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

No one enjoys overpaying for their hotel. So, unless you have more hotel points than you can use, getting a fourth or fifth night free when redeeming points for hotel stays is likely appealing.

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

In this guide, we'll discuss three major hotel 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 for every five consecutive nights for which you redeem Marriott points — is automatically applied during booking if your stay is eligible.

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.

Related: 5 ways to maximize Marriott Bonvoy award night redemptions

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Hilton Honors 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, the following credit cards offer complimentary Hilton elite status as a cardmember perk:

• Hilton Honors American Express Card (no annual fee; see rates and fees): Complimentary Silver status
• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card ($150 annual fee; see rates and fees) and The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card ($195 annual fee, see rates and fees): Complimentary Gold status and upgrade to Diamond status through the end of the next calendar year if you spend $40,000 on eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card ($550 annual fee; see rates and fees): Complimentary Diamond status
• The Platinum Card® from American Express ($695 annual fee; see rates and fees) and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express ($695, see rates and fees): Enroll in complimentary Gold status

The information for the Hilton Aspire card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Related: Guide to Marriott and Hilton elite status with the Amex Platinum and Business Platinum

IHG One Rewards 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)

Related: Why you should get (and keep) the IHG One Rewards Premier card

Bottom line

I often redeem IHG points when staying for four nights and Hilton or Marriott points when staying for five nights. Doing so is an easy way to boost my redemption value and get more value from my points.

For rates and fees of the Hilton Amex Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Surpass Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Business Amex, click here.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Aspire Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum Card, click here.