With it now being a new year, Hilton Honors has launched its newest global promotion. I wanted to recap the details of this, for anyone with upcoming Hilton stays. You’ve gotta love that there are typically no gaps when it comes to Hilton Honors promotions, and we see one offer after the other.
In this post:
Hilton Honors offering 2,500 bonus points per stay
Hilton Honors’ new global promotion is called Points Unlimited, and with this offer, members can earn 2,500 bonus Hilton Honors points per stay.
There are some more details to be aware of:
- The promotion is valid for stays between January 1 and May 1, 2022 (you must check-out by May 1 to be eligible)
- Registration is required prior to your first eligible stay, though it’s fine if you booked prior to registration
- There’s no limit to how many bonus points you can earn, you start earning rewards with the first stay, and there’s no minimum stay required
- It can take up to six to eight weeks for bonus points to post, though they’ll typically post much faster than that
- You can earn bonus points even on award stays
- You can find promotion FAQs here
How generous is Hilton Honors’ promotion?
How generous is Hilton Honors’ Points Unlimited promotion? The math is pretty easy on it. Personally I value Hilton Honors points at 0.5 cents each, so to me 2,500 points are worth $12.50. The way I view it:
- This promotion is decent for a short stay at an inexpensive property, while it’s lackluster for longer stays, or stays at more expensive properties; that’s especially true in comparison to the double and triple points promotion we saw in late 2021
- On the plus side, this is great for award stays, since you can earn bonus points even when redeeming points
This promotion is in addition to Hilton Honors’ standard points earning rates. As a reminder:
- Members ordinarily earn 10x Honors points per dollar spent at most brands
- Hilton Honors Gold members get an 80% points bonus, Hilton Honors Diamond members get a 100% points bonus
On top of that, you can maximize your Hilton Honors points earned from hotel stays by paying with a co-branded Hilton American Express card. These cards earn points at the following rates at Hilton properties:
- Hilton Honors American Express Card (review) – 7x points per dollar
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (review) – 12x points per dollar
- Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (review) – 12x points per dollar
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (review) – 14x points per dollar
In other words, as a Hilton Honors Diamond member paying with the Hilton Aspire Card, you earn 34x Honors points per dollar spent, not including the 2,500 bonus points you can earn per stay with the new promotion.
Bottom line
Hilton Honors has launched its first global promotion of 2022. With this offer, you can earn 2,500 bonus points per stay, with no minimum stay required, and no cap on how many bonus points you can earn.
Unfortunately this is one of Hilton Honors’ weaker promotions, at least for those who don’t make short stays at inexpensive properties. Still, if you have any upcoming Hilton Honors stays, it’s definitely worth registering.
What do you make of Hilton Honors’ new promotion?
Funniest thing happened today. I left Wyndham Rewards for Hilton Honors this year. I stop by Wyndham Houston Medical Center on a weekly basis to use the restroom near my workplace for a couple years. And today they turned into a Doubletree by Hilton. It happened so all of a sudden that I could see workers on the window cleaner equipment taking down the Wyndham sign all that was left was Ham. Tomorrow it will...
Funniest thing happened today. I left Wyndham Rewards for Hilton Honors this year. I stop by Wyndham Houston Medical Center on a weekly basis to use the restroom near my workplace for a couple years. And today they turned into a Doubletree by Hilton. It happened so all of a sudden that I could see workers on the window cleaner equipment taking down the Wyndham sign all that was left was Ham. Tomorrow it will say Doubletree and new beds are being put in each room. Anywho….
Do the 34x Honors points that Diamond members can earn per dollar spent apply only to room rate charges or also to incidental charges (dining, spa, etc.)?
Just make sure charge it all to your room and it will count, otherwise it won't and you'd just earn the 14x on the CC.
@DCS: "Just make sure charge it all to your room and it will count, otherwise it won't and you'd just earn the 14x on the CC."
For someone who purports to be an authority on the Honors program, DCS, you get information wrong a surprising amount of the time, and this is no exception.
The correct answer, @Sammy, depends on the property at which the Diamond member stays, and in fact, it depends on the...
@DCS: "Just make sure charge it all to your room and it will count, otherwise it won't and you'd just earn the 14x on the CC."
For someone who purports to be an authority on the Honors program, DCS, you get information wrong a surprising amount of the time, and this is no exception.
The correct answer, @Sammy, depends on the property at which the Diamond member stays, and in fact, it depends on the charge itself. Incidental charges incurred at certain brands within the program (specifically Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, Tru, and Home2Suites) are not eligible for points - those stays earn points on the room rate only.
DCS is going to tell you that this doesn't matter, because staying somewhere like a Hampton Inn is beneath him, but that doesn't change the fact that simply charging it to the room will make it automatically count.
