How to Get Free Hotel Breakfast

Who doesn’t like free breakfast? Whether staying at a budget hotel or splurging on a European vacation, a comped breakfast is a perk everyone can enjoy.

That's why so many frequent travelers aim to figure out how to get complimentary hotel breakfast regularly. Now there are two ways to do it. You can stay at a hotel that offers free hotel breakfast outright to all guests.

But free breakfast for all guests is more the exception than the norm these days. Given that, you can employ some other tricks to get free breakfast, including flexing your hotel elite status. And no, you don't need to be a frequent hotel traveler to get hotel elite status. You can even get hotel elite status if you've never even stayed in that hotel before.

Here's NerdWallet's ultimate guide to getting free hotel breakfast:

Sure, the tip is obvious. But what's less obvious? Knowing which hotel actually offers free breakfast. Does DoubleTree by Hilton offer free breakfast to all guests? (Answer: no). Yet plenty of other Hilton brands do offer free breakfast, including Embassy Suites by Hilton, Hampton by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Home2 Suites by Hilton.

It can be complicated to know which hotels offer free breakfast, which is why NerdWallet put together a guide naming them.

And happily, hotel free breakfast is better now than ever at most hotels. Gone are the day of sad continental breakfasts with stale pastries and soggy fruit. More hotels are offering hot options with emphasis on protein and a wider range of dietary preferences, such as vegan and gluten-free.

For example, Homewood Suites launched a make your own taco bar across its U.S. hotels in May 2024. The taco bar offers a diversity of ingredients, including corn and flour tortillas, pickled onions, jalapenos, cremas, salsa, hot sauces, plus a wide range of proteins, including smoked pulled pork, chicken carnitas and chorizo.

Many hotel loyalty programs offer complimentary breakfast to top-tier elite members.

While exact hotel elite status benefits vary by tier of status and hotel brand, expect some degree of omelette for free. For example, Marriott Bonvoy elites at the Platinum or higher level can often choose free breakfast in the hotel restaurant at most properties. At other properties, they get access to the hotel’s club lounge, where complimentary drinks, hors d’oeuvres or breakfast items may be served.

Hilton makes things more flexible by offering its Gold or Diamond elite status members a Hilton Honors Daily Food & Beverage credit. This is a series of statement credits (one for each night booked) to cover purchases made at hotel restaurants at eligible hotels.

Yet not everyone travels enough to reach elite status. Luckily, there's another, more fast-tracked way to access these perks: Get mid- to upper-level hotel elite status by holding a premium co-branded hotel credit card.

The caveat? You will have to pay an annual fee. But if you travel frequently, the advantages of having one of these cards can far outweigh the cost.

Here's a roundup of hotel credit cards that offer complimentary breakfast to consider adding to your collection.

Credit cards that offer complimentary breakfast for travelers

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card

This card doesn’t come with as many red-carpet perks as the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, but it gets you a daily food and beverage credit from the automatic Hilton Honors™ Gold Status that comes with it. Hilton's daily food and beverage credit can be redeemed any time of day at all properties that don't otherwise offer free breakfast to all guests. The amount of the credit varies by hotel brand, but generally speaking, more upscale hotel brands offer a higher credit.

Benefits of Hilton Gold status include 80% bonus points on stays, Milestone Bonuses and room upgrades.

With its modest annual fee ($150 annual fee, see rates and fees), the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card can be a solid option for less-frequent Hilton guests who are looking for a few extra perks, like complimentary breakfast.

Other benefits of this card include:

• Welcome bonus: Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

• Earn a Free Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year.

• Earn 12x Hilton Honors points on eligible purchases charged at Hilton hotels.

• Earn 6x points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets and U.S. gas stations.

• Earn 4x points on U.S. online retail purchases.

• Earn 3x points for all other eligible purchases.

Terms apply.

Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offers some of the best perks you’ll find anywhere. This card carries a high annual fee of $550, but you automatically get Hilton Honors™ Diamond Status — the top tier in the Hilton Honors program, which gets you VIP perks when you stay with Hilton (see rates and fees).

By holding either Gold or Diamond status, you get a daily food and beverage credit to use on breakfast — or any meal of the day (brunch, linner and late-night snacks are all eligible) at all properties that don't otherwise offer free breakfast to all guests. The amount of the credit varies by hotel brand, but generally speaking, more upscale hotel brands offer a higher credit.

Other benefits of this card include:

• Welcome bonus: Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $6,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card in the first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

• 14x Hilton Honors points for eligible charges at Hilton properties.

• 7x points on flights booked directly with airlines or AmEx Travel and on car rentals from select car rental companies.

• 7x points at U.S. restaurants.

• 3x points for all other eligible purchases.

• $400 in Hilton resort credits every year.

• $200 airfare credit every year.

Terms apply.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card won’t automatically get you complimentary breakfast, but it'll help you get closer to earning it once you put in a still-significant amount of effort yourself.

Platinum Elite status will get you complimentary breakfast at almost all Marriott hotels. But to reach Platinum status in the Marriott Bonvoy program, you'll have to have accumulated 50 Elite Night credits in a year. The card, which has an annual fee of $650, gives you 25 Elite Night credits, so you have to stay a far fewer-35 nights to get you to that free breakfast (see rates and fees).

But once you have status, it can be worth it. Marriott has been revamping its menu items, including the November 2021 relaunch of breakfast at its Aloft Hotels brand, which serves up trendy menu items including a plant-based sandwich featuring Beyond Meat’s signature breakfast sausage, Funfetti and maple-glazed cinnamon rolls, and Nutella waffles.

» Learn more: The complete guide to elite status with Marriott Bonvoy

At some Marriott brands, Platinum members get to choose their welcome gift, one of which is complimentary breakfast. At other brands, you will be able to enjoy breakfast in the lounge. Unfortunately, there are a few properties where you won’t get complimentary breakfast, like at Ritz Carlton hotels or at Autograph Collection, Renaissance Hotels or EDITION properties that do not have a lounge.

Other benefits of this card include:

• Welcome bonus: Earn up to 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points. Earn 100,000 points after you spend $6,000 and an extra 50,000 points after you spend an additional $2,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

• $300 annual statement credit for eligible purchases at Marriott Bonvoy hotels. Effective Sept. 22, 2022, the $300 Marriott credit will be replaced with a new benefit of up to $300 in statement credits per calendar year (up to $25 per month) for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide.

• 6x Marriott Bonvoy® points on eligible purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.

• 3x points at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines.

• 2x points on all other eligible purchases.

• Annual free night award redeemable for a room costing 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points. Certain hotels have resort fees.

• Complimentary Priority Pass Select membership with unlimited visits to participating airport lounges. Enrollment required.

• No foreign transaction fee.

Terms apply.

Chase credit cards can help you get complimentary breakfast at hotels, too

Chase Bank's relationship with Luxury Collection Hotels and Resorts means that certain cardholders can get complimentary breakfast when stays are booked on Chase’s Luxury Collection Hotel website or by calling Luxury Collection Resorts directly. This isn’t always worthwhile since your hotel room might cost more when booked through the Luxury Collection than if you booked directly on the hotel’s website.

But if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve® or another qualifying Chase card, check rates through Luxury Collection to see if they add up to a good deal for a complimentary breakfast.

» Learn more: Hilton Honors elite status: Everything you need to know

Complimentary breakfast can make any hotel stay even better, and carrying the right travel credit card can help you get this perk, often by getting you elite status in a hotel loyalty program.