Just over a week ago I wrote about a fantastic new targeted spending bonus on some co-branded Hilton Honors Amex cards. This is an awesome deal, and in my opinion it’s worth taking advantage of if you’re eligible and are able to complete the spending requirement.
I wanted to provide an update on this, as I completed the required spending, and my free night certificate has already been deposited in my account (which is way faster than I was expecting, since the promo terms said it could take up to 16 weeks). I figured this is a useful data point for anyone trying to decide on the timing of their spending.
Let’s recap the promotion basics, and then I’ll share my experience.
In this post:
Spend $8,000, get a Hilton free night reward
There’s a targeted offer for those with a Hilton American Express card. Those who are eligible can receive a Hilton free night award when they spend $8,000 on their card:
- You’ll want to check if you’re eligible for the offer at this link, and if you are, registration is required
- You must make sufficient purchases between the time that you register and February 28, 2022
- Purchases by both the primary cardmember and additional cardmembers count towards the spending requirement
- It can take up to 16 weeks after completing the required spending to receive the free night certificate; you’ll be emailed when the certificate is in your account, and then you need to redeem it by phone
- The free night certificate can be redeemed any night of the week, and will be valid for one year from the date of issue; this is the same as the free night certificate issued on co-branded Hilton cards
- If your Hilton Honors credit card already offers a free night certificate for reaching a certain spending threshold, this free night certificate is in addition to that
- You can find the promotion frequently asked questions (FAQs) here
I wasn’t emailed about this offer, but when I tried to register, I was successfully able to enroll my Hilton Aspire Card. The same was true with Ford. I’d encourage everyone to see if they’re eligible as well.
In both of our cases, there also started to be a banner in our Hilton Honors accounts promoting the offer.
The Hilton free night reward posts fast
The timing of this promotion worked out great for me. I happened to have a big bill of just over $8,000 that I had to pay, and I had been waiting for there to be a compelling credit card offer to pay it. When this promotion was launched, I figured it was the perfect opportunity.
So I put the purchase on my card on November 11. Five days later, on November 16, I received an email from Hilton Honors confirming that I had earned a new free night award on account of completing the spending requirement.
The terms state that it can take up to 16 weeks for the free night certificate to post, and historically in my experience Hilton Honors takes its time with posting free night awards. That doesn’t seem to be the case with this promotion, and I think that’s a worthwhile data point for anyone who may have a short term use for one of these certificates.
Is this free night spending offer worth it?
Obviously you can tell I think this offer is worth it, since I’ve already completed the spending requirement on my Hilton Aspire (and Ford plans to do the same):
- The card ordinarily offers 3x Honors points per dollar spent in non-bonused categories, so spending $8,000 would earn 24,000 Hilton Honors points; I value Honors points at 0.5 cents each, so to me that’s like $120 worth of value
- The free night certificate can be redeemed at a property costing up to 150,000 Hilton Honors points per night; now, in fairness, only two properties cost more than 95,000 points per night, so most people aren’t going to get quite the full value out of that
- Personally I (conservatively) value these free night certificates at $400, based on all the super high end properties where these can be redeemed
Based on my valuation, I’m earning $520 worth of value on $8,000 of spending, which is the equivalent of a ~6.5% return. That’s exceptional, and better than any other return I’ll get on everyday spending.
Bottom line
Select Hilton Honors Amex cardmembers are being targeted for an offer to spend $8,000 and then receive a free night certificate, valid at a vast majority of Hilton Honors properties around the world. While I was never contacted directly about the offer, I was able to successfully enroll. I completed the spending requirement on November 11, and five days later I was emailed about having earned a free night certificate.
This offer seems pretty widely targeted, so if you’re eligible and can complete the spending, this is a worthwhile opportunity.
Were you targeted for this Hilton Amex spending offer, and if so, do you plan on taking advantage of it?
Does this offer free night for every $8000 in spending? Or is it for just one night only?
I’m eligible for the night and found out about it through a push notification on my phone. When I try to sign up, I get an error. Now, I’ve spent several hours on the phone with Amex, tried registering on multiple browsers on desktop and phone, tried deleting cookies and cache, and still get the same error. Customer service escalated it to IT, but they haven’t been able to fix it. Hilton site also says...
