Hilton Honors has just increased award costs for stays at some of its top properties… this is starting to get downright ridiculous. What’s wild is that many of these same properties were devalued just months ago, in May 2025.
In this post:
Hilton Honors raises points cap for top properties
For several years now, Hilton Honors hasn’t published award charts. While the program has dynamic award pricing, the reality is that the most expensive award rates at a particular hotel have been pretty consistent. That’s to say that if a standard room is available, you can redeem points for it at a cost that’s not above some (typically reasonable) maximum.
Up until May 2025, Hilton Honors free night redemptions for standard rooms topped out at 150,000 points per night. Then in May 2025, we saw top properties increase in cost to 200,000 points per night, representing a 33% increase.
Well, there’s now another update — Hilton has just increased redemption rates at its top properties to 250,000 points per night. So that’s a 25% increase overnight, and a 67% increase compared to earlier this year. What’s wild is that prior to that, the cost for stays at top properties hadn’t increase since 2021 (at which point the top costs went from 120,000 points to 150,000 points per night).
For example, you’ll find that the Waldorf Astoria Maldives now charges up to 250,000 points per night…
…while the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal now charges up to 250,000 points per night.
As before, Hilton Honors elite members can receive a fifth night free on award redemptions, meaning that a property costing up to 250,000 points per night could cost as little as 200,000 points per night. So you can spend five nights somewhere for a million points… what a steal!
I’m sure some people will jump in and point out that some Hilton Honors rooms cost over a million points per night. Just to clarify, when you see a rate beyond the maximum cap, that’s for premium room redemptions, when standard rooms aren’t available.
The bad news is that even beyond the properties that now cost 250,000 points per night, we’ve also seen a lot of other hotels increase award costs, compared to their previous maximum cost. For example, it wasn’t that long ago that the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island cost up to 95,000 points per night, then the cost increased to 140,000 points per night, and now this property goes for up to 180,000 points per night.
C’mon Hilton Honors, this is getting ridiculous!
I of course understand why loyalty programs devalue over time, especially ones with dynamic pricing. For example, during the last round of devaluations with Hilton Honors, I acknowledged how only a very limited number of properties increased in cost by that much, and it had been years since there was previously a devaluation to these top properties.
However, this now totally crosses the line, if you ask me. We saw properties increase from 150,000 points per night to 200,000 points per night several months ago, and now increase to 250,000 points per night? Will we see costs increase to 300,000 points per night before the end of the year?
Often loyalty programs can get away with devaluations, though I really think the program is starting to get to the point where Hilton is killing the golden goose. I’ve generally found Hilton Honors to be an increasingly useful program over the years, but these redemption rates are starting to get close to eliminating any outsized redemption opportunities.
What makes this situation even worse is that Hilton Honors is massively increasing award costs while also greatly decreasing points earning opportunities. Hilton has reduced the frequency with which it offers promotions, and has also made them less generous. What a customer-unfriendly combination.
This is something that I can’t justify. But perhaps Hilton Honors’ lifetime Diamond apologist has a different take, and can explain how this is actually good for members?
Bottom line
Hilton Honors is now charging up to 250,000 points for free night redemptions in standard rooms, compared to the previous cap of up to 200,000 points per night. Even worse, the cap was actually 150,000 points per night until several months ago.
I understand the need to increase award costs over time, but this is really getting out of hand. Going from 150,000 points per night to 250,000 points per night, all while reducing points earning opportunities, is super disappointing.
What do you make of this latest Hilton Honors devaluation?
Does anyone have any idea what the right response to this is from the franchisee side? I’m an investor in hundreds of select service properties and have friends and family on the PE side that own many more properties and I’m not sure how to send the message to corporate how unacceptable this is short of pushing a long term reflag strategy - which I don’t know sends the message.
Is there anything those of...
Does anyone have any idea what the right response to this is from the franchisee side? I’m an investor in hundreds of select service properties and have friends and family on the PE side that own many more properties and I’m not sure how to send the message to corporate how unacceptable this is short of pushing a long term reflag strategy - which I don’t know sends the message.
Is there anything those of us who are LPs can do? This is just a terrible business message. My friends in consulting and banking will notice and will book away and they’re the price insensitive customers the business is built on.
