Hilton vs. Marriott: Which Hotel Program's Free Night Certificate Is Better?

As we approach the end of 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic is still ravaging the globe and the travel industry is suffering from the worst economic downturn it’s had in over a decade. According to the US Travel Association, it is estimated that the effects of Coronavirus on the travel industry will cost the country over 900 billion dollars in loss, about 7 times worse than the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In an effort to survive this drought, hospitality moguls Hilton and Marriott have come up with both traditional and creative ways to combat the ongoing revenue loss. Both groups have been heavily promoting their co-branded credit cards through American Express (AMEX) and/or Chase as well as selling points for immediate cash flow. In addition, they modified existing rules pertaining to their free night certificate programs to accommodate customers who may feel uncomfortable traveling during this time. Before we discuss these new rules, let’s first go over how we can earn free night certificates through Hilton and Marriott.

Marriott and Hilton are coming up with ways to stay afloat during this financially challenging time.

How Do You Earn Hilton Free Weekend Night Certificates?

Hilton’s free night certificate can be earned with three of their co-branded credit cards, all provided through AMEX: the Hilton Aspire, Hilton Surpass, and Hilton Surpass Business. Since the Hilton Surpass and Surpass Business cards are essentially the same product offerings for different audiences, I’ll just go over the Aspire and Surpass.

American Express Hilton Aspire

The Hilton Aspire is the most expensive yet lucrative co-branded card by Hilton on the market. It is currently offering a signup bonus of 150,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $4,000 in 3 months. Be aware that since this is an American Express (AMEX) card, you’re only allowed to earn the signup bonus once per lifetime. With a valuation of 0.6 cents per point, the signup bonus is worth about $900. The annual fee is $450, but cardmembers get a weekend night certificate (redeemable on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at non-premium hotels), $250 incidental credit towards your airline of choice, $250 resort credit usable at select Hilton resorts, and Diamond status, the highest in Hilton’s member ecosystem. If you want to earn additional free weekend night certificates, you’ll need to spend at least $60,000 in a calendar year, which I don’t recommend unless the Aspire is the workhorse card in your wallet.

The American Express Hilton Aspire is one of my favorite cards in my wallet for its benefits and perks. Photo credit: www.americanexpress.com

The Aspire earns 14X per dollar spent on Hilton hotels and resorts when directly booked through Hilton and 7X on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly with select companies, and US restaurants. All other purchases will earn 3X per dollar spent. The multiplier rises significantly for Hilton stays since cardholders automatically become Diamond members, who receive a 100% points bonus and 10 extra points per dollar spent at Hilton properties. As a result, the Aspire earns 24X per dollar spent on Hilton properties when booked directly with Hilton, yielding a phenomenal return of 14.4%. With Hilton’s frequent points promotions, you will be raking in a serious amount of Hilton Honors points in no time. Even if you don’t stay at Hilton properties often, this card is definitely worth the annual fee due to its amazing perks and benefits, and I strongly believe it’s the best hotel credit card available on the market right now. 

If you’d like to apply for the American Express Hilton Aspire Card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! http://refer.amex.us/EDWARSr3Jf?xl=cp01

American Express Hilton Surpass

The Hilton Surpass is the mid-tier option in the AMEX-Hilton co-branded line, with an annual fee of $95. It is currently offering a signup bonus of 150,000 Hilton Honors points after $3,000 in 3 months. As with the Aspire, Surpass cardholders are only eligible to receive this bonus once in a lifetime due to AMEX’s policies. With a valuation of 0.6 cents per point, the signup bonus is worth about $900. When I signed up for the card, AMEX was running a promotion where new members received a free weekend night certificate in addition to the points upon hitting the signup spend requirements. However, when I recently traveled and stayed at a Hilton property, the hotel’s WiFi log-in page featured a better promotion, offering two free weekend night certificates on top of the points. I personally value a weekend night certificate at about $500, so the signup bonus could be worth almost $2,000 with the right promotions. Additionally, Surpass cardholders are automatically granted Hilton Honors Gold status.

