Over the years we’ve seen quite a few offers for Hilton stays, given the longstanding partnership between American Express and Hilton. Well, they’ve just released the latest such offer, and it’s location specific.
With this new, targeted Amex Offer, you can save $200 when you spend $1,000 at Hilton properties in Hawaii by June 30, 2019.
Sometimes there’s a version of offers where you can get one Membership Rewards point rather than one cent, though I don’t see any such offers with the current promotion, unfortunately, which is a shame.
Per the terms of the promotion:
- The offer is only valid at Hilton brand hotels in the state of Hawaii
- Reservations must be made online at hilton.com, via the Hilton Honors app, or by calling Hilton
- The offer does not apply to advance purchase rates
- The promotion includes room rates and room charges, though excludes gift card purchases
In reality, I’d question whether advance purchase rates are truly excluded, or if the point is simply that you need to make the purchase during the promotion period. The terms are clear, but who knows how it works in practice.
I’m also not fully sure I understand the requirement to stay at “Hilton brand hotels.” I can’t tell if they’re referring exclusively to Hilton branded hotels, or if they simply mean one of Hilton’s brands. My instinct is that they’re referring to the former, but that includes so few properties that I figured they’d be more explicit in the terms and conditions.
If they are referring specifically to Hiltons, then it looks like this offer is limited to the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, Hilton Waikiki Beach, and Hilton Waikoloa Village. Otherwise, quite a few more hotels are potentially included.
Like most Amex Offers, this one is targeted, though it at least seems to be pretty widely targeted. Personally, I see it on all my cards (including those earning Membership Rewards points and Hilton Honors points), except Marriott Bonvoy Cards, which is fair enough.
Keep in mind you can potentially pool this with some other offers. If you have the Hilton Aspire Card you can earn 14x points per dollar, and you can also use your $250 annual resort credit at these properties.
Anyone going to Hawaii and staying at a Hilton who can take advantage of this?
This credit is given for stays at the Grand Wailea.
The resort credit is actually quite special. According to HH T&C: "At hotels with resort fees, members on reward stays booked using all Points, or using a Promotional free night reward (e.g., issued by credit card partners, etc.) will not pay resort fees."
However, even though one does not pay a resort fee on award stays, one does get resort credit from AMEX for incidentals charged to one's room and paid for with the Aspire.
...The resort credit is actually quite special. According to HH T&C: "At hotels with resort fees, members on reward stays booked using all Points, or using a Promotional free night reward (e.g., issued by credit card partners, etc.) will not pay resort fees."
However, even though one does not pay a resort fee on award stays, one does get resort credit from AMEX for incidentals charged to one's room and paid for with the Aspire.
As for advanced purchases (AP) not triggering the resort credit, that is because charges must be "...paid for with your Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card at checkout in order for them to be recognized as Hilton Resort purchases." Because AP charges are billed at booking, before a stay is consumed, they are not part of one's folio so that one does not pay for them at checkout, and are thus not recognized as resort purchases.
Any idea if this applies to Hawaiian timeshare properties booked on the Grand Vacations website?
@Anthony and @David S
Thank you for that info. good to know beforehand!
Advanced purchases haven’t triggered the offer for me in the past.
N of 1 here, but paying the advanced rate didn't trigger the Hilton resort credit on my Aspire whereas other charges added to the bill for that same stay did (e.g., parking that I paid for in person at check-out). Amex does seem to be able to separate advance charges from other, refundable hilton.com reservations.
Yes, using this for a few nights of Spring Break at the Hilton Waikiki Beach. It seems like combining the offer with the Aspire card resort credit will get the price down close to deal or decent levels.