They seem to go up after point sales.
Ben, will you revise your valuation of the HH points?
WA Costa Rica went from 110K to 140K for standard redemptions.
I needed to drop one hotel loyalty option a year ago. Hilton made that choice easier. Now they make me only feel more justified in that choice. Have not missed them. One or two hotels may work but no need for my being loyal.
"Luxury hotel redemptions are becoming unaffordable"
I think that's the whole point of luxury, isn't it?
Only absolute losers stay exclusively at corporate hotels.
For sure - that’s what they call you when you when you’re at UBS or JPM and you get booked at the Waldorf in NY because it’s next door to your offices.
Absolute losers who want to be close to the office and earn points doing it.
Don’t make us book at the Interconn Barclay because the value prop is insane!
As a Hilton Diamond for Life I have found the programme less and less worthwhile. I have stayed over 70 nights so far this year and have had a number of minor upgrades but not a single suite upgrade or indeed any special rooms most look pretty basic even when they say you are upgraded. At the moment the bonuses are very poor and it is becoming like the British Airways FF scheme which had...
As a Hilton Diamond for Life I have found the programme less and less worthwhile. I have stayed over 70 nights so far this year and have had a number of minor upgrades but not a single suite upgrade or indeed any special rooms most look pretty basic even when they say you are upgraded. At the moment the bonuses are very poor and it is becoming like the British Airways FF scheme which had downgraded so much it's not worth bothering with.....so just like with BA I don't fly with them anymore unless there is an overwhelming reason to do so. So after this year I will go from long term top tier to zero. From Hilton I will just look for value and best prices and will stay elsewhere when it is not on my interest to stay with them. It's a shame but really these companies no longer show any sign of loyalty it's just a one way street.
Rome Hilton Airport - From 59,000 per night to 169,000 for Nov 5th reservation!! Wow - Cancelling both of my Amex Hilton cards ... I have had enough
The 169,000 is because there aren't standard rooms available on that date anymore. If you look at other dates, the new standard price is 65,000, so it's "only" a ~10% devaluation if it was 59k before.
Rome Hilton Airport - From 59,000 per night to 169,000 for Nov 5th reservation!! Wow - Cancelling both of my Amex Hilton cards ... I have had enough
It's particularly disgusting that they sell points for .5 cents each during 100% award sales and they take the members' money and now make the points virtually unusable.
Not only they increased the points needed for high end properties but also they devalued the mid or lower range 20 k points to now 30 k points. Some places paying cash is better than points redemptions.
After the devaluation last year I became a free agent. I stopped looking for 30 stays per year - I actually still reach gold - but honestly I don’t miss it at all.
I stay at Hilton’s when they work based on price, quality and location. I have no desire to overpay for inconvenience.
My experience as gold has been no different to Diamond. I’ve found competitor hotels to be no better or worse, but cheaper or more convenient.
It’s liberating being free.
I'm not surprised. All hotel programs are on terminal velocity in terms of devaluation. They're seeing how much they can reduce their points obligations (improving their balance sheet) to keep up with the market's expectations.
Bummer. I was thinking about taking a trip to the Maldives next summer. Rates for Saii are still the same, but all the others went up. Conrad Rangali is now more than double Saii. I should have booked it and cancelled it if I didn't need it...
I feel your pain. I’ve booked several 5-10 night stays at Hilton Maldives using points purchased with 100% bonus, and found it a good deal at 100-110 000 points per night (plus ~$20-300 for an overwater suite upgrade), but they’ve raised it to 175K+/night now which is just too steep… I guess my 10 night stay this xmas will be the last :( Oh well.
Wooohoooo !!!! Now I have to reach 1 million Hilton honors points. Heck yeah !!!
Thank god I secured my bookings last week for Conrad in Osaka
Thank you Trump. :)
Hoorah ! Sandy Cortez 2028.
Something to keep in mind here is that Hilton remains the only program not to cap their credit card award free nights. They have issued a ton of these cards - so every cardholder can still get one night at one of these top tier hotels. They probably have to make that up on the points per room side. In addition, from 2021-2023/4, you could get some really high cents per points redemptions with Hilton....
