Best use of Hilton Honors points

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Let’s talk about Hilton Honors points and how best to use them! First off, it’s important to note that Hilton points are some of the easiest to accumulate. You can earn Hilton Honors points quickly and easily when you sign up for and use one of these credit cards. Between the initial sign-up bonus and earning between 3x to 14x points when you spend money on your card or stay at a Hilton hotel, it’s helpful to figure out exactly how you can maximize these points once you’ve got them. 

Best use of Hilton Honors points

Hilton no longer publishes an award chart, which makes it a bit more challenging to figure out how many points you need to redeem for a particular hotel. The number of points needed to redeem for a free night at any of their hotels fluctuates throughout the year, typically between 5,000 and 95,000 points per night.

Based on what we’ve seen, the value of Hilton points is consistently pegged at around 0.5 cents each. So if you can beat that, you’re getting solid value from your points.

When it comes to Hilton, there are three extra ways to squeeze even more value out of your points:

• Fifth night free on award stays: Silver, Gold and Diamond elite members receive the fifth night free when booking a standard room reward stay of five nights or more. Think of it as a 20% discount and you can earn elite status simply by holding a card like the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card. (Hot tip: If you plan to stay for more than five nights, consider booking the highest priced award five nights and then making a separate reservation for the rest of your stay. The strategy here is that the five nights will be averaged out and one will be subtracted. When you book the five nights together at a higher rewards amount, the value of the night subtracted will be higher. For example, if you book five nights at 95,000 points and two nights at 50,000, it’s beneficial to make two separate reservations otherwise the seven nights will be averaged and one will be subtracted – the average points for that free night will be lower.)
• Stretch your points with Points & Money: Hilton allows you to combine points and cash (you choose the proportion) on award bookings, so you can add a cash copay and splurge on a longer stay or fancier room.
• Points pooling: Pool points with friends and family to book a stay — a great option if you’re short on points.

The information for the Hilton Surpass has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Strategies to Maximize your Hilton Honors Rewards 

One of the benefits of booking a stay at Hilton hotels is that even the rooms that are in the lower tier of rewards points are still relatively nice compared to some of the other hotel options out there. And considering that 80% of the Hilton hotels are available for less than 130,000 points a night, you can typically find a nice room for a good deal with your rewards. Here are some strategies to keep in mind when booking with Hilton Honors rewards.

• Look for rooms that cost just 5,000 rewards points. You can book 23 nights (19 plus four nights for free) for the cost of one room at 95,000 points. 
• Maximize off-peak pricing. Unfortunately, Hilton gives no indication as to when these off-peak rates will be available, making it tough to plan around this. But if you are lucky enough to score an off-peak rate you could be looking at somewhere around a 10% discount on rewards required to book a room. 

Earn rewards to cash in at Hilton Hotels with these cards 

If you’re a fan of Hilton hotels, check out these four cards from American Express. You can quickly earn a ton of Hilton points simply by meeting minimum spending requirements for the welcome bonuses, and you can redeem the points for hotel stays at Hilton hotels worldwide.

• Hilton Honors American Express Card – Earn 100,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the card in the first three months of card membership. Plus, you can earn up to $100 in statement credits on eligible purchases made on the card at any of the Hilton family hotels in the first 12 months of membership. Terms apply.
• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card – Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the card in the first three months of card membership. Terms apply.
• The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card – Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the card in the first three months of card membership. Plus, you can earn up to $130 in statement credits on eligible purchases made on the card at any of the Hilton family hotels in the first 12 months of Membership. Offer expires 7/6/2022. Terms apply.
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card – 150,000 Hilton points after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. Terms Apply.

The information for the Hilton Aspire card, and Hilton Surpass has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

After you meet the minimum spending requirements and the bonus points post to your account, you might wonder about the best ways to redeem Hilton Honors points.

Best Hilton hotels for maximum value

Looking to maximize your Hilton Honors points? We’ve found 10 Hilton hotels where you can get more than 0.5 cents per point. 

Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to live like a Hollywood movie star, visit the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. Rooms are normally around $700 per night, and many of these rooms start at 300,000+ points a night, but you can book the same rooms for 95,000 Hilton points if your dates are flexible. 

That gives you a great value of ~0.73 cents per point, substantially more than the baseline value of 0.5 cents per point.

And if you plan to stay for more than a few nights, you can do even better.

With Hilton’s fifth-night-free perk, you could get over $3,500 in value with just 380,000 Hilton points. That’s a value of 0.92 cents per point.

Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

For a quiet, romantic getaway with your significant other, there’s probably no better place than the Maldives. Check out the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island. Like most hotels in the Maldives, it can be pricey. I found rooms for around $1,500 per night, but these same rooms can be booked for 95,000 Hilton points, netting you a value of ~1.58 cents per point.

