Today’s reader question comes from Brooklyn on Facebook. Well, actually Brooklyn is a friend of my wife, and asked HER on Facebook, and I got passed the question second-hand 🙂
Anyways, Brooklyn asks:
[My husband] says that he can’t book a hotel room for the girls and I (using rewards points) unless he is physically there to check us in. Is that true?
Can I book a hotel for someone else?
It’s a great question and the good news is that the short answer is yes. Generally speaking – yes, you can book a hotel for someone else and the person that has the points does not have to be physically there to check-in. As with most things, the exact details depends on what hotel chain it is, the mood of the check-in agent and other circumstances
Generally speaking, there are 3 different ways that it’s handled
- Some hotels allow you to actually change the name of the person on the reservation
- Other hotels don’t allow you to change the name of the person on the reservation, but will allow you to add an additional guest, which should easily allow them to check in.
- The last category of hotels don’t allow either of those things, so you have to call the hotel up and let them know that someone else will be checking in. I’ve searched through several reports of this and not once did I see anyone report that this was a problem – in all cases I read the hotel was completely fine with it.
One other thing to think about is that if your name is on the reservation, you may be held liable for any charges / damages that any guests do while they’re at the hotel. In this case, it’s not an issue since it’s a husband and wife, but it’s something to keep in mind if you are reserving hotel nights for someone else.
How to book a hotel for someone else at each of the major chains
Book an IHG hotel for someone else
IHG is the Intercontinental Hotel Group and includes hotels like Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, Crowne Plaza, Intercontinental, Even and Hotel Indigo
IHG doesn’t allow you to change the name on the reservation, but does allow you to specify additional guests on the reservation.
Note that you have to specify at least 2 guests on the reservation for the Additional Guests section to show up. There’s also a section for Special Requests where you can optionally specify that your guest will be the one checking in.
Click here to book a hotel directly with IHG, or, if you’re looking to get more IHG points, consider:
- Applying for the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card – Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. $99 annual fee. Read our full review here.
- Applying for the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card – Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. $99 annual fee. Read our full review here.
- Applying for the IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card – Earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. $0 annual fee. Read our full review here.
- Buying IHG points directly
(SEE ALSO: Which IHG credit card is the best?)
Book a Hilton hotel for someone else
Hilton is similar to IHG in that you can specify an additional guest that can check in without you
This shows up even if your search is for just 1 adult. Again, there is room to make additional comments
If you’re looking to get more Hilton points, consider:
- Applying for the Hilton Honors American Express Card – Earn 100,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Card in the first 6 months of Card Membership. $0 annual fee (see rates and fees). Read our full review here.
- Applying for the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card – 175,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $8,000 on purchases in your first 6 months of card membership. $195 annual fee (see rates and fees) – Read our full review here.
- Applying for the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card – 165,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first 6 months of card membership. $150 annual fee (see rates and fees). Read our full review here.
- Buying Hilton points directly
Booking a hotel for someone else at Marriott
Booking an award stay is also possible with Marriott, but has to be done over the phone. You can contact Marriott Bonvoy at 800-627-7468. This should handle any reservations at any of the Marriott brands, which include Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance Inn, Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites, SpringHill Suites and others.
Click here to book a hotel online at Marriott or, if you’re looking to get more Marriott points, consider:
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card – Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. $0 annual fee. Read our full review here.
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card – Earn 125,000 Bonus Points after spending $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. $95 annual fee. Read our full review here.
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card – Earn 3 Free Night Awards, valued at up to 50K points each for eligible stays after spending $6,000 in 6 months. Free Night valued at 50,000 points. Certain hotels have resort fees. $125 annual fee (see rates and fees). Read our full review here.
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card – Earn 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after spending $5,000 in 6 months. $250 annual fee (see rates and fees)
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card – Earn 95,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after spending $6,000 in 6 months. $650 annual fee (see rates and fees)
- Buying Marriott points directly
Booking a Hyatt Hotel For Someone Else
Hyatt makes it super easy – you can actually change the name of the person staying ON the reservation itself.
The World of Hyatt terms and conditions actually expressly allow this as well.
(i) The Award Reservation must be made by the Member who wishes to gift the award, but the reservation must be made in the name of the person who will actually use the award (i.e., the recipient of the gifted award).
(ii) The recipient of the award must provide photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit for incidentals at check-in.
Click here to book a hotel at Hyatt, or, if you’re looking to get more Hyatt points, consider:
- Applying for the World of Hyatt Credit Card – Earn up to 60,000 Bonus Points. Earn 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 More Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 spent. $95 annual fee. Read our full review here.
- Applying for the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card– 60,000 Bonus Points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. $199 annual fee. Read our full review here.
- Buying Hyatt points directly
Best Western
Best Western does not allow you to modify the name of the guest staying, nor do they allow you to add an additional guest online. Their terms and conditions also do not mention whether you can do this (either positively or negatively), and Google was not helpful either.
If you have experience on whether you can book a Best Western hotel award stay for someone else, let me know in the comments
Click here to book a hotel with Best Western
Choice Hotels
Choice Hotels also allows you to book a hotel for immediate family members only (though how are they going to know who is in your immediate family, I wonder…). Their terms and conditions state:
A Member may redeem a reward night for immediate family members (spouse, partner, children, parents, in-laws, brothers and sisters) only. Immediate family members can use the free night even if the Member is not occupying the room.
When booking a reward night for someone other than yourself, be sure to ask the reservation agent to include the name of the guest in the notes field of the reservation. When booking a reward night through your online profile, be sure to include the name of the guest who will be staying in the room in the “Special Request” field.