Further, even at the other brands, just because you can charge it to the room, that doesn't mean it necessarily will count for point credit. Honors gives each property the discretion to disallow point earning for charges that are billed by the hotel, but which are provided by a third party. The examples that the T&Cs give for this include, but are not limited to, "food and beverage outlets, gift shop, drugstore, clothes, gallery or specialty stores, recreational or entertainment concessions."
And further, if your folio charges at an eligible hotel include banquets or other catering functions, the T&Cs disallow point earning as well, unless you've planned the event through the Honors Event Planner Program.
https://www.hilton.com/en/hilton-honors/terms/#accrual-of-points
So, to actually answer the question correctly, @Sammy, the answer is that if you charge it to your room, it might count, but it also might not - it depends on any of the factors that are described above.
Actually, you just taught something, so stop being on the defensive by trying topredict what I would say simply because you have always misjudged me and have created for your mind's eye only a caricature that has no resemblance to me whatsoever.
I did recent stays at a Hampton Inn and a a Home2 Suites. I will check to see whether I got any points on incidentals.
Actually, there was nothing wrong with my response, and there is a bunch of stuff wrong with @Mikey's supposedly authoritative response. I am a bit tied up at the moment aboard my flight to IAH then EZE to get into it, but do check back here in a day or so, and we'll get to the correct answer together...
Oh, I can’t wait to see how much DCS has to move the goalposts to ensure that he isn’t wrong.
I will just provide the official HH T&C on incidentals, which you managed to either totally mangle in your head or misunderstand then attributing to them what they never said...
If you're on a cash stay generally everything counts at all properties. If your points only it doesn't count at Hampton etc. If your points and cash it's complicated.
In response to Sammy, in 99% of cash paid stays the answer is it applies to all charges
From the T&Cs
A Member may earn Base Points for up to four rooms per stay ("Earning Rooms") if all eligible charges for Earning Rooms are paid...
If you're on a cash stay generally everything counts at all properties. If your points only it doesn't count at Hampton etc. If your points and cash it's complicated.
In response to Sammy, in 99% of cash paid stays the answer is it applies to all charges
From the T&Cs
A Member may earn Base Points for up to four rooms per stay ("Earning Rooms") if all eligible charges for Earning Rooms are paid on one folio. Base Points will be earned for all eligible folio charges incurred on Earning Rooms. The term "eligible folio charges" is defined below. Bonus Points issued on Base Points, including tier bonuses (20%, 80% or 100%, depending on Member tier), Bonus Points earned through double or triple Base Point promotions, will apply to the total Base Point credit earned for Earning Rooms..
The term "eligible folio charges" within the Hilton Portfolio shall mean: room rate, food and beverage, telephone, laundry, pay-per-view movies, entertainment and recreational facilities, and other incidental charges charged to the Member's room during the Member's stay. Dining room or other charges not billed to a Member's room during a stay are not eligible for credit. Such hotels within the Hilton Portfolio may omit for purposes of Point accrual, incidental charges by non-affiliated hotel entities which are not owned and/or operated by the hotel including, but not limited to, food and beverage outlets, gift shop, drugstore, clothes, gallery or specialty stores, recreational or entertainment concessions. Charges in connection with banquets or other catering functions are not considered "eligible folio charges" for purposes of Point accrual, with the exception of Points earned from qualifying meetings or events through the Hilton Honors Hilton Honors Event Planner Program.
Now in a taxi to Hilton Buenos Aires. I see that @Nick stole my thunder because it is clear from his T&C-based comment that my answer was closer the actual policy than @Mikey's, which tried to make a rule out of exceptions that I actually reaffirm the general rule I stated!
Icing on the cake: I did earn points on incidentals for my REVENUE stays at Hampton Inn and Home2 Suites.
Case dismissed !
@Nick: "In response to Sammy, in 99% of cash paid stays the answer is it applies to all charges"
This is actually quite incorrect. Though the T&Cs are explicit when it comes to award stays, the explicit language regarding to paid stays is specifically denoted in the Honors FAQ (note the exceptions to earning of base points at Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, Home2Suites, and Tru, where base points are earned on the room rate only):
...@Nick: "In response to Sammy, in 99% of cash paid stays the answer is it applies to all charges"
This is actually quite incorrect. Though the T&Cs are explicit when it comes to award stays, the explicit language regarding to paid stays is specifically denoted in the Honors FAQ (note the exceptions to earning of base points at Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, Home2Suites, and Tru, where base points are earned on the room rate only):
How do I earn Hilton Honors Points?
