credit cards offer a free hotel night each year just for being a cardholder.
In the U.S. there are nine credit cards total that come with a free hotel night. In Canada, we have one (two if you count the business version of the card).
Let’s take a look at some of the credit cards that offer a free hotel night each year and how you can maximize this valuable perk.
Marriott Bonvoy
There are currently two Marriott Bonvoy credit cards in Canada that offer a free night award each year. They are the only cards on the market that do this.
The free nights available through these credit cards are capped at either 35,000 points inclusive of the room rate and applicable taxes, but exclusive of the resort fee. Since Marriott now uses dynamic pricing for their award nights, these awards can theoretically be used at thousands of hotels worldwide when rates are low enough. More realistically, you should expect to be able to redeem a free night award at low or mid-tier hotels with more availability (or at nicer properties during off-peak dates).
Marriott free night award certificates expire within one year of issuance. You must book and stay before the expiration date.
The Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card
The Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card has a moderate annual fee of $120, but it makes up for this fee with valuable benefits. In addition to complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status and an opportunity to upgrade to Gold Elite Status when you charge $30,000 in net purchases to your Card each year, or when you combine 10 qualifying paid nights within one calendar year with the 15 Elite Night Credits from your card. You also get double the points when you refer a friend at 150,000 points just for the referral bonus and double the points with your purchases at Marriott Bonvoy hotels. This is because you get 5 points per $1 spent at those properties, plus the points you already get as a Marriott Bonvoy member.
This Free Night Award is limited to a redemption level at 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. However, Marriott offers some flexibility to these awards by permitting members to “top off” with a co-pay of up to an additional 15,000 points when booking standard rooms. If you have additional points in your account and are willing to pay the incremental difference, this allows you to consider stays of up to 50,000 points per night. Resort fees may be charged when using a free night award.
Flexible point redemption rates mean that these prices can fluctuate between now and your trip. Low-priced hotels may become more expensive as the hotel reaches capacity. However, higher-priced hotels may also drop in price if they have additional availability. Because of this, if you have a property in mind that your award isn’t currently valid for, you may want to check back occasionally to see if the price falls under 35,000 points.
Marriott Bonvoy™ Business American Express® Card
The Marriott Bonvoy™ Business American Express® Card is Marriott’s small business credit card. This card makes up for its $150 annual fee by granting the same benefits as the personal version of the card and one extra earn rate of 3 Bonvoy points per dollar spent on dining, gas and travel. The anniversary Free Night Award is valid toward Marriott nights costing 35,000 points or less. Among the many examples is the Bellyard in Midtown Atlanta, a high-end Tribute Portfolio hotel.
Bottom Line
There are two currently-available credit cards that offer a free night to cardholders each year. Both with reasonable annual fees:
- Marriott Bonvoy American Credit Card ($120 annual fee).
- Marriott Bonvoy™ Business American Express® Card ($150 annual fee).
Many travelers can get more value out of just the annual free night to justify these reasonable annual fees—even before factoring the card’s other benefits. The choice is just which program’s free night provides the most value for your situation.