Something to keep in mind here is that Hilton remains the only program not to cap their credit card award free nights. They have issued a ton of these cards - so every cardholder can still get one night at one of these top tier hotels. They probably have to make that up on the points per room side. In addition, from 2021-2023/4, you could get some really high cents per points redemptions with Hilton. They appear to have slaughtered that, but it probably wasn’t sustainable. Hilton has definitely dialed it back in terms of value, but it emphasizes the point that you gotta mine the value when it is there, especially when it doesn’t make that much economic sense for the company and for owners
This just makes Accor look the most sensible program. 2000 points stay €40 always, with many points earning opportunities and promos making it easy to stock up on points
Hilton Honors is a $hit program. Breakfast benefit is weak, upgrades are hard to come by and not guaranteed, no suite upgrades ahead of time. I made the switch to Hyatt a few years back and have zero regret.
Don’t forget the undefined late checkout time with many properties caping out late check out to 1-2pm, even for diamond members
I haven’t been granted a 1 pm check out in years. Recently, the most I have gotten with my Diamond status is a 11:30 am check out, that is after much asking and protest.
It's not even the top awards that bother me, pretty much everything I see when testing (from luxury to Hampton Inn) puts HH points around 3 points/cent or .0033 cents per point. That's a huge system-wide devaluation from one year ago. It changes the math on earnings from hotel stays and credit cards... Time to check out
why hasn't DCS put in a comment
Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach 150K up from 95K
Oceana Santa Monica LXR 200K up from 105K
Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills 200K up from 120K
This isn't a devaluation, this is complete slaughter
I agree that this is insane and makes Hilton points worth a lot less, so I have less interest in the program -- but it seems like there are still cases where there is value to be had at super-high-priced properties. E.g., the Waldorf Maldives you have there, at 250k a night, you can buy those points for $1250 -- which is a lot but is 50-60ish less than the cash rate, right? Obviously not a chance to get basically free nights but still arbitrage to be done.
I occasionally stay at Hilton based on the return with the Aspire card, and diligently using those credits and free nights. But I'm right at the edge of bailing entirely - there are fun opportunities elsewhere.
Yeah, me too, the FNC and resort credit is the only thing holding me to the Aspire card but the FNC is only worth If you can add a night or two on points, making it a long weekend. But with these crazy redemptions the Aspire card is no longer the no brainer deal it was.
@Regis - I agree. Given the devaluations and fading value in the U.S., and some unique opportunities elsewhere (Rove Miles, anyone?), it's about to jump the shark for me.
Does Hilton now have peak day pricing for standard rewards? I saw something odd over Labor Day weekend where certain properties were pricing out one night at the regular standard room reward rate (say 75,000) and then the next night at double that rate (say 150,000). On the search results it would only show the 75,000 figure, but if you clicked through to book, it would show you the price per night. Perhaps this has been around for awhile and I just missed it.
For my OMAAT headline bingo card today I already have M and an A for Madness and Absurd. Currently:
Outrageous
Madness ✓
Absurd ✓
Asinine
Terrible
This may be the final nail in the coffin for me to drop the aspire card. Why should I stay at a hilton to get points that are basically worthless?
This puts most if not all, aspirational properties out of reach for me. This is very disappointing. Looks like I will be looking towards another program.
@Lucky you say the Waldorf Ped now costs “up to 250k”. Don’t you mean “at least”?
Wild this went from 120-140-190-250 just this year alone.
I've been thinking about reducing the number of cards in my wallet. The Hilton Amex Card just jumped to the top of the list. Gold status isn't all that compelling anyway. CSR and the The Edit may become my new go to.
I was thinking of trimming the number of credit cards in my wallet. My Hilton Amex just shot to the top of the list. Gold status isn't all that valuable anyway. The only thing Hilton has going for it is the relationship with Small Luxury Hotels, but those redemptions are ridiculous as well. CSR and The Edit may be my new go to.
Lollll why does anyone bother with hotel programs at this point??
They're are worthless!!
Ben is spot on. Hilton is overpaying their hand.
As always, we vote with our wallets.
This will affect Amex too, especially the Aspire card, which is being devalued acordingly too.
