Last day to buy Hilton Honors points with a bonus

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

TODAY (Thursday) is the last day to get a 100% bonus when you purchase 5,000+ Hilton Honors points. This is the highest bonus we have seen for quite a while.

The Hilton ‘buy points’ page is here.

Regular readers of Head for Points will know that I tend to value Hilton points at 0.3p each. You are paying 0.35p here (the maximum is $800 / £570 for 160,000 – although some people have been offered a higher annual cap) so it isn’t a slam dunk.

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. You will rarely find a cash room higher than that but it does happen.

However, Hilton Honors IS a decent deal at cheaper point levels. To dig out my ‘usual suspect’ examples, the Hampton by Hilton in Sheffield, for example, is 10,000 points per night on most nights. At 0.35p 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.

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

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.

Wivus says:

7 Jun7 June 06:16

Used my Curve once now refused every time, be it shop or ATM. Not investigated why yet as not needed it for a while. Anyone else have this?
- Steve says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 06:31
  
  I had something similar, I was an early adopter of curve and had this problem, I was actually someone who fitted into their criteria too as company director. Took the card abroad with me and left other cards at home bar 1. They basically blocked my card while I was away saying they didn’t believe it was for ‘business use’ and asked me to start sending them all kinda while I was travelling across america before they would re activate it. Luckily I’d taken one other card with me, so it kind of made the whole purpose of the card pointless that you can leave your other cards at home. Card cancelled after that incident with no apology or anything from them, poor service.
  - Genghis says:
    
    7 Jun7 June 06:46
    
    Curve questioned my wife’s use of Curve back in the non-personal days but just responding with the Company Number where she’s a director made the questions go away.
- Julian says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 08:37
  
  Only applied for the personal (non business) Curve debit card about a month ago (didn’t qualify for the business one) and the card was dispatched to me very efficiently within a couple of days.
  
  Now activated it and changed its PIN (at a NatWest cash machine). Also used it for a £7ish transaction at a B&M store (who no longer take Amex) and made a £200 cash withdrawal through a NatWest cash machine and both are reported correctly (no charges) on my Lloyds Avios Duo Mastercard with the prefix CRV* in front of the rest of the normal retailer or cash machine use description.
  - Julian says:
    
    7 Jun7 June 08:47
    
    Just to add that initially Curve was refused when I tried to make a £200 withdrawal at a third party machine in the wall of a Co-Op grocery store. However I then called the 24 hour emergency loss phone number who arranged a call back from Ivo at Team Curve.
    
    He was a very helpful and intelligent guy way above the normal standard of an ordinary customer service person who explained I needed to changed the selected card in the Android App from the virtual Curve reward card (which is selected by default on application despite have given the Avios Duo Mastercard details when I applied). He also sent a detailed and very helpful followup email in which it is stated that Curve is still in talks with Amex and hoping to get them on board soon.
    
    Some of Curve’s features for taking photos of in-store receipts and linking them to the transaction do look pretty helpful and like good ideas. I must say that I would not risk leaving my other credit and debit cards at home at this embryonic stage in Curve’s development (especially not if I was going abroad or on any kind of long trip). Now about to try and change me mechanism of payment for my currently automatically renewing (by direct debit) DVLA road tax to see if that works with Curve or not.
    - Julian says:
      
      7 Jun7 June 08:50
      
      Lastly just to say that Curve would probably save themselves lots of teething problems with new customers if the real credit card the customer has provided to back Curve payments is initially selected by default in the App instead of the virtual Curve Rewards card.
Dan says:

7 Jun7 June 06:18

I’ve found curve surprisingly reliable (both in the UK and overseas)
- Yuff says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 06:44
  
  +1
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 07:50
  
  Same here. User since Rob first mentioned it and it’s gets used frequently without issues
nigel whitehouse says:

7 Jun7 June 06:22

no problems with curve, seems to work very well other than HMRC which doesn’t seem to take it
still looking for an AA MBNA replacement
- Ian says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 07:05
  
  I’ve had no problems using Curve with HMRC. Paid just under £5000 a few days ago.
- Leo says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 08:57
  
  I’ve also managed to pay HMRC successfully VAT and TAX – needed to get my limits up a bit first but got there eventually. Generally few problems – I thought their CS team were good when I had an issue with a refund to my IHG card.
Julie says:

