News: Aspire lounge re-openings in London, another 100% Hilton buy points bonus

News in brief:

Aspire lounge re-openings in London

If you are passing through Heathrow Terminal 5 soon, Aspire has confirmed that its Club Aspire lounge will reopen on Tuesday 25th May.

The Gatwick North lounge opens earlier, on Friday 21st May. The South Terminal at Gatwick remains closed, so if you are flying from Gatwick you will be in the vicinity of this lounge.

Our review of Club Aspire lounge at Gatwick Airport’s North Terminal lounge is here.

Our review of the Club Aspire lounge at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 is here.

Both lounges are accessible via Priority Pass.

The Plaza Premium lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5, which is the only other independent option, does not yet have a published reopening date. The Plaza Premium lounge in Terminal 2 has been open for some time.

(Another) 100% bonus when you buy Hilton Honors hotel points

Well, would you believe it?

Hilton has brought back its offer of a 100% bonus when you purchase 15,000+ points, just a week after the previous ‘100% bonus’ offer closed.

The Hilton ‘buy points’ page is here. 

The annual purchase limit has been increased again for some people. If targetted, you can now buy 160,000 points, which would double up to 320,000 points with the bonus.

320,000 points is what you need to book a 5-night stay at an 80,000 points per night luxury hotel, given the ‘5 for 4’ deal given to all elite Hilton Honors members. 320,000 points would cost $1,600, which is currently £1,125 or 0.35p per point. This is virtually what I value them at, so it’s hard to lose money here.

This is the same deal I used to book 5 nights at the Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah Dubai over Christmas, saving over 60% on the cash price. I wrote about how I did that in this article.

If you don’t see the 160,000 points offer, your purchase cap will be 80,000 points with a 100% bonus on top.

The page to buy points is here if you are interested. The offer runs to 8th July.

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.)