Some significant changes will be coming to the Hilton Honors program tomorrow, which I’ve outlined before. Among these changes is that Hilton is eliminating the ability to earn both Points & Miles for hotel stays, in an effort to simplify the program. Hilton says that fewer than 1% of members took advantage of this.
Personally I never found it to be a particularly good value, and I don’t remember the last time I chose to earn Points & Miles for a Hilton stay. I know for certain people it made sense, like if there was a promotion with an airline, or if someone consistently made short stays at very inexpensive properties. So personally this change doesn’t bother me.
While it will no longer be possible to earn miles directly for hotel stays, it will still be possible to convert Hilton Honors points into airline miles. What’s interesting is that Hilton Honors is changing up their airline partners, as outlined by Head for Points. What’s changing?
Hilton Honors is dropping 11 partner transfers
As of April 2, 2018, it will no longer be possible to convert Hilton Honors points into the following 11 currencies:
- airBaltic PINS
- airberlin topbonus
- Air China PhoenixMiles
- China Southern Sky Pearl Club
- Czech Airlines OK Plus
- Gulf Air Falconflyer
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Multiplus
- OK Cashbag
- SriLankan FlySmiles
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
China Southern is being removed as a Hilton Honors transfer partner
Hilton Honors is adding nine partner transfers
As of April 2, 2018, Hilton Honors is adding the following nine airline partners, with the following transfer ratios (Hilton Honors:partner):
- AirAsia BIG (10,000:2,000)
- Asiana Club (10,000:1,000)
- China Eastern Eastern Miles (10,000:1,000)
- Emirates Skywards (10,000:1,000)
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands (1,000:100)
- Finnair Plus (5,000:1.000)
- Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles (10,000:1,000)
- SAS Eurobonus (8,000:1,000)
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles (10,000:1,000)
Asiana is being added as a Hilton Honors transfer partner
Hilton Honors is improving transfer ratios with two partners
As of April 2, 2018, Hilton Honors is improving the transfer ratio for two of their airline partners, as follows:
- The transfer ratio for Lufthansa Miles & More will go from 5,000:500 to 5,000:625
- The transfer ratio for Singapore KrisFlyer will go from 4,000:400 to 4,000:500
Why you shouldn’t convert Hilton points into airline miles
While you can transfer Hilton Honors points to a bunch of airline loyalty programs, you really shouldn’t, as it’s not an efficient use of points. Personally I value Hilton Honors points at ~0.4 cents each, and the absolute best transfer ratio you see here is one airline mile for every five Hilton Honors points (and in most cases it’s a 10:1 ratio, and not 5:1). Personally I’d take 5-10 Hilton points over one airline mile (you’d have to value airline miles at 2-4 cents each for a transfer to make sense).
I’m sure some people will still transfer points, but it really isn’t how I’d recommend using them.
The way I see it, there are only two circumstances under which it makes sense to convert hotel points into airline miles. That includes:
- Converting Starpoints into airline miles at a 1:1 ratio, with a 5,000 point bonus for every 20,000 points transferred, meaning you’re essentially earning 1.25 airline miles per Starpoint
- Booking a Marriott Hotel + Air Packages, where you redeem a fixed number of points for a combination of hotel nights and miles
Does anyone disagree, and actually convert their Hilton points into airline miles?
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