There’s nothing quite like checking into a luxury hotel knowing you booked it entirely with points and miles. Using points strategically can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. But finding the best redemption rates isn’t always straightforward, as award availability fluctuates, and hotel programs have different pricing models.

That’s where the right search tools come in. Instead of manually checking each hotel’s website, you can use specialized search engines to quickly compare redemption rates, find award availability, and determine whether using points or cash is the better deal. Here, we’ll walk you through our favorite tools to find hotel award nights, so you can book amazing stays, maximize your points, and avoid some common pitfalls. 

 

Understanding Hotel Loyalty Programs

Understanding the different loyalty programs and how they operate is crucial when searching for award availability. Before we discuss some of the available search engines, we’ll recap four of our favorite hotel programs. 

Hyatt, known for its valuable points and award chart, offers some of the best redemption rates in the industry.  They still use a fixed award-night model, meaning you can easily predict how many points you need for a stay.  

Marriott has recently transitioned to dynamic pricing, meaning point requirements fluctuate based on demand. This can make redemptions a bit unpredictable, but Marriott’s fifth-night-free program still makes them a strong option. 

Redeem 4 nights, get the 5th night free when you redeem points for a consecutive five-night Marriott hotel stay. You can receive a fifth Reward Night free, redeemable at that same hotel during that same stay.

IGH also uses dynamic pricing, making it harder to predict award costs. However, IHG does offer a fourth-night-free perk for credit card holders and frequent award sales, which can help you maximize value. 

Redeem 3 nights, get the 4th night free when you redeem points for a consecutive four-night IHG® hotel stay. You can receive a fourth Reward Night free, redeemable at that same hotel during that same stay.

Hilton uses dynamic pricing as well. However, if you’re an elite member, you are eligible for Hilton’s fifth-night-free perk. Hilton also offers frequent transfer bonuses from AmEx, which can make for some valuable redemptions. 

Redeem 4 nights, get the 5th night free when you redeem points for a consecutive five-night Hilton hotel stay. You can receive a fifth Reward Night free, redeemable at that same hotel during that same stay.

Now that we’ve covered the big four hotel chains, what about point valuations for each? It’s important to know that not all points are created equal. How will you know if you’re getting a good redemption? 

 

 

If you’re trying to determine if a redemption may be worth it, use this formula: (Cash Price + Taxes & Fees) / Number of Points Needed = Value Per Point

For example, if you’re looking at a Hyatt stay that will cost you $400 per night or 18K points, using the formula above, $400 / 18,000 = 2.2 cents per point. We would consider this a great redemption.  Generally, a 2 cent per point redemption is considered good.

 

Hotel Search Engines

Now that we’ve covered the basics, what are our favorite tools to find hotel award nights? Here are some of the best and most popular options.

 

OpenHotelAlert 

OpenHotelAlert is a free hotel availability alert service that can help you secure a room at that fully booked hotel that you’ve had your heart set on.  This site will monitor your preferred hotel and notify you when a room opens up so you can book before someone else does. 

Setting up an alert is easy.  On the OpenHotelAlert website, enter the hotel name, your desired check-in and check-out dates, the number of guests, and your email address or phone number so they know where to alert you when a room opens up. You can read more about how this works on our blog post on OpenHotelAlerts.

This site is particularly great if award nights are all booked up at your preferred hotel. You can set an alert and snag the room as soon as points availability opens (e.g., if someone cancels their reservation). Just set the alert for the standard room the hotel you want to book usually allocates for award nights.  This is a great strategy to use at popular resorts or for peak travel dates or holiday weeks. 

 

MaxMyPoint

MaxMyPoint helps you find the best way to redeem points for hotel stays. It scans multiple hotel loyalty programs to show award availability, cash rates, and point values. Instead of manually checking each hotel website, MaxMyPoint aggregates award availability across the major hotel programs, saving you a ton of time. 

MaxMyPoints lets you track hotel award prices over time, which is excellent if you are looking for a specific Marriott or Hilton property since they use dynamic pricing.  You can track whether a hotel’s award price drops so you can rebook and save points! 

MaxMyPoint has a free membership plan that offers some of these features, but if you’re looking for multiple hotel alerts and real-time alerts (compared to a three-hour delay with the free version), there are membership plans you can explore. We use this site a lot; it’s one of our favorite tools to find hotel award nights!

 

 

Rooms.aero

Rooms.aero is a hotel award-search tool that can help you find and book hotel stays using points. Like other award-search engines, it scans multiple loyalty programs to show award availability, point requirements, and cash rates. 

This tool will show you both the award rates and cash rates so you can determine the best redemption value. This will help you decide whether to use points or pay cash. You can also use this tool to track pricing changes so you know if you should rebook when the redemption rate drops to save yourself some points. 

What’s also great about rooms.aero is that you can set availability alerts for that sold-out hotel you’ve been wanting to book. This is key when you want to secure that hard-to-book property. 

 

PointsYeah

If you’re familiar with PointsYeah for airline rewards searches, you’ll find that PointsYeah for hotel award searches works the exact same way. 

You can search hotel award availability across multiple loyalty programs to see the points rates and cash rates. If you find a great redemption but don’t have enough points, PointsYeah can help you identify which transferable points can be used to book your stay. 

 

Tips for Maximizing Your Redemptions

• Book during off-peak times for lower points redemptions.  Marriott Bonvoy has peak, standard, and off-peak pricing, with off-peak redemptions requiring fewer points.  Hilton Honors and IHG use dynamic pricing, so award rates will be lower when the demand is low. Hyatt has off-peak, standard, and peak pricing, making off-peak redemptions a great deal. 
• Avoid major holidays or peak travel seasons if you want to save points. A resort in Hawaii might be 60K points per night in December but only 30K points per night in September. 
• Book in advance! As many hotels release off-peak availability months ahead, grab these deals when you can because they go fast. 
• Use transfer partners! One of the best transferable points for hotels is Chase Ultimate Rewards® to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio. For example, booking a Category 1 Hyatt could cost you 5K Chase points per night, while a similar Hilton hotel may cost around 30K Hilton points per night. 
• Take advantage of free-night certificates and promotions! Many hotel credit cards and loyalty programs offer free-night certificates, which can provide incredible value. Use them at high-value properties rather than at airport hotels where it may make more sense to just pay cash.  

 

Pitfalls to Avoid

Resort fees: These are sometimes charged even on award stays. Hyatt and Hilton will waive resort fees on award stays, but Marriott and IHG still charge resort fees—even on free-night redemptions. They can add up, but remember that even with some resort fees, you’re still paying very little to stay there.

 

 

Lack of award availability and how to work around it

Book as early as possible. Award availability typically opens up 11 to 13 months in advance.

Check for last-minute availability. Some hotels have released unsold rooms as award nights a few nights before check-in.

Use flexible dates if you can. Use the tools we covered above to set up alerts for hotel availability, notifying you when award space opens up. It also helps to look one day at a time for available space rather than a whole week in case you can work around the one day that doesn’t work.

 

Bottom Line

We encourage you to use our favorite tools to find hotel award nights, like OpenHotelAlert, MaxMyPoint, PointsYeah, or Rooms.aero. These search engines can be key to finding the best hotel award availability and maximizing the value of your points. They can save you time and help uncover hidden redemption opportunities. Remember to compare the points cost to the cash price to know you’re getting the best possible value. 

With a little strategy, you can stretch your points further and unlock incredible hotel stays. Using our favorite tools to find hotel award stays is a game-changer for award redemptions. Which search engine has helped you the most?

 

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