Wanted to use a Free Night Cat 4 certificate for the first (and considerably more expensive) night of a two night stay, and pay the AAA rate for the second night. (Hotel seemed to have a two-night minimum whether paying with cash or with rewards points). At first was told that, due to high occupancy on the first night, the hotel was insisting that there were no rewards available and that I would have to pay $239 for that night and then use my certificate for the second night, which had a $135 rate. I pleaded my case (gold status) with customer care, explaining that if the hotel offered rooms at 40,000 points for two nights ,then it couldn't require a higher redemption for the first night and that my certificate was equal to the same 20,000 points. That's the way I understood the rules anyway. In the end, I got what I wanted, but what I really want to know is, was my interpretation of the rules correct?