How to get free hotel nights – choose a reward program

Free hotel nights with membership

Wondering which hotel chain has the best membership program to reward your loyalty – meaning, which program will give you free nights the fastest.

Most hotel rewards work the same way : basic membership, silver status after ~25 nights, gold at ~50 nights, black at ~75 nights (also called concierge, diamond, …).

As a “black” member of three different programs, Wyndham rewards, Club Carlson, and LeClub Accor Hotels, and traveling often, the question always remains : which program is best to use, and which hotel will bring the most points ?

In short, here is the answer : Club Carlson is the best choice, with on average 1 night free every 13 nights as basic member, and 1 night free every 8 nights with the highest membership level. See below the detail.

Second best choices are Wyndham gardens as basic member, Le Club Accor / IHG / Marriott Rewards with highest membership level.

How many points earned per night?

See below an analysis of how many points are offered per 1 $ / € spent in the hotel reward program – most of the time, not only including the nights, but also restaurant bills.

Points per 1X spent as Basic member, Silver level member, Gold member, and Black member

• Club Carlson: 20, 23, 27, 35 US dollars,
  
• LeClub Accor: 2.5, 3.1, 3.7, 4.4 Euros,
  
• LeClub Accor budget: 1.25, 1.55, 1.85, 2.2 Euros,
  
• IHG: 10, 11, 15, 20 US dollars,
  
• Hhonors: 10, 11.5, 12.5, 15 US dollars,
  
• Wyndham rewards: 10, 10, 10, 10 US dollars,
  
• Marriott rewards: 10, 12, 12.5, 15 US dollars,
  
• SPG: 2, 3, 3.5 US dollars,
  
• Best Western: 10, 11, 13, 15 US dollars.
  

How many paid nights to get one free

Adjusting all to Euros (1€ = 0.89$), and taking reward program participating hotels in London and Paris, here is the average nights necessary to get a free night per program, with lowest (basic) and highest (black) membership level :

• Club Carlson 8 nights,
  
• LeClub Accor 11 nights,
  
• LeClub Accor budget 23 nights,
  
• IHG 11 nights,
  
• HHonors 18 nights,
  
• Wyndham rewards 15 nights,
  
• Marriott rewards 11 nights,
  
• SPG 16 nights,
  
• Best Western 15 nights.
  

Best hotel reward program

Generally, with Club Carlson, you’ll get one free night every 13 paid nights as a basic member and 8 as Concierge member, against 40 with LeClub Accor budget as a basic member, and 23 as Platinum member.

These numbers being a maximum, as hotels generally offer points for money spent on services (restaurant, spa…), but also have regular offers, for example points x3 for weekend stays at a specific period, … allowing members to get free nights faster !