Hilton Loyalty Reaches New Record: Here Are The Benefits You’ve Won and What We Want to See Next

Meghan Hunter

5 years ago

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INSIDER SECRET: With Hilton status, you get the fifth night free on award stays. Even better, you get complimentary Hilton status with any American Express Hilton credit card (many of which are offering increased welcome offers at the moment!).

The numbers are in, and according to Skift and Hilton’s recent second-quarter earnings call, Hilton is reporting that loyalty program engagement is double what it was just six years ago. Hilton’s CEO believes the increase is due to the improvements Hilton has made to its lower level elite status tiers, the addition of the “points and money” feature and the option to use Hilton points for Amazon purchases.

The Hilton Honors program is great because with properties in 85 countries, there’s no shortage of spots to use your hard-earned rewards! (Photo courtesy of Nancy Anderson/Shutterstock)

I, for one, am not surprised by this news. Many of us on the Million Mile Secrets team consider Hilton to be one of the best hotel rewards programs out there. With one of their 15 Hilton hotel brand locations nearly everywhere you’d want to visit, you can use your points for upscale stays at places like Conrad and Waldorf Astoria, or more budget-friendly spots Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites.

I also like the idea of the program focusing its efforts on appealing to lower-level elites. Lots of people (myself included) don’t travel enough to rack up 50+ stays in a year to earn top-tier status. I think this strategy will benefit those of us who’re more casual travelers and hope to see more of these types of improvements going forward. A few more promotions with attainable bonuses would be great, too!

And don’t forget, it’s a great time to stock up on Hilton points because many of the AMEX Hilton cards are offering increased welcome bonuses through August 28, 2019, including the:

Hilton Honors American Express Card – 90,000 Hilton points after spending $2,000 in the first three months of account opening (valid through August 28, 2019)
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card – 130,000 Hilton points & a free weekend night after spending $4,000 in the first four months of account opening
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card – 130,000 Hilton points & a free weekend night after spending $5,000 in the first four months of account opening

The Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express offer is still the same as before, a 150,000-point bonus you can earn after spending $4,000 in the first three months of account opening.

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

If you’re not a fan of Hilton for one reason or another, be sure to take a look at our list of the best hotel credit cards. There’s sure to be one on the list that fits your needs. But if you’d like to learn more about earning and using Hilton points, check out these guides:

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Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)