Interestingly, when you reserve a room, the guest information IS modifiable as well. I would probably change it in both places just to be safe. As for who qualifies as an “immediate family member”, something tells me they aren’t checking birth certificates at the front desk 😀
Click here to book a hotel with Choice Hotels
What about elite status when I book an award for someone else?
Another thing people wonder about are elite status / benefits if you book a hotel for someone else. Generally speaking, if you have elite status and your name is on the reservation, your guest is likely to be able to take advantage of your elite benefits. But it’s certainly not guaranteed.
On the flipside, if its your GUEST that has the elite benefits, they probably will NOT get their benefits unless they specifically call the hotel and let them know, or mention it at check-in. I’ve found most hotels to be pretty good with that if they know about it.
What about elite stay credit when I book a hotel for someone else?
Some chains offer elite stay credit even on an award stay. With those, that’s kind of a mixed bag as to whether you will actually get a stay credit if you are not physically there. If you have experience with this, let us know in the comments
So, circling back to the original question, the answer is yes, but how easy it will be depends on which hotel chain Brooklyn and her family are trying to stay with!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Very helpful post!
+1
You miss a point. In some countries, the first names guest MUST by law check in and must show ID to prove it. I had substantial issues in Spain two years ago on a mattress run for ‘Big Win’ to check in for a room booked on my wifes account, even though I was named as 2nd guest.
Eventually I concocted a story about her flight being delayed and I faked her signature on a document. Luckily I had a credit card in her name so the hotel could swipe that.
What was the trick? Just HUCA?
Thanks for sharing a European perspective – you’re right that my article was written with the US in mind
Do you have a similar guide for booking award flights for other people?
That’s a good idea – I’ll see what I can find out but generally speaking, I think that it is allowed. I have not had a problem with it on any airline and I’ve done it more than a few times.
ANA and Korean Air both limit redemptions to family members and require documentation of the familial relationship. Other than that, I’ve never heard of any restrictions.
While you can book for another guest with Club Carlson, they won’t (according to the rules) get the second night free, as the member has to be travelling. Of course, we all cross our fingers and hope no one will notice, but the Raffles’ comment is troubling, too. I wonder what other countries might have a problem with this.
If you have the Club Carlson credit card (or otherwise have status), you can also simply transfer the points to their account and let them book the reservation themselves. Of course, this still doesn’t help with last night free.
Thanks – that’s a great comment – I will update the post!
Same for Hilton, I believe.
I paid for one week at a Super8 Motel for my Son who had no place to stay. I made it clear when I gave my credit card that I was paying only for the weekly room rate. He smoked in a non-smoking room and the motel charged $250 to my credit card then move him to a non-smoking room. They did not contact me or give me a reason when the charge was put on my credit card. I found out the reason after the fact. I disputed the charge with my credit card company but they seem to think it is some ‘law” that I gave them the right to charge for anything pertaining to that room. So what if I would have paid cash rather then use my credit card who would pay the $250. There was no posted policy. Is this a “law of the land” that I have never heart of.
JE – this seems fairly reasonable to me. When you are booking a hotel for someone else, you are pretty much responsible for anything that they do in the room
My hairdresser was just telling me about her experience at the Ascend property at Universal Studios Hollywood. Her husband had booked a room for her and her son, but the clerk wouldn’t check them in unless her husband (who hadn’t come along) was there, even though her name was on the reservation! She had to wait for a manager, who promptly checked them in, but after a six hour drive and wanting to get to the park, they shouldn’t have had to wait. Turns out the clerk was new and didn’t know the subtleties of the policy!
Do you know the policy at Ritz Carlton hotels?
A Days Inn hotel in NJ once wanted me to fax a written request and the copy of credit card used on the reservation, to allow my wife to check in without me.
The problem, it was the Sapphire reserve card; which when photocopied, looks like a black rectangle. I faxed it anyways and clerk was ok with it.
Great Post! Question: my folks are doing home renovations and are planning to stay at a Marriott for two weeks. Can they add me to the reservation and then put it under my rewards number so that I get credited it with the nights for status?
my friend who has diamond status with Hilton booked me in a room with his and my name on reservation..He will not be able to make the trip but i will.Will i still be able to get the complimentary breakfast ?
has anyone had a problem using an IHG chase free night certificate for someone else?
adding the cert owner’s name to the reservation should work, but in my case 2 people would need to check in before the cert owner.
thanks for any DPs
I don’t think it woudl be a problem as long as you add the person checking in as another guest on the reservation.
Are the Marriott rules still correct if you want to use your Free Night Awards to make a reservation for someone else?
My mom made a reservation with her account at Marriot for my brother, she wasn’t traveling, when he arrived there they did not allow him to get into the room because the reservation had my moms name & she’s not there, so they made an entirely new reservation for him with his name, making us lose the nights that should be within the count of tired nights, please tell me should I risk it with IHG? I want to make a reservation to my friend but I won’t be staying in the room with him, even if I mentioned him in the additional guests , I don’t know if they’re gonna make any trouble for me
Best Western – you can change the guest name . Just did it last month. Hotel manager (Lisa) refused all she could , but after calling corporate on a conference call she gladly did it . Best Western Hilton Head , SC .
You might try a hotel chain with online check in, no problem.
I’m not surprised the incidentals get changed to my card. I hope my lady orders room service, she deserves it!
I’ve used this many times to book hotel rooms for friends and family, all for the major hotel brands. But technically the hotel *could* force the main guest to come down and verify. Because of this, I never did and never will do this for overseas hotels.