I’m eligible for the night and found out about it through a push notification on my phone. When I try to sign up, I get an error. Now, I’ve spent several hours on the phone with Amex, tried registering on multiple browsers on desktop and phone, tried deleting cookies and cache, and still get the same error. Customer service escalated it to IT, but they haven’t been able to fix it. Hilton site also says I’m eligible, but when I click learn more, it just takes me to my account info page. ♀️
I was targeted for this offer on both my Aspire card and my no annual fee Hilton card. Also just got approved for the Venture X. I registered for the Aspire card, but to do both would be $16,000 in 3 months, and $26,000 in 6 months. Quite a bit to chew on.
The free night was awarded in less than 48 hours of spending.
I registered for the Amex free night offer and started the spend, but have decided to call it off to ensure covering the Venture X spending requirement. Could *probably* make the spend for both (overlapping) promotions, but meeting the VX requirement is obviously a bigger priority.
Great to see another pic of "Waldorf" Winston, hope the little guy is living the life!
Ben,
I noticed that you spent $8254.26 on Nov 11 and 4 days later you paid-off the amount. I thought, the cc company does not like it if you pay the bill ahead of closing cycle? Thoughts?
They surely don't mind people paying right away... I think you're referring to credit cycling - charge a card to the limit, pay it off, then charge more, effectively bypassing the credit limit the company set for you.
We don't know that that's happening here: We don't know the credit limit on that card, nor if more was/will be charged to it this cycle. But I'm pretty sure Ben is in a position where he...
They surely don't mind people paying right away... I think you're referring to credit cycling - charge a card to the limit, pay it off, then charge more, effectively bypassing the credit limit the company set for you.
We don't know that that's happening here: We don't know the credit limit on that card, nor if more was/will be charged to it this cycle. But I'm pretty sure Ben is in a position where he doesn't have to cycle his credit limit :D.
Either way, there's nothing wrong with paying your charges off early!
Also like to add - AMEX usually doesn't mind credit cycling.
I just tried and was declined :(. I’ve had my AMEX Hilton 3 years now….so sad.
Lucky, one thing I really dislike about your webdesign is the bottom section promoting other articles to read. Sometimes I click on an enticing headline to discover it’s some old article from 2019! Stop highlighting old posts. Besides that, love your current posts!
Great offer that I am taking advantage of!
Now since others are commenting....the new website layout is awful! Makes finding anything extremely hard and as others have mentioned it is not viewer friendly and I too have spent less time on it since the revamp. Whoever programmed this for you should not be hired again.
@ Christian -- Thanks for the feedback. I know there has been a variety of feedback, though I'm curious, what are you having issues finding, specifically?
Ben we you search things it pulls up REALLY old articles. I was trying to find something about Amex offers the other day, when I typed American Express the first thing that came up was using Amex points on an Australian card from 7 years ago. The next articles were equally as old.
I got my monthly Hilton email statement with this offer in the What’s New section. However it doesn’t contain a RSPV code and when I click the link and try to enroll, it says I’m not eligible. Anyone else have this issue. I called Amex but they were no help.
Yes, same email and same error message. Hoping that AMEX clears up error since we are targeted for this promotion through that email.
Tried to register but no luck. Longtime Hilton Aspire Amex card member here. Oh well, win some loss some.
It seems likely that January and February spend will count towards both this target and the usual year-round targets.
While this is a nice push for Hilton-branded CC., these certificates are typically redeemed for much much less than $520 "value" Ben mentions. This would be the value if you typically spend ca. $500/night in hotels. I do have 2 such certificates that are expiring Jan 2, 2022. Beginning of the year I was thinking about going to the same hotel in Cabo Ben was staying on his certificates but the standard award rooms were...
While this is a nice push for Hilton-branded CC., these certificates are typically redeemed for much much less than $520 "value" Ben mentions. This would be the value if you typically spend ca. $500/night in hotels. I do have 2 such certificates that are expiring Jan 2, 2022. Beginning of the year I was thinking about going to the same hotel in Cabo Ben was staying on his certificates but the standard award rooms were only open for ca, 5 to 7 days from the booking dates. There was only 1 or 2 standard nights in Waldorf Astoria on Maui when I searched Aug through Dec. Perhaps, new all inclusive in Cancun (many dates are available) would be provide this value. But this is about it. Now I will be spending these two nights over weekend in Waldorf in Key West. Yes, the current price is >$1,000 but the hotel reviews are far from glorious. After that we will stop for 1 night in Marathon Key Courtyard which I booked at ca. $200+tax (- $50 Amex offer). I could easily stay all 3 nights at that Courtyard...
The certificate is $400 in Ben's valuation (I'd personally put it at $300). The 24k HH points that you'd also get (assuming everyday categories) are then worth around $120 at the consensus half-cent per point value.
