Are there any tricks for how to get free hotel rooms?

The most reliable ways to get free hotel rooms are to use a credit card with hotel rewards, and to join hotels’ free loyalty programs. Plus, you can always ask a hotel to match a better price you’ve found, and checking in late can sometimes lead to free upgrades since the hotel will have a better sense of which rooms won’t be needed. But for fully comped stays, credit cards and loyalty programs are your best bet. 

With credit cards, there are two paths you can take. If you’re not particularly loyal to any one hotel chain and value flexibility, just get a travel rewards credit card whose points or miles can be redeemed for stays at any hotel. For instance, Capital One Venture and Chase Sapphire Reserve let you book hotels using rewards on their travel portals.

But if you tend to favor one hotel chain over others, the most efficient way to get free nights is with a co-branded hotel card. You’ll earn the most rewards at the hotel chain in question, redeemable for free nights. And if you join the hotel’s loyalty program, you’ll usually get an extra point or two per dollar spent, on top of what the card gives you. 

Here are the best cards to get free hotel rooms:

• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: travel statement credit worth $500 for spending $3,000 within 3 months of account opening. Or you can double the bonus by spending $20,000 in the first 12 months. 2 miles per $1 everywhere. Miles can be redeemed for travel statement credits, which includes hotel stays. $95 annual fee.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve®: initial bonus worth $750 in travel (including hotel stays) for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. $300 annual statement credit for travel purchases, again including hotel reservations. 3 points per $1 on travel and dining (1 point per $1 on all other purchases). Redeem for hotels on Chase’s travel portal, at 1.5 cents per point. $550 annual fee.
• IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card: 1 free night every account anniversary. 140,000 points for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. 25 points per $1 at IHG hotels, 2 on gas stations, restaurants and groceries, 1 everywhere else. Redeem for free nights. $0 1st yr, $89 after annual fee.
• Hilton Honors American Express Card: 80,000 points for spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. Up to 7 points per $1 at Hilton Honors hotel or resort, 5 at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations, and 3 everywhere else. Redeem points for free nights. $0 annual fee.

The easiest way to get free hotel rooms is to get a credit card that rewards you with them. That’s because you’ll be earning free stays with every purchase you make, not just on reservations. But you can also earn free nights by joining a hotel’s loyalty program. Every time you book a stay, you’ll earn points that you can redeem for free nights. Similarly, Hotels.com has its own loyalty program. Members get 1 free night for every 10 stays they book on the website.

Well, there are two big ways you can get a comped room: loyalty programs and credit card rewards.

For the first one, it's pretty simple: get into a hotel loyalty program (which is like frequent flyers) and just keep going to the same chain. Depending on the hotel chain you choose, you'll get a bunch of free stuff, like room upgrades, but also extensions on your stay for free.

The second one is similar: buy things with rewards credit cards, and use the points towards a hotel stay. Here you can use a regular card, not necessarily a hotel co-branded card, like IHG. Chase Sapphire Preffered or Reserve, just to name a couple, are also very good for this type of stuff.