Consolidated "Free Night Certificate Questions & Experiences" thread
 

I haven't used a certificate in years. I just go to hhonors.com and book using points.

I did with no issues. However on the day I converted the points to the free weekend night, there were still standard awards available on that night so it would have been surprising if it did not work. The real question is whether you can convert a points booking to a free weekend night if standard awards are no longer available.

Right. I guess it can't hurt to try as long as I don't need the points for something else. Worse case it doesn't work and it would be the same result as if I had done nothing.

In the past standard rewards still need to be available in order to do this. See these recent threads(among others)
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilt...rtificate.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilt...ree-night.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilt...t-booking.html

Thanks for that. Looks like I will just wait and see what is available once I get the certificate.

To piggyback on the thread title, does a weekend night certificate redemption combined/followed with a paid stay result in no points earned on the paid stay? I recall reading that concerning nights redeemed with points followed by paid stays, but have not confirmed certs operate the same.

No, this changed in 2017. See:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28289014-post12.html

Points and free night certs stays do not prevent you from earning points "for every eligible U.S. dollar (or other currency equivalent) charged to an individual Member's hotel bill ("eligible folio") for stays at participating hotels within the Hilton Portfolio."
http://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/t...rual_of_points

Awesome, thanks for the clarification!

Just curious, which credit card gives you a free weekend certificate? And can such a certificate be used in any Hilton group hotel?

Amex Hilton Aspire provides one weekend night annually, and an additional night if you spend $60k on the card in the annual period. Amex Hilton Ascend provides a free night if you spend $15k on the card in the annual period.

Large number of properties available. Excluded list can be found at this link: http://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/p...nd-reward.html

Adding another question to the discussion -- can you combine a stay using points and a certificate? As an example, an eight night stay at a hotel when one night would cost 50,000 points, configured as follows:

Monday-Friday -- five free nights using points (200,000 points, four night's worth, fifth night free, diamond status "bonus")
Saturday -- free weekend night based on 15K spend (free night certificate already awarded)
Sunday-Monday -- two additional nights, 100,000 points

Eight nights, 300,000 points. Is this valid? How would I book this?

Thanks for any help.

Yes, you can do this. Make three reservations. When you check in, let them know that you have three consecutive reservations so that they can keep you in the same room.

I do this every year. Sometimes I book the entire stay on points and have one weekend night switched to the certificate and get the points reinstated.

An easier thing I have done is simply reserve one night with cash. So, 4 nights at the Conrad HK, I do 3 nights with points and one weekend night with cash (separate reservation). Then when I get the weekend night cert, I simply call and they use that to pay for it. It has to be for a standard room. On my last visit at the Conrad, I was still upgraded to the Exec Floor as a Hilton Gold member for all nights.

I did it this year at the Curio Reichshoff Hamburg. I did 3 award night reservation, then called and had one night switched to a weekend cert night. The points were reinstated. It ended up being a separate reservation and a little more work.

It seemed easier to make a one night cash reservation as part of a longer stay, and then have the cert used to pay for it.