The American Express Hilton Surpass can cover a wide range of daily expenses and still comes with a great multiplier for Hilton stays. Photo credit: www.americanexpress.com

The Surpass earns 12X per dollar spent on Hilton hotels and resorts when directly booked through Hilton and 6X at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations. All other purchases will earn 3X per dollar spent. Because of the automatic Gold status, cardholders receive an 80% points bonus and 8 extra points per dollar spent at Hilton properties, totaling 20X per dollar spent on properties booked directly with Hilton and a return of 12%. Unlike its higher fee sibling, cardmembers need only spend $15,000 per calendar year to earn an additional free weekend night reward. Because the Surpass is a great workhorse card for everyday purchases, this is certainly an achievable requirement. I recommend the Hilton Surpass for those who don’t want to pay a high annual fee and want a card that covers more bases for their spending.

If you’d like to apply for the American Express Hilton Surpass Card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog and educate existing and potential cardholders to make the most informed decisions to maximize their rewards earnings. Thank you! http://refer.amex.us/EDWARS5A0R?XLINK=MYCP

How Do You Earn Marriott Free Weekend Night Certificates?

Unless you were grandfathered into the American Express Bonvoy or Chase Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Card before the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) merger with AMEX, there are three cards on the market that you can use to earn free night certificates: The American Express Bonvoy Brilliant, American Express Bonvoy Business, and Chase Bonvoy Boundless.

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant has the highest annual fee of the bunch at $450 and currently offers a signup bonus of 75,000 points after spending $3,000 in three months. It earns 6 Marriott points per dollar at Marriott properties, 4 points per dollar for dining and airfare, and 2 points for everything else. Marriott points are generally valued at 0.8 cents per point, so 6 points per dollar yield a decent but unremarkable 4.8% return. The main reason why the Bonvoy Brilliant is such a great keeper card is that cardmembers receive $300 in annual credit for use at Marriott hotels and resorts. It works similarly to the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s travel credit in that any purchase you make at a Marriott property will trigger the credit, including room rates, room service, and upgrades. This credit reloads every cardmember anniversary, so if you travel at least once a year, you can easily utilize this benefit. The $300 credit effectively lowers the annual fee to a more palatable $150. Additionally, cardholders receive a free night certificate every anniversary, redeemable for a night worth up to 50,000 Bonvoy points.

The Bonvoy Brilliant is the most premium credit card offering by Marriott and earns a 50,000-point free night certificate annually. Photo credit: www.marriott.com

If you’d like to apply for the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! http://refer.amex.us/EDWARSwdXp?xl=cp01

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business

The Marriott Bonvoy Business has an annual fee of $125 and currently offers a signup bonus of 75,000 points after spending $3,000 in three months. It earns 6 Marriott points per dollar at Marriott properties, 4 points per dollar on dining at U.S. restaurants, gas stations, wireless telephone services, and shipping purchases, and 2 points for everything else. Every anniversary, cardmembers receive a free night certificate, redeemable for a night worth up to 35,000 Marriott points.

The only business credit card among the three, the Bonvoy Business offers the most variety in spending categories. Photo credit: www.americanexpress.com

If you’d like to apply for the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business Card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! http://refer.amex.us/EDWARSi04o?xl=cp01

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card

The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless has the lowest annual fee of the trio at $95 and currently offers a signup bonus of 75,000 points after spending $3,000 in three months. The points-earning structure is similar to but slightly worse than the Bonvoy Business; Cardmembers will earn 6X points per dollar at Marriott properties and 2X points on all other purchases. The Boundless Card also provides a free night certificate every cardmember anniversary, redeemable for a night worth up to 35,000 Marriott points.

The Bonvoy Boundless has the lowest annual fee among the three and earns the same free night certificate value as the Bonvoy Business. Photo credit: www.chase.com

Benefits and Limitations to Hilton’s Free Night Certificate

Hilton’s free weekend night certificate can be redeemed at “all” properties. However, there are a few hurdles to jump through: The first is that you can only redeem the reward certificate on a standard room rate, which means it cannot be applied towards premium room rates. Currently, Hilton’s website doesn’t offer the ability to filter which nights qualify for a standard versus premium rate; you must search for a property within a specific date range first and then analyze the search result.

