Capital One Travel offering “4th night free” on select Premier Collection & Lifestyle Collection properties

When hotel booking websites advertise a “3rd night free” or “4th night free”, I often ignore them, figuring that the cost per night has probably been inflated to compensate for the “free” night. However, Capital One Travel is currently offering a 4th night free on select Premier Collection and Lifestyle Collection properties, and based on my initial searches, you might be able to score a decent deal if you need a 4-night stay. It probably won’t represent the advertised savings (1/4 less than what you’d pay elsewhere), and you have to compare closely, but you might save some money in the right circumstances.

The Deal

• Capital One Travel is advertising a “Complimentary Fourth Night” when you book an eligible stay of at least four nights at select Premier and Lifestyle Collection hotels.

Key Terms

• Stay at this property for at least four consecutive nights and receive the fourth night complimentary.
• This offer is only valid for reservations of at least four nights made within the indicated offer dates (blackout dates may apply).
• This offer cannot be retroactively applied to bookings previously made.
• If the eligible reservation is subsequently shortened, the discount may no longer be applicable.
• Special offer is not combinable with other offers unless indicated, including, without limitation, on lower rate offers.
• In certain circumstances, this offer may not be available for all dates in your booking window; if you don’t see the offer with the property during the booking process, then it’s no longer available.
• If eligible, any complimentary nights will be reflected at the time of booking and applicable taxes and fees for the complimentary night will be removed at check-out.
• Savings displayed are based on offer rates provided by the property and may vary slightly.
• In some cases, this offer may be repeatable based on duration of stay. This will be dependent on the individual property and will be reflected at check-out if applicable.
• Your Capital One account must be open and in good standing to be eligible for the offer.
• Travel offers are valid for consumer, non-commercial use only. Travel offers are non-transferrable, have no cash value, may not be redeemed for cash, and may not be combined with other offers unless specified.
• We reserve the rights to: alter or terminate a travel offer at any time; change these terms and conditions associated with travel offers; and/or disqualify any account holder from any travel offers.
• See travel.capitalone.com/terms-of-service for full terms and conditions on the use of Capital One Travel.

Quick Thoughts

Like I said at the beginning, I normally assume that this sort of “sale” isn’t much of a sale. However, in this case, I think you might actually be able to get a deal if a hotel you want is participating. However, it is going to require some careful comparison to determine whether you’re getting a deal.

It seems that there are just over 100 total properties participating, so the scope is relatively limited both in terms of locations and hotels covered, but if you want a participating place, it seems that you might get an actual discount (if not exactly a “fourth night free”).

For instance, I looked up a random 4-night stay in December at the Virgin Hotel Nashville. Most sites listed an all-in rate of around the $1,118 shown here at Hotels.com.

As you can see, Hotels.com offers “VIP Access” at this property for those with Expedia elite status. With VIP Silver status, benefits for me include a $40 food & beverage credit.

Actually, the $1,118 rate shown above is nonrefundable. A rate that is refundable through December 5th comes to $1,155.

The same property for the same dates but booked via Capital One Travel, also refundable until December 5th, looks like it comes to a total of $925.90.

That’s $229 less than the Hotels.com price, which isn’t quite 1/4 less, but it is nontheless a real savings if that were the entire story (more on that in a second). Remember that the Capital One Travel booking comes with complimentary daily breakfast for 2 and a $100 experience credit. That makes it a significantly better deal by comparison.

However, I am not convinced that the above represents an apples-to-apples comparison.

If you click all the way through to the final booking page on Hotels.com, you can see a breakdown of the pricing:

Here’s the notable part: the taxes & fees are broken into two separate sets:

• $140.39 in taxes & fees on the room rate
• $127.86 in destination fees due at the hotel
• $21.42 in tax on the destination fee due at the hotel

Interestingly, Capital One Travel only shows a total of $141.40 in taxes & fees. That sure is awfully close to the room taxes & fees shown on Hotels.com. There is no mention at all at Capital One Travel about there being a destination fee, but I found similar resort fee and resort fee taxes listed through several other sites I checked.

I suspect that Capital One Travel is missing the destination fee and you’ll probably be charged that at the hotel. If I am correct about that, then the savings over booking through Hotels.com may only be about $80. The free breakfast and $100 credit (instead of a $40 credit through Hotels.com) still make booking through Capital One Travel a better deal, but it wouldn’t feel to me like getting a fourth night free.

All that said, if I had picked a hotel that didn’t have a destination fee, the comparison might have worked out for Capital One Travel to be significantly better (and if they have somehow negotiated the deal to include resort fees without listing that on the site, maybe it will really turn out to be as good as advertised). The key point here is to be careful in your comparison on deals like this to be sure that you’re getting a deal.

All that said, if you were looking to use a Capital One Travel credit and you’re getting a better price (and benefits) than you would otherwise, this sale could certainly work out to be better than I’d have otherwise expected.

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