Earn by staying at our hotels and resorts
After you complete an eligible stay at a hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio, you earn 10 Hilton Honors Base Points for every US dollar spent on your room rate and other eligible room charges, including telephone calls and room service.
Some exceptions apply: At Hampton Inn™ or Homewood Suites by Hilton™ hotels, earn 10 Base Points for every US dollar spent on your room rate only. At Home2 Suites by Hilton™ and Tru by Hilton™ hotels, earn 5 Base Points for every US dollar spent on your room rate. See below for more information on what qualifies as a hotel stay.
https://www.hilton.com/en/hilton-honors/support-faq/
Rather than making or being the rules, exceptions that you seem to be focusing on affirm the rules!
@DCS: “Rather than making or being the rules, exceptions that you seem to be focusing on affirm the rules!”
For being so highly educated, DCS, you seem to have a problem with reading comprehension if you think that exceptions that grant points based on the room rate only somehow validate your point.
Then again, we’re talking about someone who can’t ever accept or admit when he is wrong, so what else is new.
@Nick: “This...
@DCS: “Rather than making or being the rules, exceptions that you seem to be focusing on affirm the rules!”
For being so highly educated, DCS, you seem to have a problem with reading comprehension if you think that exceptions that grant points based on the room rate only somehow validate your point.
Then again, we’re talking about someone who can’t ever accept or admit when he is wrong, so what else is new.
@Nick: “This doesn't explain my experience, nor that of DCS of having points awarded based on total spend at Hampton Inns.”
If I were to venture a guess, the individual hotels might have discretion to award points based on whatever total spend they choose, which might include incidentals.
Regardless, the published policy is and has always been, to my recollection, exactly what I have said it is - incidentals don’t always earn points, depending on the brand, and regardless of whether the stay is paid or an award. The examples that are contrary to that don’t change the fact that this published policy exists.
Thus, I stand firmly by my opinion that telling someone that all charges will earn points, as DCS did, is wrong.
I am highly educated, which is why I am aware of the saying that "an exception affirms a rule", meaning that a rule is a rule precisely because there are a exceptions to it... just like the ones you are pushing!!! Read the T&C to know the rule and simply be aware of exceptions. Why is that so hard to understand ?
Way to move the goalposts yet again, DCS. Grow up, and get help.
After failing to substantiate his bogus claim, he gets highly personal, and then he will turn around and ask the forum host ad nauseam (like a broken record) why DCS gets away with it. Quite pathetic really.
You've just gotten the attention you so badly crave, now get lost.
@DCS: "After failing to substantiate his bogus claim, he gets highly personal, and then he will turn around and ask the forum host ad nauseam (like a broken record) why DCS gets away with it. Quite pathetic really."
Since we've gotten into the predictable pattern of DCS resorting to personal attacks and trying to distort reality once he was proven wrong (remembering, of course, that all of this started when he made the incorrect claim...
@DCS: "After failing to substantiate his bogus claim, he gets highly personal, and then he will turn around and ask the forum host ad nauseam (like a broken record) why DCS gets away with it. Quite pathetic really."
Since we've gotten into the predictable pattern of DCS resorting to personal attacks and trying to distort reality once he was proven wrong (remembering, of course, that all of this started when he made the incorrect claim that all charges counted), I think there is nothing else to be proven here. Because DCS proves the point I've been making about him for years every time he opens his mouth.
Yet again, DCS, quit projecting, grow up, and get help for your NPD.
This doesn't explain my experience, nor that of DCS of having points awarded based on total spend at Hampton Inns.
Some bonus promo points from the heavens?Not to excited but ok better than nothing if you stay with them
Its hard to like Hilton these days all that much with call centers now sometimes
in El Salvador as the new Diamond Desk line.Sad
Clueless and scary.Hang up and book elsewhere when I get a now likely lost agent
Forget about complicated stuff like billing issues>fend for yourself
I returned from...
Some bonus promo points from the heavens?Not to excited but ok better than nothing if you stay with them
Its hard to like Hilton these days all that much with call centers now sometimes
in El Salvador as the new Diamond Desk line.Sad
Clueless and scary.Hang up and book elsewhere when I get a now likely lost agent
Forget about complicated stuff like billing issues>fend for yourself
I returned from Dallas in a Hilton where I cleaned my room and made my bed for 5 nights at full price
I'm the fool truthfully
But really 50,000 points for a night at the Phoenix Hilton that one could pay 150 for? HUH?
