I used 6 free night certificates on one European trip and saved $1,130

Reading Time: 4 min

You might be surprised to hear this, but one of my favorite credit card perks isn’t bonus points or airport lounge access — it’s the annual free night certificates that come with certain hotel credit cards.

And many times, these free night awards can save you hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars on hotel stays.

That's exactly what happened with our recent family trip to Italy and Slovenia. By strategically using annual free night certificates from Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG credit cards, we saved $1,130 while staying at properties that fit our itinerary perfectly.

Our trip started in Venice, where we planned to spend an extended weekend. Hyatt is typically my go-to program, and luckily, the Hyatt Centric Murano Venice kept coming up in recommendations from other travelers.

Both my husband and I have the World of Hyatt Credit Card, which comes with an annual Category 1-4 free night certificate — giving us two free night awards right off the bat. But as a separate card member perk, once you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year, you can earn another Category 1-4 free night award — which we’ve already done on my husband’s card. This gave us a third certificate to use for the stay.

We used those certificates for a three-night stay at the Hyatt Centric Murano Venice (which is a Category 4 property). The cash price was $202 per night, so these three certificates saved us $606.

Even after paying the combined $190 in annual fees for our two cards, we came out well ahead.

We also put our IHG certificates to good use in Slovenia, where we spent the bulk of our vacation.

Both my husband and I still have the legacy IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card, which carries a $49 annual fee and comes with an annual free night certificate valid at hotels costing up to 40,000 points per night. We each used one certificate for a two-night stay at the Holiday Inn Express Ljubljana, where award nights were pricing at 37,000 points each.

Cash rates for our stay were $150 per night, meaning our two certificates saved us another $300.

Although the legacy card is no longer available to new applicants, the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card offers a similar annual free night certificate. The biggest improvement with this card is that you can top off a stay and add points from your IHG account if a hotel costs more than 40,000 points. This makes the certificate much more flexible, although the annual fee is about double that of the legacy card.

The gold standard for AI news

FROM OUR PARTNER AT SUPERHUMAN AI AI is projected to eliminate 300 million jobs over the next five years—but yours doesn’t have to be one of them. ​Join over 1 million professionals who read the Superhuman AI newsletter​ to master high-value AI skills in just three minutes a day. By staying ahead of the curve, you won't just protect your role—you'll quickly become the indispensable AI expert on your team.

Join 1M+ Professionals

Our trip ended just where it started: in Venice. But this time, we went for convenience.

Since we had an early morning flight home, we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott Venice Airport the night prior. Rather than paying cash for what was essentially just a place to sleep, I used the annual 35,000-point free night certificate that comes with my Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card.

One feature I really appreciate is that Marriott allows you to top off a free night certificate with up to 25,000 additional points from your account. The night cost 47,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, so I simply added 12,000 points to the 35,000-point certificate to book the room.

Although this certainly wasn’t the most luxurious hotel on our trip, it was the perfect use of the certificate. Instead of paying the $224 nightly rate, I was able to cover the stay with my certificate and a relatively small number of Marriott Bonvoy points.

Considering the card carries a $95 annual fee, this one redemption more than offset the cost of keeping the card for another year.

In case you missed it...

​How I split three nights between Tokyo and Taipei​

Year after year, I’m able to put my free night certificates from all three cards to use. And this benefit alone makes up for each card’s annual fee.

In the past few years, I’ve also used these certificates at the Holiday Inn Resort Grand Cayman, the Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa in Grand Cayman, the Courtyard by Marriott New York Manhattan/Upper East Side, and the Hyatt Place Keystone — just to name a few.

One mistake I see people make is trying to save their free night certificates for the best-possible value. While that can certainly work, sometimes the best redemption is simply using them where they naturally fit into your travel plans — and ensuring they don’t go unused.

The $10 device that could save you hundreds in baggage fees

Never pay for overweight luggage again with this Travel Inspira Luggage Scale. This portable scale can weigh a suitcase up to 110 pounds, ensuring you're within the airline's weight restrictions.

Get it at Amazon