Maximize your rewards by getting a fourth or fifth night free on award stays

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.

No one enjoys overpaying for their hotel. So, unless you have more points and miles than you can use, it’s likely appealing to get a fourth or fifth night free when redeeming points for hotel stays.

You might be familiar with Citi Prestige’s fourth-night-free hotel benefit and Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts’ complimentary night offers, but they’re not the only options.

In this guide, I’ll discuss four major loyalty programs that offer a fourth or fifth night free to select travelers on award stays. Here’s what you need to know.

Marriott Bonvoy ‘Stay for 5, Pay for 4’

All Marriott Bonvoy members automatically enjoy the “Stay for 5, Pay for 4” benefit when redeeming points for five consecutive nights under one reservation at the same hotel. This benefit — which gives you the lowest point-value night free — is automatically applied during booking if your stay is eligible.

Marriott fifth night free — MARRIOTT.COM

You can get multiple “Stay for 5, Pay for 4” benefits on the same reservation. So, if you redeemed Marriott points for a 10-night stay, the two lowest point-value nights across your entire stay would cost you zero points.

You’ll only get the “Stay for 5, Pay for 4” benefit for the standard room point cost if you redeem Marriott points for an upgraded room.

You can book paid nights or free night awards — including those earned through Marriott credit cards — in the same reservation you use the “Stay for 5, Pay for 4” benefit.

However, nights booked with cash or free night awards don’t count toward the five-night requirement for the “Stay for 5, Pay for 4” benefit. So you’ll need to redeem points for at least five nights of your stay to get the lowest point-value night comped.

Hilton fifth night free on reward stays

Hilton Honors members with elite status get every fifth night free when booking standard room reward stays with points. Paid stays, premium room reward stays and points and money reward stays aren’t eligible.

You’ll effectively pay zero points for nights five, 10, 15 and 20 of your stay if you redeem Hilton points for a stay of 20 nights. There isn’t a cap on how frequently you can use this perk, but you’ll only get up to four free nights per stay.

You can earn Hilton elite status by meeting annual night, stay or base point requirements. Hilton Silver is the most attainable at 10 nights, four stays or 25,000 base points per calendar year. However, various Hilton Honors credit cards, as well as The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, offer complimentary Hilton elite status as a cardmember perk.

IHG fourth-night-free reward

Cardholders of select IHG credit cards have access to the fourth-night-free reward perk. This benefit automatically drops the cost of every fourth night on a standard room reward night stay of four or more consecutive nights to zero.

You can’t use IHG’s fourth-night-free reward perk on paid stays or points and cash bookings. However, stays of four nights or longer for which you redeem IHG points are eligible.

You can use the fourth-night-free reward perk on as many IHG One Rewards stays as you’d like. You’ll get access to the fourth-night-free reward benefit as a cardholder of the following IHG credit cards:

IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card (no annual fee)
IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card ($99 annual fee)
IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card ($99 annual fee)

Aeroplan fourth night free

You usually don’t want to redeem airline points and miles for hotel stays because doing so usually provides a low redemption value. But you can often get decent value when redeeming Air Canada Aeroplan points for hotel stays. This is especially true if you have an Aeroplan credit card (including the Aeroplan® Credit Card) that gives you a fourth night free every time you redeem points for three nights.

Woman using credit card to shop online — WESTEND61/GETTY IMAGES

You can only get every fourth night free when you book a consecutive stay at the same participating hotel through a specific travel booking website. So, you’ll want to ensure the rates bookable through this website are competitive with rates you could get when booking directly with the hotel.

You likely won’t get elite benefits with the hotel when you redeem Aeroplan points for your stay. But you can stack the fourth night free with up to a 30% discount at HotelSavers partner hotels. The fourth-night-free offer ends Dec. 31, 2025, although Aeroplan may extend it.

Bottom line

A free night is a great way to boost your redemption rate and get more value from your rewards. I often redeem IHG points when staying for four nights and Hilton or Marriott points when staying for five; this lets me maximize my points. Plus, by staying in one place for at least four or five nights, I can see more of the destination and enjoy my stay more.