So you've finally saved up enough hotel points to redeem for an award stay. You're super excited — but not quite sure how to maximize those points. Do you stay one night? Two?

Even better: Stay longer, and you might be able to score a free night.

Award travelers have plenty of options when it comes to redeeming for hotels, but some choices are better than others. For example, several hotels offer extra nights free for award bookings. Typically, the deal goes: Stay four nights, get one free (in the case of IHG, it's one night less).

Taking advantage of these complimentary nights can offer significant value to travelers, so let's take a look at some hotel loyalty programs and their policies for earning a free night.

How to maximize longer hotel stays by using free night benefits, by program

Marriott Fifth Night Free

Marriott is the largest hotel chain globally, currently comprising more than 7,000 properties spread across the globe. As of April 2022, the brand uses dynamic pricing for its award nights rather than its former semi-fixed award chart.

The hotel's loyalty program, Marriott Bonvoy, offers free hotel nights through its "Stay for 5, Pay for 4" program for anybody using points on an award stay. So for every five nights, you stay during an award booking, Marriott will only charge you for four.

Keep in mind that Marriott's program will only discount the points needed for the lowest-cost night rather than your actual fifth night.

As an example, let's say that you're staying five nights at a hotel that will charge either 30,000, 35,000 or 40,000 points per night, depending on the demand. Your first three nights are lower cost, so you'll be charged just 30,000 points per night. Your fourth night falls under standard pricing, which will cost 35,000 points. Finally, your fifth night falls on a weekend, so you'll be charged 40,000 points for the night.

Under Marriott's fifth-night free program, you'll receive one of your lower-cost nights for free, thus saving you 30,000 points overall. As a result, your total out-of-pocket cost will be 135,000 points for all five nights.

Hilton Fifth Night Free

Hilton Honors also offers a fifth-night free program, but it isn't available to all members. You'll need to have at minimum a Silver elite status to receive this benefit.

Hilton’s Silver elite status is easy to earn; the $0-annual-fee Hilton Honors American Express Card offers this benefit. Otherwise, you can earn Silver status through stays, base points or nights. Terms apply.

Once you're eligible, you can use Hilton's fifth-night free program on award stays for standard rooms. However, you won't get your fifth night free on premium room rewards, which can range upwards of a million points per night. Skip these redemptions.

Hilton doesn't use a published award chart — instead, you'll find dynamic pricing for rooms based almost entirely on demand. Standard award pricing only applies to base rooms at a Hilton hotel; the rest are considered premium room rewards.

Using the Hilton Points Explorer tool can help you find a range of hotels in your points budget, even aspirational hotels such as the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi or the Conrad Bora Bora Nui.

IHG Fourth Night Free

IHG One Rewards doesn’t offer a free night on award stays as part of its reward program, but it is a benefit of the IHG® One Rewards Premier Credit Card, the IHG® One Rewards Traveler Credit Card and the IHG® One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card.

Cardholders will enjoy every fourth night free on standard room reward redemptions; these can be stacked together during longer stays for multiple free nights.

Unlike Marriott, IHG really will give you your fourth night for free — even if it is more costly than other nights. This can be incredibly compelling due to IHG's dynamic pricing system, which can cause considerable variations in nightly rates at hotels.

Other ways to get free stays at hotels

Even if you're not interested in Marriott, IHG or Hilton, there are still ways to get free nights on your hotel stays.

Citi Prestige® Card

The Citi Prestige® Card is Citi’s top-tier premium travel credit card. Although it’s no longer available to new applicants, those who hold the card can still use and redeem one of its most valuable benefits: Your fourth night is free on hotel stays booked through Citi’s travel portal.