Get a 100% bonus buying Hilton hotel points, and how to get yourself a Hilton Honors status match
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I’m pleased to say that Hilton is sponsoring Head for Points for the next four weeks. This is to promote the new Hilton Winter Sale, which launches today.
You can find full details of the sale here. It covers Europe, the Middle East and Africa for weekend stays until 31st August 2020. We will look at it in more detail later this week.
You will see the Hilton logo popping up in different positions across HfP, on desktop, on mobile and in our daily emails. We will also be running a few articles on Hilton Honors over the next four weeks for the benefits of readers who are not fully aware of what it has to offer.
To kick off, I wanted to draw your attention to the latest ‘buy points’ offer which has just launched, as well as reminding you about the generous Hilton Honors status match programme.
Get a 100% bonus when you buy Hilton Honors points
Hilton Honors has launched another promotion offering a 100% bonus when you purchase 10,000+ points.
The Hilton ‘buy points’ page is here.
Regular readers of Head for Points will know that I tend to value Hilton points at 0.33p each. You are paying 0.40p (0.5 cents) here so the maths in general doesn’t work.
HOWEVER ….. there ARE real bargains to be had at peak periods. Conrad Maldives at 95,000 points per night, the new Waldorf Astoria Maldives at 120,000 points, the ‘all suite’ Conrad New York Downtown or Conrad New York Midtown at 95,000 points etc are places where you will usually save a lot of money by buying points instead of paying cash. This is especially true if you have Hilton status and can get ‘5 nights for the points of 4’ on a longer stay.
(If you don’t have Hilton status, look at the status match offer we discuss below!)
If you are 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 a decent opportunity to buy them.
The annual cap has been doubled for this offer. You can buy up to 320,000 points (160,000 + 100%) for $1,600.
You can buy points via this link. The offer ends on 26th November.
How to get a Hilton Honors status match
If you have considered switching your hotel stays to Hilton but don’t want to go ‘cold turkey’ because you have status with your main chain, Hilton has a solution.
Via this link, you can match your existing status with another hotel loyalty programme into Hilton Honors. You must be at least ‘mid tier’ although Hilton will define at its discretion what counts from each particular scheme.
You can definitely match from the following programmes:
- Best Western Rewards
- Choice Privileges
- IHG Rewards Club
- Le Club AccorHotels
- Marriott Bonvoy
- Radisson Rewards
- World of Hyatt
- Wyndham Rewards
It is not clear if other schemes are still accepted. Hilton recently changed the terms and conditions to say:
“Only elite statuses from another hotel loyalty program that are listed in the status dropdown menu are eligible for status matching.”
….. but the dropdown menu still includes an ‘Other’ option!
The match rules are simple:
You will receive Hilton Honors Gold status for 90 days from the date of acceptance (usually 4-5 days after you email your request)
To keep Gold until March 2021, you need to complete 10 nights (cash, not reward) within 90 days
To be upgraded to Diamond until March 2021, you need to complete 18 nights (cash, not reward) within 90 days
Note that, as well as having status in another programme, you must also have evidence of a stay within the last 12 months with that programme. If, for example, you have IHG Rewards Club Platinum status via the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard, you would also need to show evidence of an IHG stay in order to be matched.
Is a Hilton Honors status match worth doing?
Potentially, yes.
Hilton Gold is generally seen as the best mid-tier hotel status because it gets you free breakfast. You don’t get free breakfast with IHG Rewards Club even if you are a top tier Spire Elite member!
Hilton Diamond comes with guaranteed lounge access, where the hotel has a lounge. Again, good luck with that as an IHG elite member.
Timing is key, of course.
Once you are accepted, you get the benefits of Gold status for 90 days. This could save you a LOT of money on breakfast if you are heading to a Hilton property this Winter.
If you are planning to do the full 10 or 18 nights (note it is nights, not stays) in order to retain status until March 2021, you also need to be confident that you can squeeze them in.
You might want to do the maths on a mattress run – booking a local hotel, checking in and immediately leaving without telling anyone – to get the extra nights you need.
Would you get enough value by March 2021 to justify spending £200-£300 on mattress run nights? There might be opportunities over the cheap Christmas and New Year period to sneak in a few nights at local hotels very cheaply, and the cost would be partly offset by the current ‘double base points’ promotion.
You can apply for your Hilton Honors status match here.
We will be covering Hilton Honors in more depth over the next couple of weeks as part of Hilton’s site sponsorship.
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).
(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.)
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