Why EVERYONE should sign up for the new Hilton Honors / Lufthansa Miles & More promotion

UPDATE – DECEMBER 2021:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly summary of the top hotel bonus point offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ menu above. 

Click here for our article on Hilton’s ‘Power Up’ promotion which runs until 31st December 2021. You can register for the offer by clicking here.

On Saturday I wrote about a new promotion that Hilton Honors had launched in conjunction with Lufthansa’s Miles & More programme.

Hilton Honors is offering a very generous 2,500 Lufthansa Miles & More miles on every stay between 1st August and 31st October.

You need to register here.

The promotion is not very well described on the Hilton website and I couldn’t be 100% confident how it would work.   However, a HfP reader posted a screenshot yesterday of a Hilton stay where he had just checked out after registering for this deal:

Click to enlarge.

As you can see this promotion works perfectly well alongside the current Hilton Honors ‘double points’ promotion.

This means, for every Hilton stay you do between now and 31st October, you will receive:

your standard base points

any promotional points (which means double base points until 9th September)

2500 Miles & More miles – possibly worth £25!

On the face of it this is a very generous deal.  I would value a Miles & More mile at 1p – with the caveat that they are only really worth having if you earn enough for long-haul premium class redemptions – which would mean you’re getting back £25 of miles per stay.

Note that reward stays are excluded from this offer.

Register even if you don’t collect Miles & More miles

I know that you may be reading this and thinking ‘there’s no point, I don’t collect Miles & More miles’.  I can see where you’re coming from, but I think you’re wrong.  Here’s why:

You get these miles ON TOP of everything else you are due.  It is a genuine extra bonus, so why not take it even if you have no immediate plans for them?

The miles won’t expire for three years.  That is a long time for another good offer to come along – and remember that Lufthansa is hoping to relaunch its UK credit card next year – to get you up to a decent level for a good business class redemption.

In the worse case scenario, Miles & More miles can be transferred into Heathrow shopping vouchers via Heathrow Rewards.  Details are here (log-in required).  7,500 Miles & More miles gets you £20 of Heathrow shopping vouchers and you get an additional £5 for every 1,875 miles on top.

Perhaps now is a good time to do the Hilton Diamond status match challenge?

If you have top tier status in another hotel programme, Hilton Honors will match you to top-tier Diamond status for 90 days.  Register here.  Diamond benefits include guaranteed lounge access where available, free breakfast and usually a decent upgrade.

More importantly, if you can complete eight stays within 90 days – cash or reward stays – you will retain Diamond status until March 2020.

With the added benefit of receiving 2500 Miles & More miles per stay, the economics of doing eight cheap one-night ‘mattress run’ stays over 90 days (less any stays you can move towards Hilton anyway) look pretty attractive.

There is a similar offer to get Gold status (free breakfast) if you can do four stays within 90 days.

It stacks with the current American Express offer

This offer will definitely stack with the current American Express offer that many have received via their online statements.  My wife has ‘5000 Membership Rewards points for £150 of spending in Europe’.  There is also a US version.

You must register for the Lufthansa offer

When you register (click here), you are not asked for your Miles & More account number.  Hilton will work from your ‘Preferred Travel Partners’ list in your Hilton Honors profile.  Make sure that your Miles & More account is on that list and, importantly, set to ‘Preferred’.  I am guessing that the offer won’t work unless you do this.

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.)