Hilton Select Discount and Rebate Program: Worth It or Not?

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Million Mile Secrets reader Dave G commented:

Hey Daraius,

Have you heard of Hilton Select?  I just saw a link for it on a recent Hilton reservation confirmation.  The link is https://www.hiltonselect.com/.  It seems to be a Hilton travel club.  Just curious if you thought it was a good deal.  Thanks!

Hilton Select is a paid, members-only program that gives you discounts and cash back on hotel stays, travel, dining, entertainment, and more.  And they offer perks like concierge service, roadside assistance, and flight insurance.

But these benefits don’t come cheap!  Their basic membership costs $399 per year, and their “premier” membership costs $549.  That’s a lot of cash!

Hilton Select Discount And Rebate Program Worth It Or Not
Hilton Select Says They’ll Save You Money…but You’ll Have to Pay a LOT to Sign-Up!

Is Hilton Select worth it?  Let’s find out!

What Do You Get When You Join Hilton Select?

Link:   Hilton Select

The basic Hilton Select membership costs $399 per year.  As a member, you’ll get:

  • $200 cash back on Hilton hotel stays in the US ($100 per 1-night stay every 6 months)
  • 5% cash back at participating hotels in the US
  • Hilton HHonors membership (no elite status) and 5,000 bonus points
  • 5% cash back on domestic airfare, rental cars, and cruises
  • Up to a 50% discount at certain merchants, entertainment venues, and restaurants in the US (but they don’t provide a list until you sign-up)
  • Roadside assistance and $500,000 flight insurance
  • Rebates for checked baggage ($40 per year) and in-flight food and drink ($40 per year)
  • Shore excursion rebate ($25 per year) and show ticket rebate ($40 per year)
  • One $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate each month
  • A 1-year subscription to Conde Nast Traveler magazine (worth $12)
  • Online tools including credit card registry, document registry, credit card loss service, and password storage
Hilton Select Discount And Rebate Program Worth It Or Not
A Basic Hilton Select Membership Gets You $200 Cash Back on Hilton Stays

The Hilton Select Premier membership has the same benefits as the basic membership, but some of the cash back deals are increased.  For $549 a year, you also get:

  • $400 cash back on Hilton hotel stays in the US ($200 per 1-night stay every 6 months)
  • 10% cash back at participating hotels in the US
  • 10,000 Hilton HHonors points
  • In-flight Wi-Fi rebate ($40 per year)
  • 24/7 travel and VIP concierge
  • 24/7 remote tech support for your computer, camera, smart phone, printer, MP3 player, and tablet
  • 24/7 “Pet Assistance” – expert help for your pet’s needs (!)
Hilton Select Discount And Rebate Program Worth It Or Not
Is It Worth Paying Extra for a Pet Concierge Service?

Some of Hilton Select’s benefits sound interesting, but there are lots of hoops to jump through and rules to follow.  According to the terms and conditions:

  • You’ll get 1 rebate certificate every 6 months for cash back on a Hilton stay ($100 or $200 depending on membership), and it’s only valid for Hilton hotels (not brands like Doubletree, Embassy Suites, or Conrad)
  • To get cash back for hotel, airline, car rental, or cruises, you must book through Hilton Select’s travel agency (so you won’t be able to shop around for the cheapest rates)
  • The checked baggage, in-flight food and drink, in-flight Wi-Fi and show ticket rebates are a maximum of $10 each per quarter, or $40 per year, and you have to mail in receipts, ticket stubs, and a rebate form
  • You’ll get 1 $25 Restaurant.com certificate per month, but if you don’t use it, it can’t be rolled over to the next month
  • Roadside assistance is limited to 3 calls per year at a maximum of $100 each

This sounds like it could be a lot of work!  Saving receipts, tracking expenses, and filling out and mailing rebate forms could be very time consuming.  And I’m not sure I’d like having to book my travel through their agency without being able to shop around for the best deals!

