Category Archives: Hilton HHonors

Hilton Puts the Honor Back in HHonors

Posted on February 24, 2013 by | 34 Comments

Note: This post is satire and you shouldn’t follow any of Points Envy’s suggestions, nor should you break the law.  Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.

We have been called many things over the years – diamond, preferred, racist, platinum, gold, best ever, executive – all with varying frequency.  But one thing we’ve never not been called is elite, and that used to mean something.

These days, everyone has access to the benefits that used to be reserved for the best of the best.  Programs have made it too easy to earn and redeem points, which could not have been made any clearer than when we ran into a backpacker staying in the room next to us last week at the St. Regis Bangkok.

Thankfully, hotel loyalty programs are realizing how unacceptable this is, and we are pleased to see Hilton Honors become the latest program to make its award chart more exclusive.

Restoring integrity

Continue reading →

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Posted in Hilton HHonors, Hotels

News You Can Use – Barclays NFL $400 Cash Back & 20,000 Points Virgin America, Citi American Airlines 50,000 Miles + $150 Statement Credit, 70,000 Point Marriott, & Accor Platinum Status

Posted on February 3, 2013 by | 57 Comments

 [Disclosure:  Emily and I don't earn a commission for links to the $400 cash back Barclays NFL card.  The links to the Virgin America, Citi American Airlines & Marriott offers are better than the ones which earn us a commission.]

1.   $400 Cash Back Barclays NFL Card.   Thanks to Million Mile Secrets reader dhammer53 for tweeting me a link to Fat Wallet which discusses a $400 Cash Back Barclays NFL card after spending $2,500 within 3 months.

A Fat Wallet member also posted links to get the $400 statement credit after spending $1,000 within 3 months, but it is unclear if Barclays (unlike the other banks) will honor an expired offer/link.  I didn’t see any mention of an offer expiry date in the links for spending $1,000 within 3 months.

We do know that Barclays currently honors the US Air card targeted to Chairman’s Preferred members even if you’re not a Chairman’s Preferred member.

The card doesn’t have an annual fee and you can redeem 40,000 points for $400 in statement credits.  However, only  transactions above $25 qualify for statement credits. Continue reading →

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Posted in Accor, American Airlines, Barclays, Best Western, Chase, Club Carlson, Hilton HHonors, Hyatt, Marriott, VIrgin America

How to Keep your Hotel Points from Expiring Without Staying in a Hotel!

Posted on January 30, 2013 by | 13 Comments

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Hotel Points expiration

I’ve written about how to keep your airline miles from expiring without flying.  Here’s how to keep your hotel points from expiring without staying in a hotel!  Points expire in most US based airline program after 12 to 24 months of no earning or redemption activity.

Some programs like Choice and Wyndham hotels expire after 2 and 4 years and there is nothing you can do to extend the expiration, so you might as well use them before they expire.

Award Wallet is a good tool to track your miles and points balances and expiration dates.

Hotel
Expiration Policy
Choice Hotels On December 31st, 2 years after you earned the points.
Club Carlson24 months of not earning or spending points
Hilton 12 months of not earning or spending points
Hyatt Gold12 months of not earning or spending points
Marriott24 months of not earning points
Priority ClubPoints Never Expire
Starwood Hotels12 months of not earning or spending points
WyndhamPoints expire after 4 years and you can't do anything to extend them beyond 4 years.

However, they will expire sooner (in 18 months)of not earning or spending points

But it is really, really easy to keep your hotel points active WITHOUT staying in the hotel!

Sometimes, all you need to do is to make an award booking and cancel it later, for free!  This will generate redemption activity when you make the award and earning activity when you cancel the award and reset the point expiration clock.  But be sure to check the cancellation policy when you book!

You can easily extend the expiration by buying something cheap or making a $1 donation from the airline’s online shopping mall, or using a credit card to keep your points active!

1.   Choice hotels International

hotel points expiration

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Posted in Choice Privileges, Club Carlson, Hilton HHonors, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, Starwood (SPG), Wyndham

News You Can Use – 100 Free American Airlines Miles &Transfer Citi Thank You Points to Hilton

Posted on January 21, 2013 by | 5 Comments

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1.   100 Free American Airlines Miles.   Via View from The Wing, you can get 100 American Airlines miles for signing up for their shopping portal between January 21 and February 3, 2013 and receiving emails until the 100 miles posts to your American Airlines account.  100 miles isn’t much, but it will reset your American Airlines account expiration by 18 months!

