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Quick (and Super Easy) Way to Monitor Available Award Nights

  • Joseph Hostetler

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Folks!  Here’s a way to automate a chunk of your miles & points vacation planning.

    One of the biggest parts of this hobby is booking FREE hotel stays.  You can do that by either signing-up for a hotel credit card or transferring points to hotel programs.

    But you’re still subject to available nights.  There’s where Open Hotel Alert can help out!  It’s a free website that lets you know when rooms are available at the hotel you’re eyeing.

    Here’s an Easy Way to Know When Your Favorite Hotel Is Available

    Open Hotel Alert is intended for folks who plan to spend cash for hotels.  But it’s just as effective for finding award nights.  That’s because you can choose the type of room you’d like an alert for.

    Most hotels (Hyatt, Marriott/Starwood, Hilton, Radisson) will allow you to use points as long as there’s a standard room available for purchase.  So if you already have your hotel points, finding a standard room is your only obstacle.

    If you go to the hotel website and see there are no award nights available, head over to Open Hotel Alert.  Search for the same hotel, and you should see the base room “not available”.

    The Standard Room Should Be the First on the List With Each Hotel

    Then, just click the “Alert Me” button for the standard hotel room you’re after, and the website will notify you if an open room pops up.  You’ll have the option to have the site text or email you.

    Tell the Site How You’d Like to Be Contacted, and Then Create the Request

    Once the site reports an available standard room, you should see it on the actual hotel website available with points.  That’s it!

    Note:   You might see standard room available and NO available award nights.  If that happens to you, call the hotel and tell them.  Hyatt tries to pull this stunt occasionally.

    Ready to take your travel to the next level?  Then subscribe to our newsletter!

    You can check out Open Hotel Alert here.  Thanks Angelina Travels and One Mile at a Time for bringing this app to our attention!

    Never miss the best deals again!  Always check our Hot Deals page for an easy-to-digest list of the top rewards card offers!

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)