Of course, if you have an Aspire and spend $8k in the 7x airfare/restaurant categories, that's 56k points worth $280. If you plan to use the cert to offset a $400 night, the implied 8.5% return is like 5x...
The certificate is $400 in Ben's valuation (I'd personally put it at $300). The 24k HH points that you'd also get (assuming everyday categories) are then worth around $120 at the consensus half-cent per point value.
Of course, if you have an Aspire and spend $8k in the 7x airfare/restaurant categories, that's 56k points worth $280. If you plan to use the cert to offset a $400 night, the implied 8.5% return is like 5x MR/UR/TY/Venture points in those categories.
Similarly, the Surpass's 6x gas/groceries/restaurants turns into something between 4.5x and 5x in transferrable point terms.
If you've got this offer (I didn't know I was targeted until I got a physical mailer) and aren't working on a SUB, it's probably a better return in any non-cobrand category than any other card you have.
Would love to do this but saving the spend for $10k on the new Cap One VX.
What I like about this is that I already get one free night. However, one free night at an expensive hotel is sort of a pain, unless you are willing to splurge for additional nights. Accordingly, I usually use my annual cert for a more mid-range hotel. Now that I will have two annual night certificates, I will likely use them for higher tier properties at the beginning or ending of trips.
This offer is only for people who usually stay at $400/night rate rooms. I am not one of them, sticking to my cashback card spending, despite being targeted as well.
I used to read this web site frequently but once the redesigned came about, my reading of it has dropped at least 80% or more. I understand a redesign was needed but this one was a disaster from my point of view. I like Ben and many of his stories but the design is just confusing with terrible colors and horribly organized. I was going to post this on the "ask ben" or whatever that...
I used to read this web site frequently but once the redesigned came about, my reading of it has dropped at least 80% or more. I understand a redesign was needed but this one was a disaster from my point of view. I like Ben and many of his stories but the design is just confusing with terrible colors and horribly organized. I was going to post this on the "ask ben" or whatever that section used to be called but I could not find if that existed.
Overall my reading of travel has dropped substantially for a variety of reasons but this would have been one that I would have kept but it just isn't worth the effort. Hopefully one day you can have someone design something more useful.
@ rich62az -- I'm sorry to hear that, that's not the experience I want you to have, and I value you reading. I get if you don't like the colors, but may I ask what about the design you find confusing? The front page of the blog has all the posts in chronological order, just as before. Furthermore, you'll find a link to the Q&A section immediately below the first dozen or so posts that...
@ rich62az -- I'm sorry to hear that, that's not the experience I want you to have, and I value you reading. I get if you don't like the colors, but may I ask what about the design you find confusing? The front page of the blog has all the posts in chronological order, just as before. Furthermore, you'll find a link to the Q&A section immediately below the first dozen or so posts that are listed on the front page (below is a link, if that helps).
https://onemileatatime.com/questions/
I would also add that I'm not a huge fan of the new layout. It is ok from mobile but not a great experience from computer. And for reference I have been reading your blog for close to 10 years now.
I see that spending on things like travelers checks and gift cards are against the T&Cs. Any idea whether using the card to make a tax payment would be okay, or if it would be considered a "cash equivalent" transaction?
@ CZ -- Making a tax payment should be totally fine, as that's not considered a cash equivalent. I always make tax payments by credit card, and have never had an issue.
Sorry, I meant the business card.
On the aspire card, would then reaching $15000 yield a second free night under the normal benefit?
@ James White -- Yep, it sure would.
Spend amount is $60k/calendar year for Aspire free night, yes?
Dear OMAAT:
Maybe it is just me, but I do not find the feature of having to click "x more replies" to reveal and read additional replies to a comments to be very useful. It is not like there is a need to conserve space. I am likely to read a response if it came from a poster I know to be thoughtful or interesting and ignore comments from known trolls and spammers. The compressed...
Dear OMAAT:
Maybe it is just me, but I do not find the feature of having to click "x more replies" to reveal and read additional replies to a comments to be very useful. It is not like there is a need to conserve space. I am likely to read a response if it came from a poster I know to be thoughtful or interesting and ignore comments from known trolls and spammers. The compressed view makes that selection of what to read at a glance difficult.
The expanded view with all comments and replies showing is much better, IMHO...
One more annoying feature of the compressed view: I cannot see my own comment after I post it if the second or higher reply to comment until I click "X more replies" to reveal it! So, it is unclear immediately whether a comment posted because it is hidden under the fold...
It is also frustrating to have to keep looking "under the fold" to find my own prior replies to a comments !!!
