6 ways to make your next hotel stay more rewarding

If you’ve been looking to book a vacation in the past few months, it’ll come as no surprise that travel costs have skyrocketed — and hotel rates are no exception. Whether you’re booking a luxury vacation or a budget getaway, chances are you’ll be paying more than ever before.

The good news is that travel rewards can help you to save on some of the biggest travel expenses, from flights to hotel stays. And even if you aren’t using travel rewards for a free hotel stay this vacation, you can maximize your stays to earn enough bonus points to earn a free stay on your next vacation.

Here are six ways you can earn the most points — and additional perks — possible on your next hotel stay.

Sign up for promotions

Before diving into specifics, it’s important to remember that each of the major hotel chains has its own loyalty program — Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, World of Hyatt and IHG One Rewards, among others. Before booking your next hotel stay with one of these programs, check for any bonus-point promotions it might be running. While the exact promotions you’ll find with any given program and at any point throughout the year vary greatly, you can generally expect offers for bonus points on each stay or night spent.

Most loyalty programs require you to sign up for promotions before you check in, while others require registration before booking. A simple Google search for “[hotel program] bonus point promotion” will turn up the latest offers. You can also navigate to each program’s website and look for an “offers” tab that lists current bonus-point promotions and discounted rates:

By signing up for a bonus-point promotion before your stay, you’ll be on your way to earning more points toward your next vacation quickly. Hilton frequently offers double-points promotions, while Choice Privileges often offers $50 gift cards for two-night stays. This simple step to search for promotions before you book can result in thousands of bonus points or rewards, so there’s no reason not to.

Get an elite status match or challenge

If you have elite status with one hotel chain, there’s a chance you can get those benefits reciprocated on your next stay with another chain. Many hotel chains often run status matches, wherein they will match your status from another program if you submit them with proof of your existing status. By requesting an elite status match, you can earn more points on your hotel stay and get access to money-saving perks like free breakfast, room upgrades and more.

Alternatively, some loyalty programs will offer you a status challenge instead of a status match. As part of a status challenge, you can often earn elite status with fewer nights required instead of getting automatic status as you do with a status match. You’ll need to provide proof of status, and?in most cases, the elite benefits won’t kick in until after you’ve completed the challenge. While status challenges require more work in order to get the benefits, they’re still a great way to maximize an upcoming hotel stay since you can leverage your stay to achieve status faster.

Get a co-branded hotel credit card

Every major hotel chain has a co-branded credit card that offers some level of status and allows you to earn bonus points on each dollar you spend with the hotel. If you don’t already have elite status, consider getting a hotel credit card before your next hotel stay. Elite status allows you to earn more points and qualify for perks like room upgrades, complimentary breakfast and late checkout.

Here’s a look at some hotel-branded credit cards to consider for a more rewarding hotel stay.

Hilton Honors

?All information about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by CNN Underscored. The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is not currently available through CNN Underscored.

World of Hyatt

Marriott Bonvoy

IHG One Rewards

If you don’t want to commit to a co-branded hotel credit card, the Platinum Card? from American Express and the Business Platinum Card? from American Express are good alternatives. Both cards offer mid-tier Marriott Bonvoy Gold and Hilton Honors Gold elite status once enrolled. Hilton Honors Gold status is incredibly valuable, providing perks like food and beverage credits, room upgrades, milestone bonuses and 80% bonus points on paid stays. Meanwhile, Bonvoy Gold members enjoy room upgrades, late checkout and 25% bonus points.

Book through a third-party site

Generally, booking your hotel stay directly with the chain is the best way to go. Doing so guarantees you’ll receive elite benefits and earn points and elite night credits. But sometimes, you can have the best of both worlds by booking through a third-party platform. American Express, Chase and Capital One have their own booking platforms offering elite-type perks at thousands of hotels worldwide.

You can enjoy perks typically reserved for top-tier elites, like space-available room upgrades and complimentary breakfast. Some of these platforms even offer your third or fourth night for free, along with spa and dining credits. The most generous platform is typically American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts, which offers complimentary upgrades, late checkout and breakfast for all its bookings as well as free nights on some bookings. The best part is that these bookings are eligible for earning points and elite night credits with hotel loyalty programs.

Be sure to compare the rates on third-party booking sites against direct bookings. You’ll often find the rates similar to — and sometimes even lower than — direct bookings. However, if you come across a higher rate, you should weigh the benefits to determine if it’s worth the added cost.

Use a shopping portal to book your stay

Many major hotel loyalty programs are listed on shopping portals, meaning you can earn bonus points or cash back with a few extra clicks. To find out which portal is paying the highest rate, head over to Cashback Monitor and type in the name of the hotel chain you’re looking to book with. You’ll get a list of payouts broken down by point types: cash back, travel points, credit card points and other rewards.

When choosing between cash back rewards and points, comparing the cash rate against point valuations is worthwhile. Let’s say you’re booking a Marriott hotel and the highest cash back rate is 3.5% compared to one United MileagePlus mile per dollar spent. United miles are worth 1.1 cents each, according to frequent flyer website The Points Guy. So, on a $500 hotel booking, you’d earn $17.50 in cash back or $5 worth of United miles. In this case, the cash back offer works out more favorably.

Consider booking a bonus-point rate

Sometimes hotels offer special rates that aren’t significantly higher than the standard and include bonus points. You can earn thousands of points by taking advantage of these bonus-point rates. The trick is to compare the price per point against current point valuations. The last thing you want is to overpay for points.

For example, I was recently booking a Kimpton stay where the bonus point offer included 1,000 points per night for just $4 more. Considering IHG points are worth at least 0.5 cents each, this was a fantastic deal. I earned 2,000 extra points for just $8, which was well worth it for me. Be on the lookout for rates like these when you’re researching hotels — you’ll often see them on the booking or offers page.

Overall, it’s easy to earn bonus points and perks on each hotel stay you book. Certain programs offer promotions whereas with others, you can take advantage of elite status perks without much added effort. If you’re going to be paying cash for a hotel stay, it always makes sense to earn as many possible extras to make your next stay free.

Looking for a new travel credit card? Check out CNN Underscored’s list of the?best credit cards?currently available.