Several weeks ago, Hilton Honors launched its current bonus on purchased points. This is potentially in line with the best offers we see from the program, and could represent a great value for hotel redemptions. I wanted to post a reminder of this offer, as it’s due to expire today, so this is your last chance to take advantage of it.
In this post:
Promotion on purchased Hilton Honors points
Through Tuesday, September 19, 2023, Hilton Honors is offering a bonus on purchased points. Different members may be targeted for different bonuses, so you’ll want to log into your account to see what you’re eligible for. It would appear that the best offer is for up to a 100% bonus, which kicks in when you purchase at least 5,000 points in one transaction.
With this offer, the cap on how many points you can purchase has been doubled, from 80,000 points to 160,000 points (pre-bonus).
How much does it cost to buy Hilton Honors points?
Hilton Honors ordinarily charges one cent per purchased point, including all taxes and fees. That’s before any discounts or bonuses. If you’re eligible for the 100% bonus and maxed out the offer, you’d receive a total of 320,000 points at a cost of $1,600, which is a rate of 0.5 cents per Hilton Honors point.
Ordinarily when Hilton Honors offers a promotion on purchased points, it’s for either a 100% bonus or 50% discount, so this offer is line with the best deals from the program.
How many Hilton Honors points can you buy?
Hilton Honors ordinarily lets you buy up to 80,000 points per account per calendar year, before any bonuses. During this promotion period, that cap has been doubled, to 160,000 points. So with a 100% bonus, you could purchase up to 320,000 points.
Do note that Hilton lets you combine points across accounts at no cost, so in reality you could acquire substantially more points by simply buying them across accounts and then consolidating them.
Which credit card should you buy Hilton Honors points with?
Hilton Honors point purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as a hotel purchase for the purposes of credit card spending.
I’d recommend using a card with which you’re trying to reach a minimum spending requirement, or a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending, like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review), Citi® Double Cash Card (review), or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees).
When in doubt, review which credit cards are best for buying points and miles.
- Earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase, earn 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase
- $0
- Earn 3% Cash Back on Dining
- Earn 3% Cash Back at Drugstores
- Earn 1.5% Cash Back On All Other Purchases
- $0
- Earn 2x Venture miles on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary
- $395
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check Credit
- $95
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
Is buying Hilton Honors points worth it?
There’s potentially huge value to be had buying Hilton Honors points. Hilton Honors sells points at a reasonable cost, has lots of aspirational properties, has good redemptions with a fifth night free opportunity, and elite status is also easy to earn with the program. When you combine those factors, buying points can be a great deal.
How many points do you need for a free night at a Hilton?
Hilton Honors doesn’t have a published award chart, but rather the program has dynamic award pricing. This means that the cost of a standard free night award can vary depending on the day of the week, time of year, etc.
As a general rule of thumb, Hilton Honors free night awards start at 10,000 points per night, and go up to 120,000 points per night. The one exception is the Waldorf Astoria Maldives, which costs up to 150,000 points per night.
Sometimes you’ll see award costs that are way higher than these amounts. In those situations it’s because there’s not a standard room available, so higher pricing kicks in for premium rooms. That’s generally not nearly as good of a use of Hilton Honors points.
What is the Hilton Honors fifth night free benefit?
If you have Hilton Honors elite status (which is easy to earn, as I’ll outline below), you receive a fifth night free on award redemptions. This is a way to stretch your points even further, and whenever possible, I’d recommend making your Hilton Honors award stays in increments of five nights.
To take advantage of this, just log into your Hilton Honors elite account, and go through the process of making an award booking for five nights. When you get to the booking page, you should notice that the cost of the fifth night is automatically deducted.
Tip: Easily earn Hilton Honors elite status
One thing I love about the program is how easy it is to earn elite status with credit cards, including both Hilton Honors Gold status and Hilton Honors Diamond status. These tiers offer perks like room upgrades, complimentary breakfast, hotel credits, and more. For example:
- The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (review) offers Diamond status for as long as you have the card
- The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (review) and Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (review) offer Gold status for as long as you have the card
- The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review) offer Gold status for as long as you have the card (Enrollment required)
The information and associated card details on this page for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card and Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
What are some good uses of Hilton Honors points?