Welcome to 21st century !
Not targeted for me either. I typically spend the $40,000 a year on my Surpass card to maintain Diamond. I only spend using this card on unbonused categories like health insurance (retired so spend over $2000 a month on that alone), tuition, insurance, etc. or charges at a Hilton property but suspect my spending pattern has Amex knowing that will get use of the card without offering me this promotion. Wouldn't turn down a free...
Not targeted for me either. I typically spend the $40,000 a year on my Surpass card to maintain Diamond. I only spend using this card on unbonused categories like health insurance (retired so spend over $2000 a month on that alone), tuition, insurance, etc. or charges at a Hilton property but suspect my spending pattern has Amex knowing that will get use of the card without offering me this promotion. Wouldn't turn down a free night for spending I would do anyway on the card but doesn't look like that will happen.
My Amex Surpass card is targeted, and I now registered for the promotion. I am curious, like DTD, whether the promotion is “stackable” in the sense that I can apply the remainder of the $15,000 spend I need on this card in November/December to qualify for my 2021 annual free weekend night toward the $8000 I need to spend for this promotion between November-February.
not targeted on any of my hilton cards (honors, surpass, aspire). bummer.
Does this 'stack' with the normal free night offer of the Amex Hilton Business Card?
That is, can I sign up for this, and earn a free night after spending 8k, then get the usual weekend night by hitting a total of 15k before the end of the year?
Or does it not stack? I would spend 15k before the end of the year. Then sign up (anybody know expiration date to sign up?), then spend another 8k to get this offer?
Thanks!
@ DTD -- I see nothing in the terms suggesting it won't stack, so that's an even better value then!
Not offered my business card anyway, but did get it on the Aspire. I wonder if that's intentional so that one can't stack it.
After successfully enrolling, is this offer documented somewhere in your account? The webpage says the enrollment was successful but I can't find it anywhere in my personal amex page. . .
@ Tom -- I can't see it documented anywhere either, and don't see it on my account, and didn't receive an email confirmation. It's definitely strange. I took a screenshot of my successful enrollment, but hopefully there are no issues.
This is an AMEX, rather than a Hilton, offer which is sent out directly to members for specific cards.
The free night certificate does stack with any other(s) that one has.
I got it for the my AMEX HH Aspire card by clicking the link for the offer provided in the post, where I had to log into my account to find out.
I got a nearly identical targeted offer from AMEX for my...
This is an AMEX, rather than a Hilton, offer which is sent out directly to members for specific cards.
The free night certificate does stack with any other(s) that one has.
I got it for the my AMEX HH Aspire card by clicking the link for the offer provided in the post, where I had to log into my account to find out.
I got a nearly identical targeted offer from AMEX for my UA Explorer card, which was rather lame:
Got it for the Aspire, but not the Ascend.
I put in Aspire info first and enrolled. Then tried Ascend and got "sorry, target promo"
Didn't receive the email, but the link worked for my Hilton Surpass. I also noticed that account is at $8800 to go for the free weekend night award in 2021, so that lines up nicely. Do Hilton gift cards purchased on property trigger the 12x room charges category?
Where do you see how far you have to go to earn the $15K spend free night on a Surpass card?
Got the offer on Aspire but not sure whether I will use it or not. Yes, there are some nice Hilton properties but there are also good alternatives. I have 2 HHonors certificates that are expiring Jan 3, 2022 (and Hilton is not extending those for now). I will be using those for a weekend @ Waldorf Astoria Key West but I could easily not go there at all. Note that you will be getting 6.5% return only if you are ready to pay $400 cash for stay at a particular Hilton.
...more than 6.5% if one is ready to pay, say, $1000 at a particular hotel?
Except that the notion, hatched and perpetuated by self-anointed 'travel gurus', that a given return of the spend can be had "only if you are ready to pay $X cash for a stay" is...
...more than 6.5% if one is ready to pay, say, $1000 at a particular hotel?
Except that the notion, hatched and perpetuated by self-anointed 'travel gurus', that a given return of the spend can be had "only if you are ready to pay $X cash for a stay" is utterly silly. One's willingness to pay $X for a stay does not change the fact that the certificate gives free and that it can be redeemed for room cost $X or even much more. The return will be had regardless of whether one would have been willing to spend $X money to start with because it is irrelevant.
In your online AMEX cards account.
I was targeted and enrolled! I did spend all afternoon yesterday searching the internet for news about this as a part of me thought it might be a scam only having to spend $8k to get a free night almost anywhere!
My Hilton Aspire was not eligible :/