To boost bookings during what’s normally a slow season for travel, major hotel companies routinely roll out special promotions at about the time that kids are heading back to school. This autumn, hotel guests are being wooed with free night and free credit bonuses, but only if they stay in the near future.
Here are three new bonus promotions from big hotel companies, available only for guests able and willing to hit the road during the slow travel period ahead:
Stay Two Nights, Get $50 in Credit
This fall at Holiday Inn Resorts, when you stay two nights, you’re rewarded with a $50 credit to use at the property. The offer comes from a special “Extra Credit” promotion, in effect for stays that take place by November 30. Guests also get an extra $25 credit for the third night and each successive night booked.
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Stay Twice, Get a Free Night
Choice Hotels, which operates brands such as Clarion, Comfort Inn, and the Ascend Hotel Collection, periodically launches special promotions that reward guests with a free night after meeting certain requirements. In the latest “Earn a Free Night” deal, guests who partake in two separate trips at participating properties from August 30 to November 14 automatically get enough bonus reward points for a free night’s stay at one of over 1,500 hotels. Other than the need for two separate stays (i.e., they can’t be consecutive nights at the same property), the only other requirement for guests to earn the special bonus is that they must be members of the Choice Privileges reward program (membership is free).
Bear in mind that while the promotion can indeed get you a free night, that doesn’t necessarily translate into a free night at any Choice hotel. The offer’s fine print notes that “A free night at most Choice Privileges locations requires more than 8,000 points,” which is the maximum awarded with the “Free Night” fall promotion. To stay at one of Choice’s higher end properties, you’ll have to use more points, or pay out of pocket—especially if you’re trying to reserve during a peak travel period.
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Stay Two Nights, Get Two Nights+ Free
The 25 for 25 Event from Carlson Hotels celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Country Inn & Suites brand. During a special anniversary promotion period, guests who stay two or more consecutive nights at a Country Inn & Suites property anytime through October 14 get 25,000 reward points. Considering that Club Carlson, the hotel company’s reward program, gives free hotel nights in exchange for as little as 9,000 points, the bonus can easily secure you a pair of free nights—and then some. Points can also be exchanged for airline miles and gift cards from retailers like Target and Best Buy, among other options.
Brad Tuttle is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @bradrtuttle. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.