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Out of all the free night certificates out there, the Hilton free weekend night certificate is by far the best. It’s valuable in terms of being uncapped with restrictions that aren’t too inconvenient compared to other capped free night certificates.
Imagine a free weekend night certificate usable for a property that costs $2,000 a night.
In this article, I will talk about the Hilton free weekend night certificate, how to obtain it, how cancellation works, and where the best places to use the free weekend night certificate are found.
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Hilton free weekend night certificate
The Hilton free weekend night certificate is a complimentary night at almost any Hilton property in the world but redeemable only on weekend nights. Weekend nights are defined by Hilton as Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The great thing about the certificate is how it isn’t capped at a point value. So, you could redeem the certificate at a property that is worth 5,000 Hilton points or 120,000 Hilton points a night.
However, there are some properties that aren’t redeemable using the certificate: all-inclusive properties, vacation clubs, Hampton Inns in China, and a few other properties. You can see the small list of properties here. (In the scope of things, the list is so small that it shouldn’t limit your search for a property.)
Some of the properties you can redeem your free weekend night certificate could cost up to $2,000. This makes the certificate super valuable in that it has no cap for its value.
It’s actually one of the few free night certificates that is super flexible in regard of the property it can be redeemed for, especially when you compare it with IHG or Marriott free night certificates.
Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to help you travel the world for free by finding the best travel credit cards and promotions!
How to get a Hilton free weekend night certificate
There are three cards that offer the Hilton free weekend night certificate automatically each year or by hitting the spend requirement.
One of the cards automatically gives you the free weekend night certificate upon opening the account and on account anniversary every year. While the other two of the cards require you to hit a spend requirement to obtain the free weekend night certificate.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
- Complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond status
- One weekend night at any hotel or resort in the Hilton portfolio (upon opening the account and on account anniversary every year)
- Weekend night after spending $60,000 on the card within a calendar year
- $250 airline incidental fee statement credit
- $250 Hilton resort statement credit
- $100 on-property credit at Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts and Conrad Hotels & Resorts when booking the exclusive Aspire Card package
- Unlimited Priority Pass membership
- 14X Hilton Honors Bonus Points at hotels and resorts in the Hilton portfolio worldwide
- 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies and at U.S. restaurants
- 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on other purchases
- $450 Annual Fee
The Hilton Aspire credit card gives you one free weekend night every year, at the time of application signup and every anniversary year as long as you have the card open. Then, if you spend $60,000 in one calendar year, you get another free weekend night certificate.
The card also comes with many other benefits like Hilton Diamond status. Diamond status is Hilton’s best elite status which offers upgrades up to suites, executive lounge access, free breakfast, late check-out, and 100% bonus points on paid stays.
This card is not only handing out elite status and a free weekend night certificate, but it’s also handing out an uncapped $250 resort credit, $250 airline incidental credit, and Priority Pass membership. This is why it’s one of the top hotel credit cards in my opinion.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass
- Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status
- Spend $40,000 on your Card in a calendar year and you can earn Hilton Honors Diamond status
- Free Weekend Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year
- 10 Priority Pass lounge passes a calendar year
- 12X at hotels or resorts within the Hilton Portfolio
- 6X at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations
- 3X on all other eligible purchases
- $95 annual fee
If you think you aren’t going to use those airline credits, resort credits, and Hilton Diamond status that is given to you by the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, then the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass is the second best Hilton card out there. (Full review here.)
You have the ability to gain one free weekend night when you spend $15,000 on the card in one calendar year. Also, the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass comes with Hilton Gold status and those benefits include free breakfast, room upgrades, free wifi, late check-out, and free bottle of water.
The card also comes with 10 Priority Pass lounge passes a year. These lounge passes can be used at any Priority Pass lounge in the world for anyone, even if you aren’t traveling.
If you wish for a business card, Hilton does offer a business card called the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card. Most of the benefits are the same as the Surpass card, but it’s a great card if you want to watch your 5/24 status.
How to redeem a free weekend night certificate
It’s very easy to redeem your Hilton free weekend night certificate. You will first get an email from Hilton containing your certificate ID named “reward ID”.
