Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get a 50% bonus on American Express transfers to Hilton Honors – but is it worth it?

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

American Express emailed a lot of HfP readers yesterday with an attractive transfer bonus.

Between 21st November and 21st December, they will receive a 50% bonus on Membership Rewards transfers to Hilton Honors.  The rate increases from 1:2 to 1:3.

This is very good.  I value a Hilton Honors point at 0.33p.  Because you can use Hilton points to part-pay cash bookings at roughly this level, even if you can’t get a standard redemption room, there is a floor beyond which the value won’t fall.

With the transfer bonus, you are getting around 1p per Amex Membership Rewards point.  This is as good as it gets, and puts Hilton Honors transfers on a par with Radisson Rewards (usually 1:3 with a similar 0.33p per point value) and frequent flyer mile transfers (assuming 1p per mile of value).

The bad news is that the offer appears to be targeted.  I didn’t get it (I have transferred to Hilton Honors before) and neither did my wife (no previous Hilton transfers).  I have done a speculative 200 point transfer and will report back, but if you didn’t get the email you should assume that you are not getting the bonus.

If you DID get the email then it is well worth considering.  It isn’t a knockout deal – as I said, it simply moves Hilton onto equal footing with Radisson and the airlines – but it is also as good as you’ll see for an Amex redemption.

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards

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.

American Express Platinum card Amex

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

American Express Membership Rewards, Hilton Honors

Comments (245)

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

  • Colin JE says:
    22 Nov22 November 10:03

    I received the targeted offer to transfer MR points to Hilton. My email said it required a minimum of 1000 points to be converted to get the 3 for 1 offer.

  • Colin JE says:
    22 Nov22 November 10:07

    On topic: how might you tell when booking whether you are getting an ex Virgin Embraer aircraft? Given there’s no BA lounge at City, if only CE is available on Avios those seats might swing it. That said, there must be so many different routes out of City that the chance of getting one to Edinburgh might be a bit slim!

    • Rob says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:33

      Seems fairly random at the moment, presumably it will be leisure routes with a lower Club load.

    • IslandDweller says:
      22 Nov22 November 13:51

      The initial announcement was that the Stobart (ex Virgin Oz) aircraft would concentrate on the Dublin route. But as people have apparently had email notification of changes to ibiza flights, I think we’d have to say “no one is sure”.

  • Bob says:
    22 Nov22 November 10:14

    The terms and conditions of the Morrisons offer are worrying.

    Offer only available in participating locations or online.
    Offer only valid on orders delivered to a UK address before the offer end date.

    That would imply that whether ordered in store or online, it is compulsory for the goods to be delivered!

    • LewisB says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:24

      I thought that too with the delivery part. But likewise they mention gift cards are excluded yet they have no real way of knowing you purchased a gift card…

    • Alan says:
      22 Nov22 November 23:13

      Definitely wasn’t an issue on the previous offer. I’ve found Amex Offers emails much more hit-and-miss recently, as well as slower to post to the account, but still should be fine both for groceries and gift cards.

  • Roger1* says:
    22 Nov22 November 10:14

    OT Ping! E-mail from AmEx:

    ‘Spend £5, get 500 Avios – Your Spend Anywhere offer will expire soon. Remember, all you need to do is make an eligible transaction using your American Express® Card ending in xxxxx at Spend Anywhere by 30/11/18 to receive your credit.’

    So that would be the offer I signed up for and made several apparently qualifying purchases without any award or ‘redeemed’ message? Harrumph!

    • Noggins says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:23

      I’ve had exactly the same situation – and when clicking the link in the email it takes you no-where. Odd failure for AMEX

    • jane says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:45

      Me too. just been chatting to Amex on the live chat and the swear that the points will arrive in 90 days – I’m not convinced.

      • MD says:
        22 Nov22 November 16:35

        They said the exact same to me, wait 90 days then get back to us if it doesn’t show. No idea why this should be so much slower than all their other offers.

    • The Original Nick says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:45

      I was on Amex chat about this last night. They’ve confirmed the 500 Avios will hit account as they can see I’ve spent and see that I triggered/saved the offer. Kept a copy of the chat.

      • Peter K says:
        22 Nov22 November 12:58

        I spoke to chat yesterday, was assured they would post but would not do manually. Today they arrived. Spend was about a month ago.