Will You Get Your Money’s Worth?

It really depends.  If you know you’ll pay for at least 2 nights in a Hilton hotel (once every 6 months) the cash back Hilton credit could offset much of the cost of membership.

And if you’re the type of person that’s diligent about saving receipts and filling out forms, and you travel enough to spend $10 per quarter on baggage fees, in-flight food and drink, show tickets, and in-flight Wi-Fi, you could save up to $160 per year (4 x $40 per category).

Hilton Select Discount And Rebate Program Worth It Or Not
You Could Save $40 per Year on In-Flight Wi-Fi

It’s hard to tell if you’ll benefit from the hotel, airfare, car rental and cruise discounts.  Because you have to book through Hilton Select’s travel agency, there’s no way to tell if their prices are competitive or if you can get better deals elsewhere.

The $25 Restaurant.com certificates aren’t worth as much as they seem, because you can buy certificates for $10 (or less with a promotion code) online.  At most, they’d be worth $120 per year (12 months x $10 per month), and that’s assuming you can use them all.

Remember, typically you have to spend at least $35 to $50 at a restaurant when you use a $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate.

Let’s look at it this way.  Suppose you bought the basic membership for $399 per year.  If you used all of the cash back Hilton credits, rebates, and Restaurant.com certificates you’d get:

  • $200 cash back from Hilton
  • $160 cash back from baggage, in-flight food and drink, show ticket, and in-flight Wi-Fi rebates (4 x $40)
  • $25 cash back from shore excursion rebate
  • $120 worth of Restaurant.com certificates (at most)

That’s $505 in value.  And that’s not including any cash back for hotel and travel or discounts on restaurants, attractions, and merchants (which I can’t quantify because they don’t tell you which merchants get discounts until you join!).

So a basic membership could be worth it, as long as you know you can use all of the cash back credits and rebates.  And as long as you like filling out paperwork!

But if you won’t use all the Restaurant.com certificates, or already have credit cards that get you free checked bags (like the American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles, Chase United MileagePlus® Explorer Card, or Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard® for example), you might not break even on this deal.

Hilton Select Discount And Rebate Program Worth It Or Not
Membership Could Be Worth It If You Know You’ll Stay at a Hilton Twice AND Use All the Rebates

Looking at the premier membership, which costs $549 a year, if you used all of your cash back credits and rebates you’d get:

  • $400 cash back from Hilton
  • $160 cash back from baggage, in-flight food and drink, show ticket, and in-flight Wi-Fi rebates (4 x $40)
  • $25 cash back from shore excursion rebate
  • $120 worth of Restaurant.com certificates (at most)

That’s a total of $705.  But again, you’d have to know for sure that you could use all of the benefits.

A better deal for most folks (that won’t cost nearly as much money or aggravation) is signing-up for a Hilton credit card like the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card.  You get 2 free weekend nights after meeting minimum spending requirements, plus Hilton Gold Elite status (free internet and breakfast).  The annual fee is $95.

And because it’s a Visa Signature card, you’ll get many of the perks Hilton Select membership offers, like concierge service, insurance, travel discounts, and savings on dining, entertainment, and shopping.

But you will NOT get a 24 hour hotline for pet assistance. 🙂

Bottom Line

The Hilton Select program offers cash back and discounts for Hilton hotel stays, travel, entertainment, and airline incidentals.  And you can get discounts on shopping, dining, and attractions, plus perks like concierge service and flight insurance.

You’ll pay $399 or $549 a year depending on which version of the program you sign-up for.

This really would only be worth it if you know you’ll be able to use all the cash back options and rebates.  Plus, you’ll have to save receipts, track spending, and mail in rebate forms.  This might be a pain for a lot of folks!

I’d rather get many of these benefits for free from credit cards like the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve.  But for some, this might be a good deal.

Do you belong to Hilton Select?  Has it been worth it for you?

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