Points pooling idea: If you and your travel partner are both points enthusiasts, each of you can earn the intro bonuses on the Amex Hilton cards mentioned above. Then you can pool your points and book more nights at this awesome hotel, and if you earn enough points for four nights, you could take advantage of Hilton’s perk for a fifth night free on award stays.

Boca Beach Club, A Waldorf Astoria Resort

If you’re looking for a hotel with a great ocean view and easy access to a private beach, the Boca Beach Club, A Waldorf Astoria Resort, in Florida might just fit the bill.

Rooms tend to be slightly cheaper than the Maldives or Beverly Hills –generally around $550 per night — and you can book these rooms for 80,000 points per night, netting you a value of just under 0.7 cents per point.

Points pooling: If 80,000 points per night is too much, you can always pool your points with a family member.

And if you book five nights with your rewards points to get the fifth night free, you’ll increase the value of your points to ~0.86 cents per point.

Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort

Hawaii is a popular destination. Check out the Grand Wailea Hotel, a luxury oceanfront resort in Maui.

Rooms are pricey: We found rooms for around $700 per night, but you can hang onto your cash by booking with 95,000 Hilton points per night (a value of ~0.74 cents per point).

If you stay long enough to take advantage of the fifth-night-free award, like team member Jasmin recently did, you’d be getting $3,500 in value for just 380,000 Hilton points. That’s a value of 0.92 cents per point.

Conrad Koh Samui

If you’re looking for a five-star hotel with private beachfront, the Conrad Koh Samui might just be your happy place.

Rooms here for the month of May typically go for around $600, or 95,000 Hilton points (a value of 0.63 cents per point).

If you make an award booking for five nights to get the fifth night free, you’ll save $3,000 and pay 380,000 Hilton points. That’s a value of nearly 0.8 cents per point, which is fantastic for Hilton.

Reichshof Hamburg, Curio Collection by Hilton

History buffs will enjoy the Reichshof Hamburg, Curio Collection by Hilton in Germany. The hotel is in a historic building within walking distance of a number of museums and historical landmarks.

Rooms are a bit more affordable than the higher-end Waldorf Astoria hotel collection. I found rooms for around $232 per night, or 40,000 Hilton points (a value of 0.58 cents per point).

If you extend your stay to receive the fifth night free, you’d save $1,160 in value for 160,000 Hilton points, or 0.72 cents per point.

Hilton Garden Inn Vienna South

The Hilton Garden Inn Vienna South is a fantastic hotel to consider because the rooms at this Austrian hotel start at 10,000 Hilton points per night. I found rooms for around $155 per night, which means you get a whopping 1.5 cents per point in value, which is absolutely incredible.

And don’t forget, you can stretch the value of those points even further by taking advantage of the fifth-night-free perk. That would be enough to bump the value of your points up to 1.94 cents per point.

Hampton Inn & Suites Farmington

Hampton Inn & Suites Farmington in New Mexico is within a few miles of the Riverside Nature Center and the Farmington Museum at Gateway Park. You won’t need a big stash of points to book this hotel. I found available rooms for just 10,000 Hilton points per night or $102 with cash. That’s a value of over 1 cent per point.

Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport

The Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport in Indonesia is further proof that you can find fantastic deals overseas at dream destinations.

I found availability for five nights for a total of just 20,000 Hilton points using their fifth-night-free perk. You would otherwise spend $310 in cash.

If you’re thinking that’s not much in cash savings, remember that you’d be getting 1.5 cents per point in value. That’s a heck of a lot more than the 0.5 cents per point Hilton points are worth on average.

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sighisoara – Cavaler

Here’s another great overseas deal for Hilton point redemptions — the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sighisoara — Cavaler in Romania is a wonderful contemporary hotel that’s right across the street from the Târnava Mare River.

I found rooms here for $75 per night, or 10,000 Hilton points. That’s 0.75 cents per point in value.

When I’m traveling overseas, I always like to make at least a week of it. So if you stay at this hotel for five nights and take advantage of the fifth-night-free perk, you’d be getting $375 in value for just 40,000 Hilton points, bumping up the value of your points to a pretty awesome ~0.94 cents per point.

Bottom line

There are plenty of ways to score free nights at Hilton hotels worldwide. Even if you’re just starting out in the points-and-miles hobby, you can quickly collect a ton of Hilton points by earning the welcome bonuses on a Hilton card, like the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, with which you can earn 130,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the card in the first three months of card membership.

You can typically receive a value of 0.5 cents per Hilton point, but if you know where to look, you can get as much as 2+ cents per point. You’ll generally find good value at high-end luxury hotels, but you can also find some pretty amazing deals at more affordable small hotels, as well.

What great deals have you found for your Hilton point redemptions?  Let us know in the comments below.