There are so many amazing hotels where you can redeem Hilton Honors points and get great value. Just to give a few examples based on current pricing (not factoring in the fifth night free):
- The Conrad Bora Bora is often bookable for 120,000 Honors points per night; this is a gorgeous resort, and paid rates are often over $1,000 per night
- Zemi Beach House Anguilla is often bookable for 95,000 Honors points per night; this is an awesome Caribbean resort, and paid rates are often over $1,000 per night
- The Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills is often bookable for 120,000 Honors points per night; this is one of my favorite city hotels in the United States, and paid rates are often over $750 per night
- The Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam is often bookable for 110,000 Honors points per night; this is one of my favorite city hotels in the world, and paid rates are often over $800 per night
- The Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos is often bookable for 120,000 Honors points per night; I stayed here recently and had an incredible stay, and paid rates are often over $1,000 per night
- The Waldorf Astoria Maldives is often bookable for 150,000 Honors points per night; this is an amazing hotel I recently stayed at, and paid rates are often over $2,000 per night
As you can tell, it’s not hard to do the math here and realize the potential for outsized value, when you consider an acquisition cost of 0.5 cents per point, and the potential for a fifth night free.
Do Hilton Honors points expire?
Hilton Honors points don’t expire as long as you have at least some account activity once every 24 months. Eligible account activity includes earning or redeeming points, so buying points would even reset the expiration of your points.
How much are Hilton Honors points worth?
Everyone will value points differently, but personally I value Hilton Honors points at 0.5 cents each, and I tend to value points pretty conservatively. As you can see, the pricing here is roughly in line with how much I value these points, and there are ways to get a ton of outsized value with this promotion.
Does Hilton Honors have blackout dates?
Hilton Honors doesn’t have blackout dates on award nights, and all standard rooms are available for award redemptions. So this is about as good of a policy as you’ll find with any hotel group when it comes to award room availability.
How else can you earn Hilton Honors points?
There are lots of ways to earn Hilton Honors points, beyond just staying at Hilton properties or buying the points directly. You can easily earn points by using Hilton Honors’ co-branded credit cards, which also offer great welcome bonuses. These cards include the following:
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (review)
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (review)
- Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (review)
- Hilton Honors American Express Card (review)
While you can also transfer points from Amex Membership Rewards to Hilton Honors, I tend to think this doesn’t represent a very good deal, given how valuable Amex points are.
The information and associated card details on this page for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card and Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Bottom line
Through September 19, 2023, Hilton Honors is offering a bonus on purchased points. Members are eligible for up to a 100% bonus, which is an opportunity to buy points for 0.5 cents each.
This is as good as deals from the program get. With a short term use in mind, there are plenty of situations where this could represent a good deal.
Do you plan on buying Hilton Honors points with a bonus?
In looking at random dates at the W-A in Beverly Hills, a two-night stay is 398,000 Points + $1,105.42.
No thank you.
Like, why would Hilton even offer that? Yikes!
The Maldives is still a bright spot in the Hilton Honors program with the Conrad regularly open for 105K/night on the basic villa, but Amsterdam for 110K? Not during any season you'd go, maybe in the middle of February. Have never seen the Waldorf there go for less than 300K per night. It's literally cheaper to pay for the room than buy points and use it there. The DoubleTree nearby is much easier and I've...
The Maldives is still a bright spot in the Hilton Honors program with the Conrad regularly open for 105K/night on the basic villa, but Amsterdam for 110K? Not during any season you'd go, maybe in the middle of February. Have never seen the Waldorf there go for less than 300K per night. It's literally cheaper to pay for the room than buy points and use it there. The DoubleTree nearby is much easier and I've grabbed it for 60K points a night in peak season (late spring/early summer).
These are targeted offers. Not everyone gets the full 100% bonus and the ability to buy more than 80k points.
Ben, maybe you should add a 'dislike' button to the comment sections...
Lucky, thanks for the heads up and the examples but for the 99% of us NOT ready to book a thousands-per-night overwater bungalow in the Pacific, what use are these points?
How do the numbers stack up for a brief night in the HGI Frankfurt Airport? A week in the Embassy Suites Anaheim? Or a couple of days in the Sydney Hilton? What about the Hilton Atlanta? Any other Hilton under $200/night. Are these points...
Lucky, thanks for the heads up and the examples but for the 99% of us NOT ready to book a thousands-per-night overwater bungalow in the Pacific, what use are these points?
How do the numbers stack up for a brief night in the HGI Frankfurt Airport? A week in the Embassy Suites Anaheim? Or a couple of days in the Sydney Hilton? What about the Hilton Atlanta? Any other Hilton under $200/night. Are these points worth having?
What about taxes - East Coast cities and some European countries hit you up for another 25% or so on the price - points bookings can dodge that?
And the points you're not earning on a redemption, how do you estimate the cost? And for those of us running a small business in the rest of the world, it's even more complicated, we would get the VAT back on the room rate for business trips whereas it's hard to claim VAT on points purchases.
Oh and don't mention devaluations, the dodgy new normal for "loyalty" programs: "Buy my points and later I'll tell you what the price is"
“Any other Hilton under $200/night. Are these points worth having?
