The best hotel loyalty programs for families

A handful of hotel loyalty programs stand out from the rest in terms of family-friendly perks like room upgrades and free breakfast. These may not necessarily be the same programs that would appeal to business or solo travelers, so it’s important to decide where your allegiance should lie when traveling as a family.

These are our top hotel loyalty programs for families.

Hilton Honors

Good for connecting rooms and chains with free breakfast.

With more than 7,000 properties worldwide, you’re never far from a family-friendly Hilton where you can earn or redeem Hilton Honors needles.

Hilton uniquely guarantees adjoining rooms through its Confirmed connecting rooms program. With most hotel brands, you must call or make a reservation; so, just hope and pray that they comply with your request. At Hilton hotels, you can reserve guaranteed connecting rooms online during the reservation process.

Hilton also has several brands that offer complimentary breakfast for each guest staying in the room. This can save your family hundreds of dollars over the course of your vacation. Plus, you won’t need to waste time or effort looking for a place to have breakfast every morning.

You can usually find free breakfast at the following Hilton brands:

• Embassy Suites
• Hampton Inn
• Homewood Suites
• Home2 Suites
• Hilton H3 Project
• Spark by Hilton
• Tru by Hilton

Hilton also allows families to pool Hilton Honors points into a single account. If you and your partner travel to Hilton properties, you can transfer points to a member’s account and redeem them for a family trip when you’ve accumulated enough for the vacation of your dreams. And as a Hilton Honors member, resort fees They do not apply to award stays.

In terms of loyalty program perks, Hilton Honors offers benefits that make travel more convenient for families even at its basic member level. If your kids love views from above, you can choose a room on a high floor through the Hilton mobile app up to 24 hours in advance. If you are a light sleeper, you can choose the room furthest from the elevator. Hilton Honors members can also skip the reception and bring kids directly to the room with digital check-in and a digital key (also available through the Hilton app).

When you earn enough nights to enjoy some of Hilton Honors Higher Elite TiersYou can earn perks like a free fifth night on award stays, bonus points, daily food and beverage credits, room upgrades, and more.

If you want to accelerate your path to greater Hilton rewards, you can earn automatic Hilton status through some of their co-branded American Express cards:

Hyatt World

Excellent tourist properties and fantastic loyalty program

As a World of Hyatt member, you can take advantage of benefits at some of TPG’s favorite family properties, including the Hyatt Ziva Cancunhe Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa and the Park Hyatt Beaver Creekto name a few.

World of Hyatt members can share points with any other member, so if you want to pool your points to cover your family vacation, you can do so. It requires a form and an email, but it sounds worse than it is and usually happens within one or two business days. You can also earn points with the Chase Ultimate Rewards program and cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which can be transferred to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio.

Basic level Hyatt World Members can earn points toward award nights and get resort fees waived when redeeming points for award nights. If you need more space, all World of Hyatt members can save up to 50% off the standard cash rate when you book a second room through the Hyatt Family Plan rate. This rate is not available at all properties (it is more common internationally), the discount can be less than 50% and you do have to call to reserve, but it can save you a lot of money if you need more than one room when traveling as a family .

When you go up to the Discoverer or explorer levelYou’re eligible for room upgrades (based on availability), bonus points, 2pm late checkout, and more.

Related: 22 Best Hyatt Hotels in the World

However, where this program really shines for families is when it reaches The world of Hyatt Globalist state.

Hyatt Globalist members enjoy benefits like standard suite upgrades, 4 pm late check-out at non-resort hotels (so you can squeeze in every last minute of vacation fun), waived resort fees on paid stays and award-winning, free parking on award-winning stays and access to the hotel lounge. or complimentary full breakfast at hotels without lounges, and more. The free breakfast benefit is valid for up to two adults and two children, unlike similar loyalty programs that only offer this benefit to two guests per room.

Winner Hyatt’s top-tier globalist status It is not an easy task. You need 60 tier-qualifying nights or 100,000 base points per calendar year to qualify. However, there are some shortcuts you can take, including spending on the World of Hyatt Credit Card.

He World of Hyatt Credit Card offers automatic Discoverist status, but you can also earn nights that qualify for Globalist status and get high-level benefits. You can automatically earn five tier qualifying night credits each calendar year, and you’ll earn two additional tier qualifying night credits every time you spend $5,000 on your card. If you do the math, you could spend $140,000 on your World of Hyatt card each calendar year to earn Hyatt Globalist status.

Marriott Bonvoy

Well-located hotels and easy-to-achieve status

When it comes to family travel, Marriott knows it’s all about location, location, location.

Marriott has properties near popular vacation destinations such as Hilton Head Island, Paradise Island, Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Not only does Marriott have prime real estate properties, but several locations have family suites with bunk beds and on-property water parks.

Related: Top 10 Family-Friendly Marriott Hotels for a Carefree Vacation

As a Marriott Bonvoy member, you can get even more out of your time at these properties with perks like discounted rates, the ability to share points between family membersmobile check-in, fifth night free on award-winning stays and the possibility of earning and redeeming points on stays.

Of course, the higher your elite level, the better the benefits. like a Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite As a member, you can get a 2 pm late check-out (so you’re not in a rush to pack up your family and check out of your room on the day you check out), room upgrades, and more. Your mileage may vary, but Marriott seems to deliver frequently. For example, the brand often offers decent room upgrades, such as from a standard view room to a balcony room or more spacious rooms.

Related: Guide to Marriott and Hilton Elite Status with Amex Platinum and Business Platinum

Several credit cards come with Marriott Gold elite status as a benefit for cardholders:

But if you have the Marriott Brilliant card, you’ll instantly earn Marriott Platinum status. This is very useful, especially with your Breakfast benefit included in some brands.. Unfortunately, it technically doesn’t extend to more than two people per room, but some properties go beyond the established rules.

Only a handful of Marriott brands, including Fairfield by Marriott, Residence Inn by Marriott, SpringHill Suites by Marriott and TownePlace Suites by Marriott, offer free breakfast no elite status. But that’s another way to get complimentary eggs and bacon when you stay at Marriott.

Related: Marriott Elite Status: What It Is and How to Get It

In a nutshell

Whether you sign up for a free basic-level account or travel often enough to advance to a hotel’s elite status levels, there are several hotel programs that can enhance your family’s travels. You can further boost your status (and perks) with several of the hotel loyalty programs in this guide when you sign up for one of their co-branded credit cards.

Whether you’re looking for free breakfast as your kids get older or connecting rooms as your family grows, each of these hotel loyalty programs stands out in different ways for families.

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