The Hidden Value in Hotel Credit Cards: Annual Free Night Awards

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All information about the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card has been collected independently by MileValue. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Co-branded hotel credit cards can play an important role in your wider points and miles strategy. Among their many perks, free night awards offer some of the greatest value to cardholders.

Bilt Rewards Now Offering 90-Day World of Hyatt Elite Status Trial

As part of a recent partnership between Bilt Rewards and World of Hyatt, Bilt members can now register to enroll in World of Hyatt Explorist status for 90 days. By doing so, you’ll also have the opportunity to keep Explorist status or even unlock Globalist status.

Upcoming Hyatt Category Changes

Hyatt recently announced that more than 100 hotels will be changing categories on March 22, 2022. Unfortunately, it’s generally bad news, but there are a few bright spots, mostly for the European travelers. Nearly 150 hotels will change categories, with 70 properties shifting to a higher category, including some of our readers’ favorites. Sixty-nine properties are moving up one category, and one property is going up two categories.

A few Category 4 hotels where you currently can use the Category 1-4 free night certificates will be moving up a category.

How the MileValue Team Is Using Our Annual Free Night Certificates

One of the often overlooked benefits of hotels’ co-branded credit cards are the free night certificates that many come with. In exchange for an often nominal annual fee, you're able to redeem these for a significantly subsidized (read: not truly free!) redemption if you're able strategize these well.

With many hotel programs extending the expiration dates on these free night certificates, many of us find ourselves with a number of certificates and looming expiration dates.

Greece 2021 Trip Report – Part 2

This is part 2 of my travel report. My husband and I recently spent two and a half weeks in Greece so if you’d like to know what it’s been like traveling in Greece when it just reopened, how I booked our tickets and the COVID-19 restrictions, you can read part 1. 

Here I’ll cover the places and islands we’ve visited, where we stayed and some of my finds and must do things on each island, such as tours, activities and restaurants that we loved in each place.

Team Piece: How We’d Use the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Bonus

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card gets a lot of love in the world of points and miles, as it should: it’s the best card for beginners to get 99.95% of the time.

With its valuable sign-up bonus, combined with a very reasonable annual fee of $95, whether you’re new to the game or a seasoned professional who’s had it before and want to get it again, the Sapphire Preferred continues to be a terrific card for practically every cardholder.

So hat can you do with all of these points?

Well, the options are literally endless.

Stack These Marriott Promotions to Get Easy Status

With a new year comes new opportunities. There will always be the opportunity to earn new points, but today we want to share some new (and some soon to be gone) updates to the Marriott Bonvoy program.

Most of these changes relate to your ability to earn status. Marriott status can be worthwhile if you find yourself staying in Marriott properties often.

If you’re like me, Marriott elite status doesn’t start to be worth it until you’ve earned Platinum Elite. That’s when you’ll get free breakfast and are eligible for suite upgrades.

How to Book Hyatt Stays With Points

Hyatt Hotels is a favorite hotel chain among many frequent travelers and points aficionados. World of Hyatt points are easy to earn, the redemption rates are very reasonable and Hyatt’s program is fairly straightforward and easy to use.

Let’s look at when and how to transfer Hyatt points, when it makes sense and when it doesn’t and how to book award stays at Hyatt hotels.

You’ll see that depending on the cash rates it doesn’t always make sense to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to the World of Hyatt.

Why The Chase Sapphire Preferred Is My Next Card

When I’m trying to decide what my next credit card is going to be, I consider a lot of factors. What trips do I want to take in the next one to two years? What points do I currently have? What points do I want? What’s my 5/24 status? 

These questions always help guide me towards a card that will help me meet my goals. I don’t open cards just for the sake of opening them.

Hyatt Properties to Book Before Wednesday (& One to Wait On)

Hyatt has announced a few hotels that will go up in award price and one that will drop in price, effective as of 12:01am CST on December 13, 2017 (this Wednesday).