Sure thing.
I have mostly Marriott and they were collected because I go to the beach in Ocean City, Maryland in summer and Marriott has a number of options there. June, July and August the room costs for these Marriott hotels are anywhere in the $250 to $600 range, so paying $95-$150 (Brilliant $450 with $300 credit) annual fee for a FNC was cost effective.
However - Marriott threw a wrench into that plan with peak and off peak pricing, so it's less convenient now. I'll have to do more work to find nights.
I have the Amex line up - Bonvoy Brilliant, Bonvoy Biz and the legacy Spg/now Bonvoy personal card. This provides 2 of the 35K FNC and 1 of the 50K FNC.
I also have the Chase cards - Chase personal and the now defunct Chase business card and I get 2 of the 35K FNC from these.
So far, I've used or booked every night as soon as I got it. And I've at least doubled the value of the annual fee. (I booked the Aloft in OC last minute in August for son and girlfriend- room rate a couple days before was over $500 and with taxes almost $600). Felt great to be able to do this for my son and they had a terrific overnight visit. I'm also careful about watching for Chase and Amex offers that can be used to buy Disney gift cards at a discount. The Amex cards are paying their way in offers. The Chase personal card is contributing some - I've earned $54.24 back on the Chase personal card offers. Mostly Staples, Lowes, Starbucks and Advance Auto purchases. This offsets the annual fee along with the free night.
I think my best value card is the Hyatt, but that is because I have a Hyatt that I go to that the free night cert is good at it. The free night is good up until 15k points and the Hyatt in OC costs 15K points. I already have my FNC booked for July 2020 along with another couple of nights using points. If this rate changes, and I expect it will, since I like the hotel I'll continue to collect points and find another location to use the night. Chase offers have earned me $51.72 on this card and the annual fee on my card is $75, so that's a pretty inexpensive room. I think it was $450 before taxes for the past summer.
I have the IHG $49 card. I used my last unrestricted night in July and now I'm looking at 40K or less nights for $49. Actually $44 as I used a Chase offer and got $5. This FNC can again be used at the beach, but I'll have a choice of 2 HI Expresses there. I drive to Disney and there are lots of places I can stop for a $44 night with free breakfast. Not going to toss this card until the room choices become nonexistent.
I have the Radisson card which comes with points - 40K per year for $75. This works as a road trip card for me. I used to have a 15K option, so that was 2 and a half nights. Now that option is 28K - still works.
@calypso726 keeps this card for European trips - she can better explain her choices.
I actually prefer the Radisson system of points - if I don't want to use them in any particular year, I can let them build up, plus since I was doing 15k nights with them for a few years, I've got a little stash waiting for when I need them.
This use is a personal thing - I'm retired and can go where I want when I want, but I still have a vacation pattern - Disney in fall and winter, beach in summer, beaches and Hilton Head in winter, and I book these up to a year in advance, so I usually find the rooms I want with points or free nights. Someone booking last minute is not going to find it so easy as most points redemptions are listed as standard rooms. If I ever find myself left holding a FNC that can't be used for greater value than the annual fee or extended and then used, I'll get rid of the card. I also have DVC so my free nights are road trip nights or beach nights. I also pay cash when the nights I want are cheaper than the value of the certificate or when I know I'm going to use the certificate somewhere later for a greater value.
I can foresee that my cards will become obsolete as new products are introduced and the points needed for a free night redemption goes up. Such as, who is going to want a new Marriott card if you can't redeem the night anywhere? So eventually they will have to offer cards with higher FNC redemption values. They've already started this with the 35K's and the 50K on the Brilliant, and you can no longer apply for the Marriott card that gave a 25K FNC. Problem is, as soon as they fixed the 25K problem, they created the peak, off peak, so they are really trying to restrict usage to less expensive nights. This messes up people with all their eggs ie travel plans, in one basket.
Contrary to popular opinion, I think IHG's 40K limit is still viable - the unrestricted was such an outstanding value that it may have set the bar higher than one should expect. That said by someone who used 5 or 6 of those unrestricted nights at $49 a pop, put no spend on the card, and usually got values in the $400 to $500 range.
I see free nights as another discount versus actually being free, and so long as they fit my way they are valuable to me. But I look at how they fit into my travel plans, not at how I can fit a plan around them. This all varies for everyone, so work it to suit you! The only decision I truly wince at is when someone closes the $49 card. I just wish I could give them $50 and use it to go see the wild ponies!
Future hotel cards for me: I app'ed for the Hilton Biz recently and got the pop up. I'll be trying again when some time has passed. I'll be looking to run through all the Hilton cards for the points, but unless they have usable free nights, I probably won't keep them.