Want to stay at the Niepce Paris Hotel? Sure, but you can’t apply your free night certificate since it charges a premium room rate. Photo credit: www.hilton.com

The second catch is that as the name suggests, Hilton’s weekend night certificates can be only redeemed on weekend night stays (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings). This can be problematic if you stay at a property for multiple days and have only one certificate to cover a single night. It doesn’t help that nightly rates are usually highest over weekends. The final hurdle is that you actually have to call Hilton and cannot just redeem the certificate online. I personally don’t mind talking to agents, but when you’re in a hurry or in an environment where it’s difficult to make a call, this can be troublesome.

Hilton Diamond members can use their dedicated Diamond line to use their free night certificates.

That being said, these limitations can be well worth it since Hilton does not charge resort fees or taxes when you use their free night certificate. These added fees can be otherwise substantial and pile up very quickly. For instance, if you were to use the certificate at Waldorf Astoria Park City, you can avoid the daily resort fee of $40 (plus tax) per night.

Without using a free night certificate, one overnight stay at Waldorf Astoria Park City in December can cost well over $500. Photo credit: www.hilton.com

Benefits and Limitations to Marriott’s Free Night Certificate

Marriott’s program is vastly different from Hilton’s award system. Most significantly, unlike Hilton’s free night certificate which is limited to weekend stays, Marriott’s certificates can be used on any given day. Also, cardmembers don’t have to call Marriott and can redeem it online. However, Marriott does charge their added taxes and fees on top of the waived costs, making this free night certificate not entirely “free” compared to Hilton’s.

You don’t have to call Marriott to use the free night certificate, but you will have to pay for taxes and fees. Photo credit: www.marriott.com

Lastly, Marriott’s free night certificates cannot be used at all properties. Marriott issue their certificates in two forms, redeemable up to 35,000 or 50,000 Bonvoy points respectively. To clarify, Marriott publishes an award chart with hotel categories ranging from 1 to 8, or 7,500 to 85,000 points per night for standard redemptions. Last year, they introduced a more flexible award redemption chart, lowering or increasing the points needed per award night based on demand. For instance, a Category 6 hotel’s standard nightly award rate is 50,000 points; during the offseason, the same property will cost you 40,000 points, but during the peak season, it will spike to 60,000 points.

If you plan your trip in advance and use your free night certificate wisely, you can score great deals through Marriott’s award chart. Photo credit: www.marriott.com

This becomes a double-edged sword where the 50,000-point certificate is effectively useless during the peak season. Though Marriott proudly presented the new system in an effort to largely focus on discounted award redemption rates, most travelers are likely to pay more points per stay at Marriott properties. However, I do still appreciate that there is a published chart per each hotel category so I have an idea of expected costs per hotel brand.

Stay at the Equinox, a Luxury Collection Golf Resort & Spa in Vermont, and save over $669 per night when using the free night certificate during the off-peak season. Photo credit: www.marriott.com

Which Hotel Program’s Free Night Certificate Is Better?

As both a Hilton Diamond and Marriott Titanium member, I’ve stayed at both brands extensively throughout my travels. Though I appreciate that I can use Hilton’s free night certificates at any of their fantastic properties, the fact that I can only redeem them on weekends significantly limits their usability. Also, since there is no filter to search for standard room rates, it can be a painful process to find the right property. Having to call Hilton can be cumbersome for people in a hurry as well, but the upside is you don’t have to pay taxes when you use the certificate.

What is your travel style and main priority when deciding your lodging for your next trip?

Marriott certificates can be used on any day, but I’m given limitations on which properties I can apply them to. Using the semi-dynamic rates on their award chart, I may be able to score more expensive hotels, or conversely have to downgrade my redemption depending on the seasonal demand of the property. Additionally, I’ll have to pay taxes even upon redeeming my free night certificate.

My verdict is a tie! It’s hard to pinpoint which program is objectively better given their pros and cons. The best way to decide is to analyze your own travel style and brand loyalty to pick the program that is better suited for your needs.

Summary

Both Hilton and Marriott offer free night certificates that have their unique advantages and disadvantages; depending on your style of travel, it may be difficult to argue which program is impartially better. For those looking to primarily travel on weekends and score luxurious properties, Hilton may be more suitable. For others who want more flexibility but don’t mind paying extra for taxes and fees, Marriott could be more ideal. Regardless of which program you pick, you will have to work for it and explore more options on your own to maximize the value of these respective certificates and create the ideal itinerary.