Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great Mother’s Day weekend.  Over the last few months, I have received my 2 free weekend night certificates from my 2 Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Cards after spending $10,000 on each credit card during my card member year.  This is possible if you sign up for a new Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card every 2 years and keep your existing Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card open (that satisfies Citi’s 24 month rule where you cannot open or close that card or a card in the same rewards family within the last 24 months).  As an example, I got my first Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card in February 2013 and my second card in March 2016.  I plan on getting a third card after March 2018.  I wonder if you can convert an existing Citi credit card to a Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card.  Does anyone know?

Anyway, I wanted to share some details about the old and new Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card Free Weekend Night Certificate.  Depending on when you applied for that credit card, your free weekend night certificate may look like the old or new format.  The old format is not very pretty but it contains more useful information.  The new format is cleaner, but doesn’t provide as much information.

I’m not sure if this is a new feature of the newly improved Hilton Honors reward program, but you can now see when your free weekend night certificate was added to your Hilton Honors account.  I believe “CITI RC” stands for “Citi Reserve Card”.  If you cannot remember what the expiration date for the free weekend night certificate is, you have exactly 1 year from the date it was added to your Hilton Honors account to complete your stay.  As far as I know, there is no wiggle room on the expiration date or ways to extend the expiration date.

I’ve redeemed several Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card Free Weekend Night Certificates over the last few years, so I think I have a good understanding of the process.  If you can book a night in a standard hotel room with Hilton Honors Points, you can use a free weekend night certificate (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night stays are eligible) for the night.  You just call the Hilton Reservations Department (1-800-HHONORS), tell them you want to use your Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card Free Weekend Night Certificate, feed them your hotel name and date, and the Hilton rep will take care of the rest.  You do not need to have the free weekend night certificate number available, they are technically loaded to your Hilton Honors account and rep can view the certificate in your account.  Unfortunately, both the old and new Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card Free Weekend Night Certificate have a few properties that are excluded (full list):

All Inclusive Properties:

• DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Central Pacific -Costa Rica
• Hilton Bodrum Turkbuku Resort & Spa
• Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme Resort & Spa
• Hilton Hurghada Long Beach Resort
• Hilton Marsa Alam Nubian Resort
• Hilton Puerto Vallarta Resort
• Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa
• Hilton Sharks Bay Resort
• Jewel Dunn’s River Resort & Spa Ocho Rios, Curio Collection by Hilton
• Jewel Paradise Cove Runaway Bay, Curio Collection by Hilton

Hilton Grand Vacation Properties:

• Boulevard (Suites)
• Craigendarroch Suites
• Elara
• Flamingo (Suites)
• Grand Waikikian
• Hilton Hawaiian Village (Suites)
• Hokulani Waikiki
• Kings Land
• Kohala Suites
• Las Palmeras
• McAlpin-Ocean Plaza
• Ocean 22
• Paradise (Convention Center)
• Parc Soleil
• Park City
• SeaWorld (Suites)
• Sunrise Lodge
• Tuscany Village

Distinctive Properties:

• Conrad Koh Samui Residences
• Embassy Suites by Hilton Waikiki Beach Walk
• Hilton Surfers Paradise Residences
• Ho’olei at Grand Wailea
• Kingston Plantation Condos
• Las Casitas, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
• Royale Palms Condominiums
• The District by Hilton Club
• The Hilton Club – New York
• Valdoro Mountain Lodge
• Waldorf Astoria Jeddah – Qasr Al Sharq
• West 57th Street by Hilton Club

All Hampton by Hilton properties in the People’s Republic of China are also excluded, which is weird since there are 0 Hampton by Hilton properties currently listed in the People’s Republic of China.

Here are the complete terms and conditions of the free weekend night certificate:

HOW TO REDEEM YOUR HHONORS REWARD

To make a Reward Certificate reservation, from the U.S. and Canada, call 1-800-HHONORS if you haven’t already. Outside the U.S. and Canada, call your local Hilton Reservations and Customer Care office. Advise the reservations agent at the time that you will be using a HHonors Reward Certificate and provide the agent with the Reward Certificate ID. Failure to follow this procedure may result in cancellation of reservations, denial of accommodations or payment of the rack rate in effect at the time of your stay. Accommodations are subject to the hotel’s availability of standard rooms at the time of reservation request.

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

As with any HHonors Reward, this Reward Certificate is subject to all HHonors Terms & Conditions on participation, use, and redemption, posted at http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/terms.do. The hotel stay received with this Hotel Reward Certificate shall be treated as a Hotel Reward Stay, as defined in the Terms & Conditions, except Points & Money, Premium Room and Room Upgrade Rewards cannot be used with this Certificate.

HOTEL REWARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Reward Certificate is not transferable after issued and may be redeemed only by the individual named thereon, consistent with HHonors Terms & Conditions. If a person other than the individual named on the Reward Certificate attempts to redeem it, the Certificate will be deemed void and accommodations will be denied.
2. Reward Certificate may not be sold, auctioned, bartered, brokered or purchased except with the express written consent of Hilton HHonors. Any Reward Certificate obtained in this manner by any person or entity will be considered to be fraudulently obtained and will be deemed void if transferred for cash or other consideration. Altered Reward Certificates are void and will not be honored.
3. Reward Certificate may not be combined with other certificates, discounts, packages or promotional offers, or Hotel Reward stays beyond Standard Room Rewards, unless otherwise specified in writing by Hilton HHonors.
4. Reward Certificate cannot be redeemed for cash, prizes or credit. Reward Certificate is not exchangeable.
5. Reward Certificate will not be replaced, reissued or credited if lost, stolen or otherwise destroyed.
6. Reward Certificate is void if copied, prohibited or restricted by law.
7. HHonors members will not earn points or miles for Hotel Reward stays, unless otherwise stated on the Reward Certificate.
8. Reward Certificate expires on the date noted on the face of the Reward Certificate.
9. Reward Certificate must be redeemed in strict accordance with the procedures specified on the certificate.
10. For the purpose of Certificate redemption, a weekend night is defined as a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night, unless specified otherwise on the Reward Certificate.
11. Reward Certificate applies to the room rate and tax of one standard room at a participating hotel and as further provided on the Certificate. A “Standard room” is as defined by the hotel. Any tax liability incurred in connection with the receipt and/or use of this Certificate, including, but not limited to, local or city occupancy taxes, or individual income tax is the sole responsibility of the user. Incidental charges are the responsibility of the user.
12. Reward Certificate usage is limited to Double Occupancy. Additional occupants, age 19 and above, are subject to the standard extra person charges.
13. Reward Certificate reservations must be guaranteed with a credit card. Some hotels may require a deposit in lieu of a credit card guarantee. Deposits cannot be waived for Reward Certificate reservations. Reward Certificate reservations that are cancelled outside of the time frame set by the hotel’s individual cancellation policy will be charged one night’s room and tax at the hotel’s minimum rate for that date.
14. Reward Certificate is valid for the number of nights noted under the description on the face of the Certificate. If the Certificate is valid for more than one night, all nights must be used and the Certificate redeemed for a single stay that includes up to all Certificate nights. The Certificate cannot be broken down and/or redeemed for more than one stay. Any unused nights will be forfeited and will not be replaced or credited.
15. No credit or substitutions will be given for any Reward Certificate including those that are only partially used.
16. Promotional Rewards are for Standard Rooms only.
17. Hotel stays resulting from Reward Certificate are non-commissionable to travel agents.
18. Recipients of Reward Certificate may be required to sign a release of liability and a statement permitting the use of their name and/or photo for promotional purposes without additional compensation.

If you have any questions about your Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card Free Weekend Night Certificate, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!