Mar 14, 2019, 8:27 am
Last edit by: rrgg
Expiration: The 12 month expiration date on a certificate means you must reserve and complete the stay by the expiration date. You can't reserve something beyond the 12 month period. You can't extend the expiration date. (Some exceptions starting with this post.)
Eligible Dates: A certificate can be used for a Standard Room Award any day of the week. (Old policy limited them to Fri, Sat, Sun).
Other Notes:
Eligible Dates: A certificate can be used for a Standard Room Award any day of the week. (Old policy limited them to Fri, Sat, Sun).
Other Notes:
- If you earned a free night from a credit card and cancel the card, the free night certificate remains intact.
- If you cancel a reservation made with a free night certificate, the certificate becomes available right away.
- After making a reservation with a free night certificate, you'll get an email that says you booked a Standard Room Award. It will also show the points value, but no points will actually be deducted.
- The free night from the Aspire card arrives by email within 2 months of being approved and anniversary date, and the free night from spend on the Aspire/Business/Surpass arrives within a week or sooner of reaching the spending threshold. This is irrespective of your card statement date. If you upgrade from another Hilton Amex to the Aspire, the free night may post more quickly.
- Available, reserved and used certificates can be seen midway through the My Account page (https://www.hilton.com/en/hilton-hon...st/my-account/)
- If you're waiting for a free night certificate to arrive, Hilton reps say it does not help to make a points reservation and then swap it later. The reason is they have to cancel the old points reservation one and make a new reservation. The old one can't just be edited to change the payment to a FNC.
- From the Hilton email regarding a special 2020 policy on some certificates, "For all unexpired Weekend Night Rewards as of March 11, 2020, and all new ones issued until August 30, 2020, we are extending the expiration date through the end of next summer (August 31, 2021). There is no need for you to do anything, as your certificate(s) are being automatically updated in our systems. We hope this adjustment gives you some additional flexibility for your travels
Consolidated "Free Night Certificate Questions & Experiences" thread
Jan 14, 2019, 1:12 am
#33
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,220
Jan 14, 2019, 8:38 am
#34
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DAY
Programs: Rapid Rewards, Skymiles, Hilton HHonors, SPG/Marriott Rewards
Posts: 4,948
Jan 14, 2019, 9:27 am
#35
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,220
Odd that the Aspire one is taking so long. It's not tied to the bonus spend, so why not just issue it immediately?
Jan 14, 2019, 10:09 am
#36
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 694
I was responding to you because I was speaking from experience. My Aspire weekend certificate arrived in December. I opened the card in October. It came in an email. I will receive another certificate on my anniversary month which is October 2019. Your first certificate takes about 8-12 weeks from when you first opened the account. It might arrive sooner, but that is the average according to 2 different Amex reps. This is just the way it is.
Jan 14, 2019, 10:27 am
#37
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Seattle WA, USA
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott LT Plat, AS Lounge
Posts: 3,478
Jan 14, 2019, 10:27 am
#38
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,220
I was responding to you because I was speaking from experience. My Aspire weekend certificate arrived in December. I opened the card in October. It came in an email. I will receive another certificate on my anniversary month which is October 2019. Your first certificate takes about 8-12 weeks from when you first opened the account. It might arrive sooner, but that is the average according to 2 different Amex reps. This is just the way it is.
Jan 14, 2019, 11:26 am
#39
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 694
FYI everyone, Amex will have this info readily. When I called the Hilton Honors desk, they didn't seem to know when it would be issued. I was told by 2 different Diamond desk reps that Amex handles the issuing of the certificates since it's associated with the Amex Aspire. When I called Amex, the info was immediately given to me about the status of my certificate.
I found it was very easy to redeem my certificate. My weekend night at the Conrad Koh Samui is already booked. Took about 4 minutes with the Diamond Desk to finalize everything.
Jan 15, 2019, 7:10 pm
#41
Join Date: Dec 2007
Programs: Hilton Diamond
Posts: 274
I finally got my certificate reinstated after numerous back and forth on Twitter and also emailing Marriott customer service multiple times. It still took an additional week to get it sorted through tweets, DMs, and email so over 5 weeks total. Also, Marriott rep through email originally claimed they couldn’t reinstate certificate but would give me 40,000 points instead which I refused. I went back to Twitter to complain about offer and then all of sudden the certificate reappeared. Worst Hilton experience ever.
Jan 16, 2019, 9:29 am
#42
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: whatever comes with CCs
Posts: 1,082
I finally got my certificate reinstated after numerous back and forth on Twitter and also emailing Marriott customer service multiple times. It still took an additional week to get it sorted through tweets, DMs, and email so over 5 weeks total. Also, Marriott rep through email originally claimed they couldn’t reinstate certificate but would give me 40,000 points instead which I refused. I went back to Twitter to complain about offer and then all of sudden the certificate reappeared. Worst Hilton experience ever.
Jan 25, 2019, 8:10 pm
#45
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 3,642
My certificate expires in a couple of weeks. It says ".The weekend night reward is valid for 12 months after date of issuance." Does this mean I have to reserve and stay before the expiration? Or just make the reservation and apply the certificate so that I could actually stay on some date beyond the expiration?
ETA: Looks like the Citi certificates could not be extended. This was for the Ascend card spend, but perhaps still a no-go?
ETA: Looks like the Citi certificates could not be extended. This was for the Ascend card spend, but perhaps still a no-go?