You also get 300 additional miles for ANY purchase, so a $1 iTune purchase (if available & eligible) could be worth the 300 American Airlines miles.

2.   Transfer Citi Thank You Points to Hilton.   The Points Guy writes that Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, Citibank, Hilton HHonors

Credit Card Updates: American Express Hilton With 50,000 Points & Alaska Air Credit Card with 25,000 Miles + $100 Statement [Expired]

Posted on January 14, 2013 by | 39 Comments

[Disclosure: None of the credit cards in this post earn me a referral.]

1.   50,000 Point American Express Hilton.   Up to February 28, 2013, you can get 50,000 Hilton points instead of the regular 40,000 points with the no-fee American Express Hilton card.

I like having this card because it gets me access to discounted AXON awards.  Hilton points are usually very easy to earn since there are many different ways to earn them.

2.   25,000 Miles + $100 Statement Credit. 

Update:  Looks like the $100 statement credit offer is no longer working.

Million Mile Secrets reader Daron (thanks!) writes in with a link to an Alaska Air credit card.  Besides the 25,000 Alaska Air miles after approval, you also get a $100 statement credit after spending $1,000 within 3 months.  The card also has a $99 companion pass which is valid in coach.  The $75 annual fee is not waived for the first year. Continue reading →

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Posted in Alaska Airlines, American Express, Bank Of America, Hilton HHonors

Which Credit Cards Do NOT Charge a Foreign Transaction Fee?

Posted on January 10, 2013 by | 54 Comments

[Disclosure:  Emily and I get a referral for all cards in the post except for the Southwest Premier, Chase Priority Club, Chase Fairmont, Chase United Club, Citi Thank You Premier (better than my affiliate link), Citi American Airlines Executive, and the American Express Mercedes-Benz Platinum]

No Foreign Transaction Fee CArds

Readers often ask which credit cards do not charge the 1% to 3% foreign transaction fee for using the card for transactions in foreign currency.  Most credit cards will charge you a fee for purchases in a foreign currency.

So I’ve made a new page on the Travel Credit Cards tab for No Foreign Transaction Fee cards!

No-Foreign-Transaction-Fee-Cards

No Foreign Transaction Fee Tab!

The cards listed on that page do NOT charge a foreign transaction fee if you use them for transactions in foreign currencies.

My favorite no-foreign transaction fee card is the Chase Sapphire Preferred which offers double points for travel (airfare, hotel, car rental, parking etc.) and dining.  And you almost certainly are spending most of your money on travel and dining when you’re on vacation! Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, American Express, British Airways, Business Credit Cards, Chase, Citibank, Credit Cards, Delta Skymiles, Foreign Transaction Fees, Foreign Transaction Fees, Hilton HHonors, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, Ritz-Carlton, Southwest, Uncategorized, United Airlines

How Long Does it Take to Get the 2 Free Night Certificates From The Hilton Reserve Card?

Posted on January 7, 2013 by | 53 Comments

[Disclosure:  Emily and I get a referral for the Citi Hilton Reserve card in the post below.  We're very thankful to all readers who apply using our link!]

Update:  Citi NO longer lets you apply for 2 Citi Hilton Reserve cards at the same time.

Readers ask how long it takes to get the 2 free weekend night (weekend = Friday, Saturday & Sunday) certificates after completing the $2,500 minimum spending within 4 months on the Citi Hilton Reserve.  You get 2 free Hilton weekend night certificates and gold elite status (free internet and breakfast) with the Citi Hilton Reserve card.

The terms say to allow 6 to 8 weeks after completing the minimum spending to receive the certificate, but I received the free weekend night certificates via email in about 3 weeks!

1.   Applied for 2 Citi Hilton Reserve cards in separate browsers as part of my November 2012 churn on November 21, 2012.  Citi usually lets you apply for 2 personal cards every 65 days except the American Airlines which usually require waiting 18+ months from when you were last approved to get the bonus again.

