Small Victories Add Up — 5 Ways to Earn Extra Travel Rewards on Your Next Hotel Stay

June 28, 2019 By Chris Campbell

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INSIDER SECRET: Lots of hotel chains will offer bonus points if you choose to forgo housekeeping services.

For most people, the fastest way to build up a stash of hotel points is by earning welcome bonuses from the best credit cards for travel, spending on a hotel-branded credit card and, of course, earning points from hotel stays.

Most hotel chains also offer opportunities to collect small amounts of points (or cash back) for various activities during your stay. And these small amounts of points can add up over the course of a year.

Check out these five easy ways to earn extra travel rewards on your next hotel stay.

Earning a few extra points during your hotel stay can really add up over time. (Image courtesy of Intercontinental Hotels)

Earn Extra Travel Rewards on Your Next Hotel Stay

These five tips will have you earning extra hotel points in no time.

1. Opt for Bonus Points at Check-In

If you have elite status, your hotel may offer bonus points as a welcome amenity when you check in.

For example, guests who are Gold status or higher with Marriott are eligible to receive bonus points at check-in. (You may also be offered other types of amenities like free breakfast or drinks, especially if you are in a higher status tier.)

If you have Marriott Gold status or higher, you can earn extra points just by checking in to your hotel.

If you choose the points, you’ll typically receive 500-1,000 points, depending on the property.

2. Decline Housekeeping

Several hotel chains will award bonus points if you choose to skip housekeeping for your room. For example, Marriott offers 500 Bonvoy points to members who forgo housekeeping for a night. Similarly, certain Hyatt hotels offer 250 World Of Hyatt points when you choose to not have your room serviced.

Earn an easy 250 Hyatt points by opting to decline housekeeping services. (Image courtesy of Hyatt)

In both cases, the option to get extra points is not available on your last night (as hotels always service rooms after checkout).

If you are OK with not having your room cleaned for a night or two, this is an easy way to rack up some extra points.

3. Attend a Timeshare Presentation

Most major hotel chains, including Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and IHG, offer timeshares. If you are staying at a property that has timeshares near the hotel, you can typically earn extra points by attending a sales presentation.

Timeshare presentation can be notoriously hard to endure, but you can potentially collect 10,000 points or more if you choose to attend.

Timeshare presentations can be brutal, but you can often come away with thousands of hotel points if you attend. (Image courtesy of Hilton Grand Vacations)

4. Complete an Amex Offer

Amex Offers are a great way to earn points or cash back on purchases you are already making, and hotel stays are no exception. For example, Hilton often has Amex Offers to earn cash back when you spend certain amounts. I’ve regularly seen an offer for $100 cash back after spending $500, representing a savings of 20%.

You can regularly find AMEX offers to earn cash-back or points on your hotel bookings!

5. Book Through a Shopping Portal

Surprisingly, you can actually go through several online shopping portals to book a hotel stay and earn extra points. While this won’t earn you extra hotel points, you will earn extra credit card or airline points depending on the portal you use.

For example, by navigating to the Marriott hotels website through the British Airways Avios eStore, you can earn 3x Avios miles per dollar for your Marriott stay.

If you are already booking your hotel stay online, why not access the hotel website through a shopping portal and earn extra points?

Bottom Line

Paid hotel stays and credit card sign-up bonuses are great for earning hotel points, but there are many ways to earn extra points during a stay. An extra 500-1,000 points per stay isn’t exactly a windfall, but it can really add up over the course of a year.

Here’s more about earning points at some of the main US hotel chains:

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