        • Jill (Kinkell) says:
          22 Nov22 November 19:09

          My husband phoned Amex yesterday and got the 500 points manually added.

    • Liz says:
      22 Nov22 November 11:24

      I was on to Amex about the Hilton offer this morning and asked about this also. Said I got an email yesterday implying I hadn’t redeemed my saved offer even though several transactions have gone through. There must be a glitch in the system where the offer is saved but the spend is not triggering. She added 1000 Avios for my trouble. Previously told I had to wait 90 days after 30/11. Some staff very helpful – others not.

      • jane says:
        22 Nov22 November 12:11

        that’s very helpful. I was pushing her to do it manually but got no-where. I did get the Laithwaites one done manually a few days ago though so like you said, some more helpful than others.

    • Anna says:
      22 Nov22 November 12:48

      I’ve chased them up twice via web chat and still got nowhere. Had various excuses such as I have a new card (rubbish) so the offer hasn’t transferred over. My OH got his 500 avios within 5 days of making the spend so I can’t see why other accounts would take up to 90 days, even if that’s in the Ts and Cs, surely it’s an automated process?

      • Liz says:
        22 Nov22 November 14:08

        Web chat say they are not allowed to add the pts manually. My 1000 Avios are showing as a goodwill gesture. I spoke to Lorraine about this and the Hilton offer – she was lovely and helpful and called me back as promised.

    • Tilly71 says:
      22 Nov22 November 14:43

      I received my 500 AVIOS only yesterday after saving the offer the first day and make numerous purchases.

  • ant says:
    22 Nov22 November 10:46

    OT; I had a dreadful flight from Barbados to LGW in PE. The outbound was brilliant, the different between outbound and inbound was staggering.
    The crew manager without me asking offered to make a note on her ipad and BA have now contacted me.
    In summary:
    The meal given to me was from economy as they ran out – there was no explanation or apology. I realized as my husband ordered same but his was different as it was the last one from PE.
    The entertainment system did not work and after i mentioned this to the crew no one bothered to look into it and try to reset it
    The panel on the seat in front of me was falling off and made it awkward to stretch my legs. (It was a very old plane)
    BA email kind of apologies while telling me how they are making changes for the future even though they admit this does not make up for the issues i had. So they offered 5,000 avios.

    Is this reasonable? To me it seems low but would like to know what you think and what you would do if you were me .

    I am silver if that makes a difference.

    • Rob says:
      22 Nov22 November 11:22

      Broken IFE is usually 10k on its own so I’d be looking for 15k.

      • Alan says:
        22 Nov22 November 23:15

        I’ve found BA CS to be pretty stingy recently – agree 5k low, good luck and hope you get them to go higher!

  • Luthar says:
    22 Nov22 November 10:57

    OT – I booked a night at the JW Marriott Essex House in NYC and just finished my stay. Just thought I’d warn people that if you booked on the old rate of 45k points then make sure you double check that the correct amount of points are taken. In August the standard rate for this hotel was increased to 60k and the points are only taken from your account 2 days before the stay.
    I noticed that 60k points had been taken and had to call up Marriott to get my points back. I had to make 3 phone calls and was on the phone for 2.5 hours but eventually got my points back. Not sure who else this could apply to, but thought I’d give a heads up.

  • The Lord says:
    22 Nov22 November 11:15

    OT – Thoughts on best Heathrow T3 lounge with Amex plat? Travelling in Y, no status

    • Rob says:
      22 Nov22 November 11:20

      Toss up between Club Aspire and No 1. Each has their fans, Aspire is newer, No 1 is bigger. No Plaza Premium airside in T3.

    • Louise says:
      22 Nov22 November 13:05

      Just visit both, aspire has a better buffet whereas no1 is food off a menu if i remember correctly

      • Graham Walsh says:
        22 Nov22 November 13:30

        Indeed, I went to Aspire to get the free glass of Prosecco, food looked awful so headed to the No.1 Lounge. I do prefer No.1 Lounge.

  • John2 says:
    22 Nov22 November 11:39

    AMEX/HILTON offer
    Can anyone with a large stash of MR points confirm if they received the offer?
    or has it been targeted to low points accounts

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Learn more on our About page.

VAA

Latest comments

Latest Forum Posts

Get 30,000 points bonus with American Express Platinum

Amex Gold

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.3 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

Get 20,000 bonus points and your first year free with American Express Gold

Amex Gold