Using Hilton HHonors ‘points and money’ to maximise value

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Hilton HHonors underwent a major devaluation in 2013 which severely impacted the ‘aspirational’ elements of the programme. A top-end property in London or New York will now cost you up to 80,000 points per night, compared with just 60,000 points for an InterContinental redemption with IHG Rewards Club.

I currently value Hilton HHonors point at £3 per 1,000 when used for top-end properties, based on 80,000 points for a £250 room.

Luckily, Hilton’s ‘points and money’ rewards were not hit so hard.

‘Points and money’ rewards let you book a room for just 40% of the cost of a normal award night, plus a cash sum. You don’t need to be a maths genius to realise that, as long as this cash sum is less than 60% of the normal room rate for the hotel, you will be getting better value for your points.

Unfortunately, ‘points and money’ rewards are not always available. Because they are basically a way for a hotel to discount the cost of redemption nights, they tend to be held back for quiet periods. However, they can still offer value.

Today I want to take a more detailed look at the Doubletree London Victoria, photo below, as an example of ‘points and money’ availability.

For Saturday 11th September:

Cancellable Hilton HHonors cash rate: £242

‘All points’ redemption: 60,000 points

‘Points and money’ redemption: 24,000 points + £65

The ‘all points’ redemption gets you £4.03 per 1,000 points – better than my 0.3p per point benchmark. ‘Points and money’ gets you £4.91 per 1,000, which is 20% better and near my benchmark of 0.5p.

Because the cash element is fixed, you can find even more extreme examples on days where standard room rates are very high and where ‘points and money’ is showing. If you can find availability, it does offer better value for your Hilton HHonors points.

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.)

Category

Hilton Honors

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

What's the Point says:

29 Jun29 June 09:40

I’ve always used points+cash booking successfully to save big when staying at some of the higher end hotels – WA Dubai and Conrad Seoul. But it also works a treat where the hotel has very limited availability on cash rates, making mid tier hotels seem outrageously priced. So cash + points is a good option.
They are also fully flexible with no cancellation penalty like a full points booking.
Scallder says:

29 Jun29 June 11:19

OT (sorry!) But Holton related – the Waldorf Astoria is closing from next year and the majority of it being turned into luxury apartments…
- Scallder says:
  
  29 Jun29 June 11:19
  
  *Hilton related!
- Rob says:
  
  29 Jun29 June 12:03
  
  It’s a dump, apart from the lobby – no great loss.
  - Anon says:
    
    29 Jun29 June 22:32
    
    Still got a soft spot for it, first time in NYC, room with view of Chrysler building, free night certificate helped as did watching “Coming to America” movie a week before going.
Fenny says:

29 Jun29 June 20:08

I stayed at the Hilton Rome Airport a couple of weeks ago for Eu 80 + 20k points. My Diamond status got me onto the club floor. I missed out on evening food in the lounge, due to my late arrival, but got breakfast the next morning. The cash price was around Eu 175 (don’t exactly remember). I redeemed some points via e-rewards to top up my balance to what was needed.

Considering my flight got in at 8.20pm and I was flying out the next morning at 9.30, it was by far the best option in terms of getting to and from the airport. But i was rather underwhelmed by the pizza (and the service) in the restaurant when I finally got to eat.
Andrew Stock says:

30 Jun30 June 07:59

I find Hilton Honnors plus points can off very good value at Hampton hotel across Europe as I have the Hilton credit card for retailers that don’t accept amex.

To date I have used this for 2 nights at Hampton Amsterdam Arena, 2 nights at Hampton Berlin West and got 2 nights booked for Hampton Krakow.
Nathan says:

30 Jun30 June 10:15

I am thinking of applying for the HH VISA card. what are the conditions of the evoucher and how easy is it to use? ie any day and many rooms available? thanks
- Rob says:
  
  30 Jun30 June 11:16
  
  Must be a Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
  
  It books into normal reward availability. If you see a reward night at standard pricing (ie not a ‘Premium’ reward night, which will be easily spotted because it will be priced at an odd number like 125,434 points) you can use the voucher.
  - Nathan says:
    
    30 Jun30 June 14:38
    
    thanks raffles. If my wife has one too can they be used on the same booking?
    - Rob says:
      
      30 Jun30 June 16:01
      
      No, must be booked separately – although it won’t make any difference. If one of you has Hilton status, book the first night for that person – it is very likely that you’d keep the same room for both nights.
Joe says:

1 Jul1 July 23:57

I applied for a second status match to HHonors Diamond (from IHG Spire) to take me through to 2018, after already having a status match to 2017. This was a few weeks though and I’ve not heard anything back. Is there a way to check what your expiry is? On the HHonors website I can see it saying what my status would be next year based on this year’s stay pattern. If they won’t extend the match I’ll make sure I put £10k on the HHonors card this year to at least have Gold next year, but if they will extend Diamond to 2018 anyway then I’ll spend on another card instead 🙂