Hilton Reserve Credit Card 3

Twice the Fun!

2.   Received the cards in about 7 days in the mail.  The gold packaging was a bit wasteful and I almost didn’t find the card among all that paper! Continue reading →

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Posted in Citibank, Hilton HHonors

Emily’s December 2012 App-O-Rama – 8 Cards. 355,000 Miles & Points!

Posted on December 31, 2012 by | 111 Comments

[Emily and I get a referral for links to the Chase Ink Plus, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Barclays Frontier Airlines & Barclays Priceline cards, and Credit Sesame.  We do not get a commission for links to the Citi Hilton card & Barclays US Air card because they are better than my referral links and for the US Bank Club Carlson card in this post. We thank all readers who apply using our links!]

Emily and I set travel goals and we then collect miles and points to get to those goals. Our goals are quite simple. We want to have enough miles and points to travel within the US in coach to visit friends, to go to Michigan or Ohio to visit family and to have weekend getaways.

We also want to travel internationally 2 to 3 times a year – ideally in business or first class, but we’ll choose a flight in coach if it means less connections and more time on the ground (like we did when we visited Brazil during Carnival).

We also need hotel points since we have to stay somewhere. We don’t really care which airline we fly or hotel we stay in as long as we can save money while traveling. I’m partial to Hyatt because I’m a Hyatt diamond, but I won’t say no to free or cheap hotel stays.

Emily’s December Churn

Credit Card
Sign-On Bonus
Minimum Spending Requirement
Annual Fee
Chase Ink Plus50,000 Points$5,000 in 3 Months$95 Waived For 1st Year
Chase Sapphire Preferred40,000 Points$3,000 in 3 Months$95 Waived For 1st Year
Citi Hilton50,000 Points$1,500 in 6 MonthsNo Annual Fee
Citi Hilton50,000 Points$1,500 in 6 MonthsNo Annual Fee
Barclays Frontier Airlines35,000 Miles$750 in 3 Months$59 Not Waived For 1st Year
US Bank Club Carlson85,000 Points$2,500 in 3 Months$75 Not Waived For 1st Year
Barclays US Air40,000 MilesOne Purchase$89 Waived For 1st Year
Barclays Priceline5,000 PointsOne PurchaseNo Annual Fee
Total355,000 Miles & Points$14,250 in 6 Months$134 Not Waived For 1st Year

Emily applied for 8 credit cards and was approved for all of them except the US Bank Club Carlson card (still pending) after ~1 hour on the phone with the Chase and Citi reconsideration folks, so Santa was good to us!  In case you’re wondering, Emily has a ~6.5 year credit history and a credit score above 700.  This churn focused on international travel and hotel stays. Continue reading →

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Posted in Barclays, Business Credit Cards, Chase, Churning, Citibank, Frontier, Hilton HHonors, US Air

Our 2nd Honeymoon in Paradise – Hilton Bora Bora Nui

Posted on December 11, 2012 by | 36 Comments

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Hilton Bora Bora Nui

Hilton Bora Bora Nui

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Posted in Hilton HHonors, Trip Reports

News You Can Use – Up To 50% Hilton Hotel Discount & 500 Bonus Southwest Points (~$8.35) for Southwest Credit Card Holders

Posted on December 11, 2012 by | 20 Comments

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 1.   Up To 50% Hilton Discount.   Loyalty Traveler writes about a 50% “Friends and Family” discount for stays between December 14, 2012 and January 7, 2013 & booked by January 7, 2013.

As Loyalty Traveler points out, there are some great deals available and you do earn points for the stays!

  1.   500 Bonus Southwest Points.   I got an email from Southwest promising a 500 point bonus if I use my Chase Southwest credit card to make a purchase at the Southwest shopping portal before December 31, 2012.

Link:  500 Bonus Southwest Points

The terms don’t specify a minimum purchase value, so I was thinking of buying a $1 iTunes to see if this worked for any purchase value, but decided to make a $1 donation to The Breast Cancer Research fund via Estee Lauder instead (just search for “donation” in the search box). Continue reading →

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Posted in Chase, Hilton HHonors, Southwest