7 Jun7 June 06:28

I used my curve card to get cash when it was linked to my newish Virgin card and got charged although I have used it linked to my IHG card and they didn’t charge.
My curve card was refused last Saturday twice.
It was linked to my IHG and was rejected for £10 in Sainsbury’s then £400 in Currys. Both times I just got out the IHG card and paid with that so it must have been something to do with Curve. Have used it since and been ok.
- DaveB says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 07:56
  
  My curve was rejected last Saturday linked to IHG, changed it to Aqua rewards and it went though.Had it from the start and it has worked 99% of time. The other card I use it with is the AA card which gives 4% back on petrol and 1/2% back on everything else including the curve card use.
- Nick says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 07:59
  
  I’ve been using it fine with one of the new Virgin Atlantic/Virgin Money cards but now I’m a bit worried that charges may show up when I get rhe statement (no charges shown online).
  - Rob says:
    
    7 Jun7 June 08:23
    
    You’re fine. This is a specific Tesco change, mainly done to hit people loading Revolut cards and then withdrawing to their bank account.
    - Nick says:
      
      7 Jun7 June 08:50
      
      Thanks Rob.
    - RIccatti says:
      
      8 Jun8 June 12:27
      
      If true, this is shooting oneself into the foot.
      
      Tesco Debit card was not giving clubcard points on Revolut top up (as payment to ‘financial institution’) and I assumed Tesco Credit was the same.
      
      By cutting out top ups, the Tesco Bank just cuts their fee revenue from interchange fee, even at 0.3% times the volume..
- Alan says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 09:52
  
  Was that the Virgin Money issued Virgin Atlantic card that you were charged a fee on?
  Thinking of getting a curve and attaching a Virgin Atlantic card to it for cash withdrawals but if they charge I won’t bother.
- Alex says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 11:18
  
  Curve rejected my transaction last saturday as well when linked with IHG. I even got a text message saying I have reached my Curve limit which I am no where near. After contacting them this was their official reply, blaming VISA…:
  Thanks for getting in touch and we are sorry that you have experienced a decline. I’ve checked your account and the transactions declined due to a ‘Timeout’ – meaning that someone in the payment chain didn’t reply in time. Likely this happened due to the high volumes of transactions being processed by payment processors and acquirers following the incident with Visa on Friday. However, due to an error in the way that was communicated by our payment processor, it triggered the message you received regarding your limits.
  
  We apologise for the confusion and appreciate your patience. Transactions are now being processed as normal.
- mark e says:
  
  8 Jun8 June 20:22
  
  My Curve card is linked to my IHG card and also twice on Saturday it was rejected , each time I managed to pay successfully with my IHG Card .
Stuart says:

7 Jun7 June 06:37

In Venice at the minute, used Curve and checked my Tesco card and been charged a fee. It got rejected a couple of times so I’ve linked it to another card in any case. As for your picture of the Venice Hilton, went to the rooftop bar there last night. We were luckily enough to get seat on the edge and all I can say is wow! Well worth a visit
- TripRep says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 06:50
  
  Stuart, appreciate the review, always fancied staying there. 🙂
  - Mr(s) Entitled says:
    
    7 Jun7 June 09:04
    
    One of my favourite Hiltons. Just seeing pictures makes me want to return. Nice views back and good restuarants opposite of a night when it is all lit up. Free hotel boat takes you there.
  - Jason says:
    
    7 Jun7 June 10:14
    
    Trip rep
    
    Stayed last year on points managed to get an upgraded to a tower suite thanks to a couple of emails and diamond status. Exec lounge was a bit of a random set up down stairs next to the main lounge area, breakfast was ok. Didn’t beat Berlin for me but was a very good “free” stay. couple of good restaurants near by, roof top pool is impressive
    - TripRep says:
      
      7 Jun7 June 14:38
      
      Thanks Jason (et al), now thats even more interesting, got a cash stay in Hilton Berlin next month was considering bidding for an upgrade to a room/suite with Exec lounge access, might email them in advance…
    - jason says:
      
      7 Jun7 June 22:34
      
      TripRep we got upgraded to KING CORNER SUITE DOME VIEW in advance sent a polite email to Anja Tuccio its a great location. Didnt send a bid etc…
Richard says:

7 Jun7 June 06:43

O/T – I have three BA return flights booked this year with a total of 315 tier points between them, two of which are booked through BA Holidays. Ordinarily this would be enough to get me to bronze from a standing start, but irritatingly my tier point collection year resets between earning 280 and the next lot. Would I be better crediting to Iberia instead? And if I do that, would I lose the bonus (BAEC) Avios earned for booking through BA Holidays?