Once you have your ID number, all you have to do is call Hilton customer service saying you want to redeem your Hilton free weekend night. The agent will then ask for the ID number. If you forgot your rewards ID number, the agent can manually check your Hilton Honors account for any linked weekend night certificates.
Then you go through the reservation process with the customer service agent. It takes no more than 10 minutes for the reservation to be booked and confirmed. Once the reservation is booked and confirmed, you will get a confirmation email and the reservation will also show in your Hilton Honors account online and in the app.
When does the free weekend night certificate expire?
The Hilton free weekend night certificate expires one year after it is issued. I should also note that the free weekend night must be redeemed for a stay before the expiration of the certificate. That means, you can only redeem for nights before the expiration date and cannot redeem for nights after the expiration date.
Coronavirus extension: All 2021-issued Free Weekend Night Reward certificates can be used any night of the week and expiration will be extended to December 31, 2022.
What is the cancellation policy for the free weekend night?
The Hilton free weekend night certificate cancellation policy will differ at every property. Some properties will allow free cancellations up to a couple of days before check-in and some might allow free cancellations the same day, but if you want to check the cancellation policy of the property, it’s easy.
To check the cancellation policy for a Hilton property, you can ask the Hilton customer service representative the cancellation policy for the property you want to redeem for. Or, you can check the property’s cancellation policy by doing a test booking using points. When doing the test booking, it will show the cancellation policy of the property without even booking the property.
Best Hilton hotels and resorts for using your free weekend night certificate
Below are some of the best Hilton properties to use your free weekend night certificate. As you can see, some cost a good amount of cash or points, so you can save a huge amount when using your certificate!
Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi
Location: South Male Atoll, Maldives
Average price: $1916 USD
Points cost: 120,000+
Opening: 2019
Number of rooms: 122
Hotel website
The Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi is the newest Waldorf property that opened up in July 2019. It offers beach and overwaters villas, 11 restaurants, a private island, and an in-house reef. For the younger ones, there is a discovery park that allows kids to enjoy a safe play area.
This resort makes for a great use for the Hilton free weekend night certificate with a combination of points for a long six-night stay. Five nights would be on points, 5th night would be free, while the 6th night would be the free night certificate redemption. That means, the 6th night would save you 120,000 points or about $2000.
Conrad Maldives Rangali Island
Location: Southern Ari Atoll, Maldives
Average price: $711 USD
Points cost: 95,000
Opening: 1997
Number of rooms: 151
Hotel website
If Waldorf isn’t your style and prefer Conrad, the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is still a great choice. While the resort is now 23 years old, it has undergone multiple renovations and new additions to the property since its opening.
The most famous aspect to the resort is its underwater restaurant at Ithaa. No matter if you have a beach villa or a overwater villa, both will provide a spectacular experience with less pricey dining and activity expenses than the Waldorf.
Plus, when you use the certificate or points at the Conrad Maldives, you can actually select overwater or beach villa. That means you can have an overwater villa without paying extra.
Conrad Bora Bora Nui
Location: Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Average price: $512 USD
Points cost: 95,000
Opening: 2017
Number of rooms: 114
Hotel website
Bora Bora vs Maldives — some will prefer the Maldives while others will prefer Bora Bora. In reality, both are very different in terms of the experience you have. Bora Bora is known to have beautiful landscapes with many activities on the islands and spectacular views of the volcano and lagoons. Plus, you can easily walk around the island seeing things off the resort grounds, unlike the Maldives you are trapped at the resort unless you pay an expensive private transfer.
The Conrad Bora Bora Nui is well worth it. The islands of French Polynesia are spectacular and Bora Bora is claimed to be the best destination in French Polynesia. The resort is only three years old with 114 rooms, making it still fresh enough for a visit and intimate enough unlike other bigger resorts. The price is normally above $500 making it a great place to redeem your free weekend night certificate.
Conrad Koh Samui
Location: Koh Samui, Thailand
Average price: $589 USD
Points cost: 95,000
Opening: 2011
Number of rooms: 81
Hotel website
The beautiful Koh Samui shouldn’t be missed if you visit Thailand. Koh Samui is a perfect destination to use your free weekend night certificate as the price is high at many properties in Koh Samui. Luckily, the Conrad Koh Samui is an intimate 81 room resort in Koh Samui with breathtaking views throughout the resort. The beaches in Koh Samui are spectacular.
