Free Nights at More Than 1,500 Choice Hotels Around the World

New York City's brand-new Distrikt Hotel, part of Choice Hotels' Ascend Collection, is one of 1,500 properties offering a free night as part of the 1+1=Free offer


You may not equate Comfort Suites or Sleep Inns with luxury, perhaps, but the properties that make up its stable are reliable and certainly are easier on the wallet. That's even more true nowadays, when you can take advantage of the parent hotel company, Choice Hotels', new "1+1=Free" promotion to snag a free night's stay at typically pricey international destinations.

Here's how it works: If you aren't already enrolled in the Choice Privileges rewards program,  sign up for a free membership. Then stay at any two of the 5,000 Choice hotels, whose brands include Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, the Ascend Collection, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay, Econo Lodge, and Rodeway Inn (Ascend Collection's boutiquey properties and Cambria Suites' design-oriented business hotels offer the most upscale options). You'll then receive a free night at one of the 1,500 participating properties in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Europe.

What this means: Let's say your credit card is itching for a workout and wants to hit The Crossings outlets in Pennsylvania. A stay at the Quality Inn in Stroudsburg would run you $80 in early April, including breakfast, Wi-Fi access, and a heated pool. Two trips like this, and you've earned a free night. Use it at one of the participating destinations worldwide -- there's the charmingly British Quality Hotel Coventry in the UK ($105 per night), or the business-focused Comfort Hotel Tokyo Kanda in Japan ($157 per night), or the stylish and modern Quality Hotel King Philip in Stockholm, near the world's largest IKEA ($162 per night). All prices are for early May and include taxes and fees.
 
Dates: Complete your two qualifying stays (and earn the the qualifying points) by April 30, 2010. The free night must be redeemed by December 31 two years after the year in which one's qualifying points were deposited into the account.

How to book: Sign up for free membership at Choice Privileges. Book each of your qualifying stays online, or by calling 800-424-6423. Once you've racked up enough points (6,000-8,000), choose your free night from this list of redeemable hotels. Redeem the free night by calling 800-424-6423 or by booking online.