REMINDER: Last chance for higher BA Amex bonuses and 100% Hilton ‘buy points’ bonus

A quick reminder that two decent offers are closing tomorrow (Wednesday):

Current offers on the British Airways American Express cards ending

The special sign-up bonuses on the two British Airways American Express cards are due to end on June 17th:

The Premium Plus version, with the £150 annual fee, offers 25,000 Avios instead of 18,000 Avios. You must spend £3,000 within three months to receive the bonus.

The basic, free, card offers 9,000 Avios instead of 3,000 Avios. You must spend £1,000 within three months to receive the bonus.

The representative APR on the Premium Plus card is 56.4% variable including the fee based on a £1200 credit limit. The representative APR on the free card is 15.9% variable.

My full review of the benefits of the Premium Plus card is here. Amex’s own home page is here.

My full review of the free card is here. This is actually the most improved deal jumping from 3,000 to 9,000 Avios. Amex’s own home page is here.

Remember that you can receive an even higher bonus if I refer you via the refer-a-friend programme – click the review links above for full details.

If you can’t apply now then I wouldn’t be too concerned.  It is very likely that we will see this offer repeated before the end of year, judging on past form.

100% bonus when you buy Hilton HHonors points

Hilton HHonors is currently offering a 100% bonus when you buy points – see this page.

This may or may not be a great bargain as it depends how you redeem them. At the top end, you can buy 160,000 Hilton points (80,000 plus 80,000 free) for $800. That is 0.5 cents each.

Regular readers of Head for Points will know that I tend to value Hilton points at 0.3p each, which is roughly what you are paying here.

Five star Hilton, Conrad and Waldorf-Astoria hotels typically run to 80,000 points per night. In this sale you would be paying $400 for 80,000 points which is roughly what you would be paying for a five star in a major city. This is not a bargain.

However, Hilton HHonors IS a decent deal at cheaper point levels. The Hampton by Hilton in Sheffield, for example (photo below) is 10,000 points per night. At 0.5c per point you would be paying roughly £35 per night if you bought the points. That is a 65% discount on the typical nightly rate of £100. Hampton properties include free breakfast as well.

On the other hand, the Hilton Sheffield is 30,000 points per night. You would be paying around £105 for those points which, whilst a bit less than the typical £125 cash cost, is not a fantastic deal – especially as you would earn points and miles back on the cash rate.

At the most extreme, you could buy the Hilton Salalah resort in Oman, reviewed here, for £17.50 a night. That would be the rough cost of buying 5,000 points in this promotion.

(Remember that if you have Hilton elite status, and you get Silver status just for taking out their free credit card, you get 5 redemption nights for the price of 4. That takes the Hilton Salalah resort down to under £15 per night!)

What I can say is that you shouldn’t lose money buying Hilton HHonors points at 0.5 cents. There will not be another major devaluation for a few years, given the severity of the 2013 changes, so I don’t see that as a risk.

If you just buying a handful of points to top off your account, the price per point doesn’t matter anyway. If you a few thousand short of a redemption then this is the cheapest opportunity you will ever have to buy them.

The link to buy is here.  As with the BA Amex deal, the offer closes tomorrow, June 17th

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (December 2021)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Gold and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with American Express Gold (20,000 bonus points), the American Express Rewards Credit Card (5,000 bonus points) and – for small business owners – American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus points) and Business Platinum (40,000 bonus points).

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)