And hotels asking 365k a night in Beverly Hills and elsewhere making certificates unusable? Sorry but similar to Marriott HH points in my view with their 12 to 15 dollar breakfast credits are printing HH point currency fast and furious but taking them back in with their inflationary point redemption even faster
HH Peso Points? Still no late check out guarantee like Hyatt and Marriott and breakfast covered or not good and bad and sometimes a barf bag with their grab and go throwaways The HH future has me concerned as bean counters chip away at a once great program(sigh) The past was better with Hilton and now seems all over the map IMO Some good mostly bad redemption value wise unless redeeming for 5 nights.I rarely stay more than 3
Some bonus promo points from the heavens?
Its hard to like Hilton these days all that much with call centers now sometimes
in El Salvador as the new Diamond Desk line.Sad
Clueless and scary.Hang up and book elsewhere when I get a now likely lost agent
Forget about complicated stuff like billing issues>fend for yourself
I returned from Dallas in a Hilton where I cleaned my room and made my...
Some bonus promo points from the heavens?
Its hard to like Hilton these days all that much with call centers now sometimes
in El Salvador as the new Diamond Desk line.Sad
Clueless and scary.Hang up and book elsewhere when I get a now likely lost agent
Forget about complicated stuff like billing issues>fend for yourself
I returned from Dallas in a Hilton where I cleaned my room and made my bed for 5 nights at full price
I'm the fool truthfully
But really 50,000 points for a night at the Phoenix Hilton that one could pay 150 for? HUH?
And hotels asking 365k a night in Beverly Hills and elsewhere making certificates unusable? Sorry but similar to Marriott HH points in my view with their 12 to 15 dollar breakfast credits are printing HH point currency fast and furious but taking them back in with their inflationary point redemption even faster
HH Peso Points? Still no late check out guarantee like Hyatt and Marriott and breakfast covered or not good and bad and sometimes a barf bag with their grab and go throwaways The HH future has me concerned as bean counters chip away at a once great program(sigh) The past was better with Hilton and now seems all over the map IMO Some good mostly bad redemption value wise unless redeeming for 5 nights.I rarely stay more than 3
You are just as confused as ever. What it sounds like to me is your total inability to make the miles/points game work for you. You do not understand any of it. Hang it up.
One clear measure of success is when your detractors are trying to outdo one another attacking you, without enunciating a coherent rationale for the attacks! So, well done, Hilton Honors! You've got the competition reeling!
Because you have room to talk about attacking people without coherent rationale, DCS. Get help.
Hilton's like the crappy low-end clothing store that's always! on! sale!!!
Hilton just devalued elite status. You should not be promoting them as if that didn’t just happen:
Lordy!
Lordy!
Could it be that flyer that pops up when one posts that unhinged the joker?
I'm glad to see the that the commenting guidelines that were put in place back in April of 2019 are still taken seriously here.
https://onemileatatime.com/comment-policy/
I fully agree. A huge swing from a promo that awards 54x to one that awards close nothing, as if the latter were offered to compensate for the former. We've seen such a swing before...
Hopefully, the Q2 promo will be better as it is likely to coincide with my first overseas trip (London)...
I fully agree. A huge swing from a promo that awards 54x to one that awards close nothing, as if the latter were offered to compensate for the former. We've seen such a swing before...
Hopefully, the Q2 promo will be better as it is likely to coincide with my first overseas trip (London) on which just the other day I redeemed 2 of my 3 Aspire free night certs to pay for 2 of the nights with the highest rate on what will be a 7-night stay...
Wait you have multiple Aspire cards?
No, @Joes, I do not have multiple Aspire cards! Even as the premier Hilton aficionado, there is no way I can pull a such a trick and I would not want to even if I could unless the second were free (then again, a second FN cert would be worth more than the AF so... maybe)
Anyway, I have 3 'Aspire' free night certs thanks to Hilton's unmatched generosity during the pandemic:
1....
No, @Joes, I do not have multiple Aspire cards! Even as the premier Hilton aficionado, there is no way I can pull a such a trick and I would not want to even if I could unless the second were free (then again, a second FN cert would be worth more than the AF so... maybe)
Anyway, I have 3 'Aspire' free night certs thanks to Hilton's unmatched generosity during the pandemic:
1. One FN cert earned in 2020 as part of the card's annual benefit, extended to July 2022 - I just used it.
2. One FN cert earned in 2021 as part of the card's annual benefit, extended to December 2022 - I just used it too.
3. One FN cert just earned from AMEX for spending $8K on a co-branded HH AMEX card - Good December 2022
#3 is the result of an AMEX targeted offer that this site wrote about very positively. Voila!
Tried registering a few times and system fails every time. Hope this gets fixed soon.
Promotion itself is "meh."
Very lackluster, and seeing as it takes me through to May when I'll have done much of my planned travel, and hit up WAs and Conrads in the process. Better than nothing but only just...
I mostly have 1 or 2 night stays and have a busy first quarter coming up so this will work great for me!