Under $200 a night? Might as well pay cash. But the points are worth having, IMO. For instance, I have an upcoming stay for a conference at the Denver Hilton City Center - which looks like a run-of-the-mill Hilton. With taxes, the 3 night stay comes out to over $1200. Well worth the 150k points (which at 50k per night is high - but still...
“Any other Hilton under $200/night. Are these points worth having?
Under $200 a night? Might as well pay cash. But the points are worth having, IMO. For instance, I have an upcoming stay for a conference at the Denver Hilton City Center - which looks like a run-of-the-mill Hilton. With taxes, the 3 night stay comes out to over $1200. Well worth the 150k points (which at 50k per night is high - but still worth it in this case(.
“What about taxes - East Coast cities and some European countries hit you up for another 25% or so on the price - points bookings can dodge that?”
Yes.
Suspend boycott for yet another Debunking Clinic Sidebar
Suspend boycott for yet another Debunking Clinic Sidebar
As expected, the recent post in which the bolded comment was made simply recycled the usual decade-old nonsense.
Here's Hilton Honors' no-nonsense promise on elite room upgrades and its globally automated delivery on that promise:
The promise:
The Delivery:
"Confirmed" suite upgrade, with invitation to check in fully 3 days before arrival at the property:
Look at the above carefully because, the decade-old and recycled "big lie" notwithstanding, that is real-life experience (as opposed to the parsing and willful misinterpretation of T&Cs) of how Hilton’s new global automated upgrades work in practice, subject to availability and at each hotel's discretion like every type of upgrade in every hotel program.
Any questions?
Resume boycott
@ DCS -- I'm a little confused, is this the real DCS or not? Allow me to quote a previous comment you left:
"This will be the real DCS’s comment on this site. The moniker is yours. Knock yourself out…"
So I assume someone has hacked your account, or this is an imposter who is still using your real email address?
@Ben -- No confusion necessary. This is the real DCS, and you know it -- at least you should know because it is your site.
As I thought would happen, the moniker spoofing ceased as soon as I made the comment that you quoted. However, I have not posted here since then, to avoid having to put up with imitators you decided to do nothing about, unlike the other sites where I have been...
@Ben -- No confusion necessary. This is the real DCS, and you know it -- at least you should know because it is your site.
As I thought would happen, the moniker spoofing ceased as soon as I made the comment that you quoted. However, I have not posted here since then, to avoid having to put up with imitators you decided to do nothing about, unlike the other sites where I have been posting that took care of it.
If you are truly confused, then maybe you have much less control over your own site, explaining why you did not do anything about the unethical moniker spoofing.
More on topic, I hope that the clear evidence I provided above will show just how bogus your decade-old claims are, but I won't hold my breath, just like I won't wait for how you come up with your numeral values of points currencies from a set of mostly inaccurate axioms.
G'day.
@DCS - your asinine over-use of bold makes your post nearly unintelligible.
Oh look, it came back.
So here you'll waste your time "debunking" that it's at the hotel's DISCRETION, but last night you said "that there is no loyalty program that “guarantees” suite upgrades as this site and OMAAT claim because they all depend on availability, which is at the DISCRETION of individual properties. Period."
So which is it?
Here's some CONTRARY real world experience to "it's yours -- up to a 1-bedroom suite."
...
Oh look, it came back.
So here you'll waste your time "debunking" that it's at the hotel's DISCRETION, but last night you said "that there is no loyalty program that “guarantees” suite upgrades as this site and OMAAT claim because they all depend on availability, which is at the DISCRETION of individual properties. Period."
So which is it?
Here's some CONTRARY real world experience to "it's yours -- up to a 1-bedroom suite."
On the day of arrival at the W.A Monarch Beach (single night stay), I noticed that there were many, many rooms showing available, including rooms with terraces and firepits, studio suites, studio suites with firepits, and even a one bedroom suite. The Hilton website advertises as clear as day to Diamond members "if a better room is available, it's yours, up to a one bedroom suite".
On check in, I was handed a paper spelling out in direct opposition to that, that Diamond members get a one category upgrade. That is indeed all I got, and when I made an inquiry as to a further upgrade, I was told that it was unavailable since the hotel was "almost sold out". About four categories between the one category upgrade I got and a one bedroom suite, and they were unwilling to upgrade me.
And this is an alleged top-tier property.
Other Hilton loyalists described the "up-to" as a cap, not a minimum. I.E, 'if a better room is available, it's yours. We can at our discretion put you in a room better than that one.' As opposed to 'if a better room is available, it's yours, and if there's one better than that, it's yours too, up to a one-bedroom suite.'
These kind of arguments still lend to the idea that you're a Hilton Fanboy. Can't just let these posts be, have to try to use your personal and practically one-of-a-kind experiences to "debunk".