@Luis
I read this same type of comments when BA changed its program. A sizeable majority of objectors claimed they would do that - and they did - by continuing to vote with their pockets right back to BA's coffers.
It sure is a fascinating psychology.
I mean, at some point why don't they just bite the bullet and go to a quasi-fixed price/redemption scheme? X points per dollar, with limited variation (e.g. sales). It would be a band-aid rip, and since earning is also tied to that it would at least create a stable value proposition.
People need to let HH know that this isn’t ok! Book elsewhere! Once one starts the others will follow suit. Not like any of these programs reward loyalty at this point anymore and calling it a loyalty program is a freaking joke.
@Christian
Will not happen. An overwhelming majority, Ben included will continue to suck at HH loyalty teat.
Terrible deval.
But on the bright side, this makes Hilton FNC's that much more valuable!
Don’t celebrate yet as we can rest assure that limiting where they can be redeemed isn’t far off in the future!
lol no it doesn’t. It’s still worth exactly one free night.
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam survived the May 2025 devaluation, but couldn’t avoid this one. 150k points a night now (up from 120k, representing a 25% increase).
Wonderful :\
Japan Conrads are both up, but (for now) not as much as they could be. Absolute shame, I liked both the Osaka and Tokyo locations.
I find Hilton points much more valuable than competition because the redemption aren't really dynamic (yet?). I don't like the devaluation but they're the one chain that can afford it without losing my business. I split my stays 50:50 between them and IHG, which earns me top tiers in both programs. Where would I go? More IHG stays, giving me outright useless points in dynamic redemptions program and no status advantage? Getting Bonvoyed with Marriott's...
I find Hilton points much more valuable than competition because the redemption aren't really dynamic (yet?). I don't like the devaluation but they're the one chain that can afford it without losing my business. I split my stays 50:50 between them and IHG, which earns me top tiers in both programs. Where would I go? More IHG stays, giving me outright useless points in dynamic redemptions program and no status advantage? Getting Bonvoyed with Marriott's virtual status that never delivers the "guaranteed" benefit? Hyatt with their miserable footprint? The only thing that works better for me is Radisson that allows me to get substantial discount instead of their worthless points, and a much better elite treatment, but their properties are too inconsistent so I'm not too keen to switch there.
Conrad Tokyo took advantage of this to increase their points price from 100K pts pn to 130K. A 30% increase, wow
I gave up on Hilton Honors years ago.
Not sure why anyone would still bother.
Lifetime diamond member here: have not had a paid stay in years due to the devaluations and moved all my stays to IHG and Marriott
At least Diamonds get "best room in the house" upgrades. Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth it.
Best “room” maybe but other programs are better with suite upgrades in my opinion.
This was intended as a joke.
You must be joking!! I am Diamond for Life but have had no significant upgrades in the 70 plus nights I have stayed at Hilton this year. I am out.
HOTEL fanboys whether they be Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton or others make me laugh. The currencies are so worthless and the prices both cash and points for these properties show a lack of basic math skills. STOP OVERPAYING FOR TRAVEL BLOGGER ASPIRATIONAL PROPERTIES. You are only stroking your ego.
There's enormous value to be had, Matthew, as long as one is sensible about things
I have to disagree. My employer pays for at least 60 nights a year and I get to choose where I stay within reason. I choose Hyatt whenever possible and the points earned fund a hell of a vacation every year purely on points. My normal spend coupled with a signup bonus or two covers my flights. No ego stroking here, I just like staying at nice properties on someone else's dime.
What else do you expect from Hilton? It's the Delta of the lodging business.
Careful! You might get some incoming from Delta's NUMBER ONE FAN
If I were Ed, I'd have seen about a preemptive restraining order by now
They also haven't increased the SUB on cards for years (i think 185k has been the max for a while?)
It really is ridiculous, and frustrating. I hope non-churner HH members are frustrated enough to complain too.