Plus, all the rooms here are villas. So, your certificate here can get the base room which is a villa with your own private plunge pool.
Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills
Location: Los Angeles, California
Average price: $744 USD
Points cost: 95,000
Opening: 2017
Number of rooms: 170
Hotel website
The Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills is a great city hotel in upscale Beverly Hills. Offering rooftop pool, paid private cabanas, and a free neighborhood ride in their Rolls-Royce house car. Yes, you heard that right, a free ride in a Rolls-Royce to or from destinations in the neighborhood.
Inside the hotel, you will find Michelin Starred dining, which is famed for its quality and taste. The rooms are also top quality rooms that offers many luxury amenities that would you would see in the movies. All these reasons makes this a special property for redeeming your free weekend night certificate.
Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!
Waldorf Astoria Park City
Location: Park City, Utah
Average price: $545 USD
Points cost: 80,000
Opening: 2009
Number of rooms: 160
Hotel website
If you love to ski or snowboard during the winter or enjoy a nice camp fire in Park City during the summer, the Waldorf Astoria Park City won’t disappoint. It underwent renovations in 2019 making 2020 a good time to stay since the refresh.
The property is on the pricey side, but using the certificate will go along way because of the amount of money you can save by redeeming for this property, even in the low season.
Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal
Location: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Average price: $760 USD
Points cost: 120,000
Opening: 2019
Number of rooms: 115
Hotel website
Hilton has been opening up Waldorf Astoria properties left and right. One of their newest properties is the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabo Pedregal. It’s the second Hilton property that is 120,000 points per night. On top of that, the price per night is high. That means, this is a great property to use your free weekend night certificate as you can save the points for an extra night or other property of your choosing to get max value.
As the property is so new, you will enjoy the modern rooms and enthusiastic staff that is willing to go the extra mile. Plus, being in Los Cabo, you can enjoy whale watching from your hotel or via approved tours. When I return to Los Cabos, I would love to try out this beautiful intimate 115 room property.
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Average price: $680 USD
Points cost: 95,000
Opening: 2014
Number of rooms: 93
Hotel website
Another fan favorite is the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam. It’s an intimate 93 room property that is located in Amsterdam’s famous Dutch buildings. It almost blends into all the other buildings with very little to distinguish it, a design quality that I love.
Being rated the second best hotel on TripAdvisor in Amsterdam, the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam shouldn’t be missed. If you have an opportunity to stay here, you will get great value redeeming your your free weekend night certificate.
Conrad Tokyo
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Average price: $497 USD
Points cost: 95,000
Opening: 2005
Number of rooms: 290
Hotel website
The only property that has a club lounge on this list is the Conrad Tokyo. The Conrad Tokyo is loved by many because of the modern Japanese inspired rooms that are beautiful and well maintained. The club lounge offers a great selection of drinks and canapes to please anyone to get your night started off on the right foot, before heading out to clubs or late night dining at midnight diners.
The property has spectacular views of the bay and the neighboring park. It’s super close to many metro lines making it easy to get around or even to go to the airports. If you are interested in visiting Tokyo, I highly recommend you read my guide here.
Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa
Location: Glacis, Seychelles
Average price: $496 USD
Points cost: 95,000
Opening: 2015
Number of rooms: 40
Hotel website
The all-villa Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa is a one of a kind resort located in the beautiful Seychelles. It’s an all-villa property, making it great for redeeming points and your free weekend night certificate. It’s one of the few properties that has an age requirement, you must be 13 years or older to stay. It’s also really intimate with 40 villas. Having only 40 villas makes the property feel less like a factory resort and more like a boutique resort.
Seychelles is one of the few less touristy islands in the world that offers luxury accommodation. I would highly recommend making your way to Seychelles, it shouldn’t be missed if you love a secluded island life while not being trapped at the resort.
Final word
I hope you got some inspiration from this article for using your Hilton free weekend night certificate. If you end up visiting one of these properties, drop a comment down below telling us about your experience!
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.
