Hilton Free Weekend Night Certificates (2021)

Get Free Hotel Nights with Credit Card Certificates, Guide to the Hilton Honors Program

Hilton hotel certificates can be used for a weekend night at any Hilton-family hotel, even their most expensive resorts and luxury hotels.

You get one when you first receive the Hilton Aspire Credit Card, and an additional one each year you keep the card. You can also get one when you spend at least $15,000 during the calendar year with the Hilton Surpass Credit Card or the Hilton Business Credit Card.

Hilton Credit Card Guide

Extended Expiration Dates

Because of the impacts of the Covid pandemic, Hilton is extending all certificates issued in 2021 until the end of 2022 and allowing them to be used any day of the week, rather than just on weekends.

If you like staying at expensive hotels, these certificates can be extremely valuable. You could use your certificate for the Conrad Maldives, the Grand Wailea in Hawaii, the Hotel Del in San Diego, or at any of the luxury Waldorf Astoria hotel in locations all around the world. For example, one of us used two for two nights at a magnificent overwater bungalow at the Hilton Moorea (with a small up-charge) that had a best available rate of $900 per night; and two more for two nights at a 3 bedroom casita at the Waldorf Pedregal in Los Cabos with its own plunge pool (after a free upgrade) that had a best available rate of almost $2,000 per night.

If you feel you can make good use of its various travel credits, the free night certificate is an important part of the value proposition of the Hilton Aspire card. It is a great way to get Hilton Diamond status as well as a free certificate each year.
You may also want to get the Hilton Surpass card or Hilton Business card to get the opportunity to earn certificates with $15,000 spend. This is a cost of about $100-200 each in lost rewards, plus the $95 annual fee (if you weren't already getting the card).

These certificates are generally much more valuable than the certificates from other cards, because the other common certificates can’t be used at their program's most expensive hotels. Hilton certificates are one of the most effective ways to get a discounted night at a spectacular hotel. Being limited to weekend nights is not that big of a downside in comparison.

They also combine nicely with the free Hilton breakfast benefit. A single credit card, and a single annual fee, gets you Hilton Gold or Diamond status plus the ability to get a free night certificate.

Great places to use your free night

A small set of hotels are excluded from this program, including all of Hilton’s All Inclusive properties, the Hilton Grand Vacation clubs and some other “condo” type hotels, and a few other desirable locations. However, most of Hilton’s most expensive hotels can still be booked.

A lot of bloggers have written good articles that recommend some great choices for using your certificate. Here are some links to get your imagination going:

Earning even more certificates

The Hilton Aspire and Hilton Business card will let you earn an extra free night certificate each year that you spend $60,000. Even if you are spending this much per year, it is hard to justify the cost of the lost rewards from using these cards, rather than using a card that earns a better reward rate.
The less expensive way to earn extra certificates is by getting more cards. There are three different cards that can provide certificates, and you can get multiple copies of the same card.

Keep in mind that Amex limits each customer to a total of 5 credit cards (across both personal and business cards), so there is probably a limit to the number of “slots” you want to use for Hilton cards, especially if you are also trying to collect other Amex signup bonuses. Dealing with the Amex 5 Credit Card Limit.

It is also possible to use an upgrade / downgrade trick to get extra certificates from any "slot". If you have a Hilton Surpass card you will earn your certificate as soon as you have spent $15,000 during the calendar year. You can then upgrade the card to the Hilton Aspire card. When you do so, you'll pay a pro-rated amount of the annual fee based on the number of months left till your anniversary date. You'll also receive that year's free night certificate——your second one for the year. When you are ready, you can downgrade back to the Hilton Surpass card and repeat the process the following year.

Expiration rules

The stay must be completed within 12 months from the date of issue, which should be close to your next account anniversary date. Don’t let it expire.

Other details

Full Redemption Terms of Use (Hilton)

If there is a standard room available, they should be bookable with your certificate.
You can only use these on standard rooms. That can make it hard to use at a few aspirational properties.
However, once you get the room, you can usually arrange an upgrade to a nicer room (for an additional charge).
You can cancel a free night reservation, subject to the hotel’s cancellation policy, and get the free night returned to the account.