I've gone free agent-ish - booking via AA Hotels as my first choice when the pricing is decent. Combined with the Citi Executive card, I average about 12 LP/$ and over 20 redeemable miles per dollar, a combo that's extremely hard to beat (and I value AA elite status over just about any hotel status except Hyatt's)
I agree with you, but just remember that you are reading the blog of someone who would rather be a doordash driver for the miles/LPs than use AA hotels :-)
As an aside, for those of us who continue to use AA hotels, it still blows the Atmos equivalent out of the water in terms of miles and status earning opportunities.
As a second aside, there can also be phenomenal value using sites like Agoda...
I agree with you, but just remember that you are reading the blog of someone who would rather be a doordash driver for the miles/LPs than use AA hotels :-)
As an aside, for those of us who continue to use AA hotels, it still blows the Atmos equivalent out of the water in terms of miles and status earning opportunities.
As a second aside, there can also be phenomenal value using sites like Agoda when teamed with Rakuten. They routinely offer 10x MR points (sometimes higher) and together with a 3x travel bonus (RIP CSR 10/26/25; hello Citi Strata Premier "other hotels" 3x which includes travel agencies!) can still get 13x+ points in situations where the upcharge on AA hotels is too much to bear.
Sure sometimes it makes sense to book direct with a hotel, but many many many times it does not. I sort of get it if you can get Hyatt Globalist status, but otherwise, would much rather have AA or MR points versus any hotel currency.
It’s about time they became regulated!
It sucks but what program hasn't devalued? Another reminder to not hoard points. They only get less valuable.
While devaluations are unfortunate, I don't consider this to be that outlandish as in these examples Hilton points are still worth around half a cent per point. That is a sustainable redemption rate for both consumer and Hilton, especially given the ease of earning points through credit cards. I'll continue redeeming ~50,000 points for Hampton inns.
Was the previous pricing 3 months ago not sustainable? Have the prices increased by 60% in 3 months?
I mean, these point currencies have an inherent value because of the ability to sometimes get outsized value on redemptions. If 0.5cpp is now an approximate "ceiling" for the Hilton program, then it doesn't make much sense for people to earn/use Hilton points anymore unless Hilton points become much, much easier to acquire.
I can now get "much more hotel" (i.e. more nights, or nicer properties, or more $ saved, whatever metric you want to...
I mean, these point currencies have an inherent value because of the ability to sometimes get outsized value on redemptions. If 0.5cpp is now an approximate "ceiling" for the Hilton program, then it doesn't make much sense for people to earn/use Hilton points anymore unless Hilton points become much, much easier to acquire.
I can now get "much more hotel" (i.e. more nights, or nicer properties, or more $ saved, whatever metric you want to use) with a given amount of credit card spend or sign-up-bonuses outside of the Hilton program than I can within it.
For example, 1 Chase CC signup-bonus probably gets me sufficient points to have 3-4 nights at a Hyatt that might otherwise go for $1000-2000 per night. Conversely, getting a Hilton CC signup-bonus is now only enough for 1 night (or possibly not even) at a similarly-priced Hilton hotel.
Someone needs to match DL's 500K award energy, after all.
Even more bullish for CSR. Can book at 2cpp in luxury options via the Edit. Great for free agents
Quitting the points system. There's no advantage to be had. These programs are essentially data mining operations that provide little benefit and I've just as much a chance of a room upgrade without them as with them.
Thanks you Hilton. Sincerely, World of Hyatt.
bullish on hilton stock - value creation for shareholders
Hard to justify keeping my aspires with the direction the program is going.
Just when I thought my go-to, podunk roadside Hampton I frequent increasing 30k to 60k was bad....
Hilton is again showing it wants to be to the hotel loyalty point program world what Delta Air Lines SkyMiles is to the airline loyalty program world. So they kill the value of the points and hope people stay on the hamster wheel for the network footprint + elite status benefits.
I'm out. I was considering open a second Aspire to stack the FNCs but now I'm just going to close my existing Aspire when the AF comes due.
HH is clearly treating loyalty as a one-way street, and I'm not driving on it anymore.
For what it's worth, currently FNCs are unaffected. Possibly even very slightly improved, in the sense that standard availability might be improved because no one has 250k points/night to actually make these redemptions with points.
I fully expect these FNCs to be capped/nerfed in some way soon. But in the meantime, it seems like they're kind of "the only point" of the Hilton program anymore.