Update 5/29/24: Yesterday, I called Hilton, since I was now in the 2-week window before my free night certificate expires. The rep was able to extend my Hilton free night certificate and replace my cash reservation with the free night certificate. The process took 25 minutes on the phone, but I was on hold for most of that time. Bottom line: It’s possible to extend your Hilton free night certificate by 2 weeks, but only if you’re calling within 2 weeks or less of its expiration.
As some of you may have read from my recent post, I had to cancel a cruise that I was supposed to be on this week due to sickness. Part of that trip included a free night at the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach, which I booked with a Hilton free night certificate from my Hilton Honors Amex Business Card (current offer does not include a free night certificate, unfortunately).
My free night certificate was returned to my account after I cancelled my room at the Conrad. But, now I had to figure out when and where to use it within my existing 2024 travel plans before the certificate expired.
Options for Using my Hilton Free Night Certificate
First, let me say that these Hilton Free Night certificates are awesome. They can be used at most Hilton hotels (with a few exceptions) for any room that has a standard award rate available. My free room at the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach resort had a cash price of almost $1000! That’s a crazy amount of value. Of course, I wouldn’t spend $1000 cash for that hotel. But, having that free night certificate allowed me to book a fancier hotel for no extra cost (or for the card’s $95 annual fee).
In the terms and conditions, Hilton makes it clear that these certificates must be used by the expiration date:
The only trip I had scheduled before my certificate expired was Portugal. However, this trip didn’t have a convenient option for staying at a Hilton hotel. With 4 of us traveling, we’d have to get 2 rooms anyway. Plus, we are staying in a rental house for most of the trip.
Of course, I could always use the free night for a staycation around the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Extending the expiration date of the Hilton Free Night Certificate
I saw on reddit and FlyerTalk that people have had success extending the expiration date of their Hilton free night certificate by two weeks after calling Hilton, despite the language of the terms and conditions. Extending my certificate by just a week would allow me to use it for my overnight stay in Madrid, which I hadn’t booked yet. I decided to give it a try.
The phone rep did not know if extending my certificate was possible, so she put me on hold for several minutes. After she returned, she told me that I could indeed extend the certificate. However, I could only do that in a short window of time, two weeks before it expired and two weeks after it expired. Hmmm…that didn’t do me much good, because I figured the hotel I was looking at would be sold out two weeks prior.
But, the rep had a solution for me. She booked me a room on a cash rate at the hotel for the date I needed and added a note that I would be calling a week prior to change it from a cash booking to a free night certificate booking. I did not have to pay a deposit for this room, and I can cancel with no charge up to 24 hours in advance. I put a calendar note on my phone to remind me to call and change my booking a week prior. Success!
Bottom Line
Even when rules seem set in stone, it never hurts to research and ask nicely for an extension or an exception. This free night certificate is allowing me to book a fancy hotel that normally costs $500 a night. And all I had to do is call and ask!
I booked an all inclusive with cert last year and this year in Cancun. Great value!
Has Hilton changed their rules? Previously, free night certificates could not be used at all inclusive resorts.
@Tammie Hmmm…I’m not sure! This is the current list of excluded hotels: https://www.hilton.com/en/p/promotions/free-night-reward-property-exclusions/?_gl=1*z2iws0*_gcl_au*NjczNDM4MDA0LjE3MDA3ODQ0MjY.
Would you recommend dropping Marriot for Hilton instead? I’m not familiar too well with that hotel brand.
@Boonie Hmmm….I’m not sure. I wouldn’t switch just for the 2-week cert extension. Marriott has more properties, but Hilton has some great perks with their credit cards if you can get approved by Amex.
Thank you for the great tip!! These Hilton certs are great! I earned 3 of these Hilton certs (from my “Summer” deal apps) and I am using them at Hilton Playa Del Carmen, MX, adults only all-inclusive beach resort. My friend earned 2 Hilton certs from the same deal, so the 2 of us are staying 7 nights and only paying for one night each (with points earned from the same deal). We are using Southwest points for the non stop flights. We will still need to pay daily tips, flight taxes, and transfers to/from airport, and airport parking. That will cost us about $500 each. (We might do some excursions, which would cost extra.) If we paid cash for this same trip it would be around $5,000!
@Cari That sounds like a fantastic trip! Yay for free night certs!
I’ve tried extending my Marriott certificates and they just won’t do it. So I’ve had to stay at the local Springhill Suites so I don’t lose it. I’ve cancelled a couple of cards because of this.
@Boonie That’s a bummer. I know most hotels were more flexible during the pandemic with extending dates, but now not as much.