I currently have zero tier points so is there a drawback or benefit to building status in IB as opposed to BAEC?
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 07:53
  
  Don’t think you would lose your bonus as that’s for the holiday booking rather than the flights themselves.
  
  RE Iberia they have different rules/partners so there could be. You may even earn a different amount of Avios. What do you have planned for next year? Bronze doesn’t really have many actual benefits if you’ll be flying business anyway.
- Doug M says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 08:10
  
  They’ll typically give you a 2 week extension if you ask, and if that’s enough time to include the 3rd set of flights. To be honest what does bronze bring, the real benefits start with silver.
  - Leo says:
    
    7 Jun7 June 09:02
    
    Bronze is better than nothing – especially if it saves a queue to check in or allows a free seat selection T-7. Coupled with Amex Plat/PP I won’t be going out of my way for silver again.
    - RussellH says:
      
      7 Jun7 June 10:15
      
      Agree totally. I was able to get extra leg room seats on both legs LHR-NCE in April for free 7 days before. Even though I am only 170cm they still seemed really uncomfortable though. If I had paid the otherwise requested £56 a seat I would not have been amused. And for some reason I got double avios on the flights as well.
      
      Also get to board ahead of the masses, meaning you can find overhead locker space.
    - Richard says:
      
      7 Jun7 June 19:19
      
      Sadly the two week extension doesn’t do me any favours. I have a return flight for 280 tier points, followed by tier point year expiry. Then, more than two weeks after that, I have a planned return flight gaining 20TP followed by a planned return flight earning 15TP.
      
      My gut instinct is to stay with BAEC and forego the status-that-could-have-been. Doing that keeps everything in the same place and means that I can continue to follow BAEC focused, English language information that I understand rather than try and get to grips with the idiosyncracies of Iberia Plus in, predominantly, Spanish, to maintain status there.
      
      For next year plans are not firm yet so actually bronze may well do us no good whatsoever!
    - the real harry1 says:
      
      7 Jun7 June 19:28
      
      A lot of people would give up a day to get those 20 TPs on the cheap 🙂
      
      There were some £11 flights to AMS, I think?
- James says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 08:10
  
  How can I tell if I have the credit card Curve or the debit card Curve ?
  Probably really obvious !
  - Rob says:
    
    7 Jun7 June 08:22
    
    Say Debit on the front 🙂
Keith says:

7 Jun7 June 06:48

My Curve card is linked to my Tesco credit card but it gets rejected almost every time I try using it anyway! Im in Malta at the moment and it hasn’t worked once though reading the above that’s probably a good thing!
- Andrew25 says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 07:47
  
  I was in Malta at Easter and for some reason Curve doesn’t work if they use an HSBC card machine but works on a Bank of Valletta card machine. Never had an issue with it anywhere else. Have it linked with my IHG card.
TripRep says:

7 Jun7 June 06:49

re: Hilton points, Tempted to buy some….

As also mentioned previously the Double Tree Sheffield (pool and breakfast included) can be had for 10k points when the room rate is > £140.

“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. You will rarely find a cash room higher than that but it does happen.”

Being the pedantic old soul that I am, a quick search shows me the current cheapest beach villa for the Conrad Rangali Maldives on a random date in February is a staggering $940 ++ Tax & Service charge, so probs $1200, well worth buying points for that!
- Jenni says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 08:56
  
  I bought the full allowance of 80,000+80,000 for $800, need 200,000 for a redemption in Scottsdale in March 2019 and only had about 50,000 left after blowing them all on Boston for October 2018.
  
  As Diamond i get the 5th night free so it’s $800 vs the current cash price of $2195 for 5 nights…
- Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
  
  7 Jun7 June 10:13
  
  If you’re getting fifth night free then your value hurdle is ~£235, which isn’t too hard at top-tier properties.
  - Jenni says:
    
    7 Jun7 June 13:43
    
    Re-read it and yeah its 50,000 points a night so i pay 200,000 + the $800 it cost me for the 160,000 points. Cash price of the 5 nights is currently $2195.