The Hilton Honors is the loyalty program from Hilton Hotels. Hilton is a global chain of more than 7000 hotels globally in more than 120 locations of the world.
We have also covered loyalty programs from other hotel chains including World of Hyatt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy Rewards.
Hilton offers lots of ways to earn and use Points every day for their loyalty program members. Loyalty Members can start earning points on every dollar spent, the moment they sign up for Hilton Honors. There is no limit to the number of Base Points a member can earn. Additionally, they offer co-branded credit cards with American Express. Members can earn exclusive elite benefits and earn even more points with these credit cards.
Earn Hilton Honors Points
Members can win points on their room rates as well as the total folio charges. Total folio charges include other incidentals charged to the room. The incidentals include dining, telephone, laundry, pay-per-view movies, entertainment, and recreational facilities. Any applicable federal, state or local tax is excluded from any earning points.
Further, members can earn 500 Bonus Points when they join the Hilton Honors Dining Program. In order to qualify they need to spend $25 at participating restaurants. They need to complete an online review in the first 30 days of activating the membership. In addition, they earn Points for every $1 spent at participating restaurants, bars, and clubs.
Members can also earn points when they sign up for Guest Opinion Rewards. This is an online portal that helps Hilton hotels to collect member opinions. First-time users get 1250 points for participating in the first survey. Then earn Points for each additional survey.
Additionally, Hilton Honors Members can earn up to 5,000 Points on qualifying car rentals. The qualifying car rental companies include Alamo, Enterprise, and National.
Hilton Honors permit members to buy Points. They can buy up to 80,000 Points in a calendar year. They can also exchange Points. Hilton Honors points can be transferred as well. Members can also pool points in a single account. Further, they can use the Pooled points to book a stay together.
Hilton Honors membership tiers
Hilton Honor offers membership tiers. Each tier offers rewards of amenities, bonus points, and enhanced experience. Qualification to these tiers depends on the number of nights of stay or points earned. Members may earn a higher Elite status when their stays, nights, or Base Points are in a calendar year. To qualify the Member for the next tier they need to maintain the same spending.
Once a Member reaches a certain Elite tier, they may keep the such status for the calendar year in which the Elite tier is earned and the subsequent calendar year. Hilton Honors have a membership tier and other Elite Tier status. The Elite tier status includes Silver Elite Member, Gold Elite Member, and Diamond Elite Member status.
Member Tier
This is the starting default tier for all customers joining the Hilton Honors program. Members earn rewards points on every stay with Hilton Hotels or resorts. For every $1 spent in hotels, they earn 10 points. The award of points on certain brands They can use these points for free nights, travel experiences with partners, exclusive experiences, or more.
Members receive an exclusive rate when they book on Hilton.com or the Hilton app. Hilton provides digital keys to the members for all hotel rooms. They can use the Hilton Honors app on their phone to unlock their room doors. Members can redeem their rewards for free nights for room bookings in Hilton Hotels and resorts. As members, the resort fee is waived on redeeming nights.
Members can also use the Hilton Honors app to do digital check-in or checkout from anywhere. They can also choose any room of their choice up to 24 hours in advance. They can also use complimentary wi-fi throughout the hotels.
Silver Elite Tier
This is the 2nd membership tier in the Hilton Honors membership program. To reach this level, members need to spend 10 nights and complete 4 stays with Hilton. They can also achieve this status by earning 25,00 points.
Silver tier members inherit all the benefits of the membership tier. Apart from the above benefits, they also get 20% bonus points on every booking. Members also receive complimentary 2 bottles of water when they arrive (at select hotels). They also get the fifth night free on booking a stay with Hilton Hotels for four nights. This needs to redeem points for this four-day stay. Additionally, these members enjoy 15% discounts on spas within the Hilton portfolio of brands.
Finally, they can roll over extra night credit to maintain or improve their status for the next calendar year.
Gold Elite Tier
Members spending 40 nights or 20 stays or 75,000 base points receive Gold Elite Tier with Hilton Honors. These members inherit all the benefits of the silver elite tier to their status. Additionally, they receive 80% bonus points on Base Points on their stays. Hilton will also offer an upgraded room subject to availability.
Gold Elite tier members receive MyWay benefits. As part of this benefit, they’ll receive a Daily Food & Beverage Credit at select brands in the U.S., and Motto by Hilton globally. They can also receive complimentary Continental Breakfast at select brands outside the U.S. This benefit is for the member and one additional guest registered to the same room each night of their stay. Gold tier members and one of their registered guests also get access to the Exclusive Lounge in the hotels. They should be staying on the Executive floor in the hotels.
Diamond Elite Tier
This tier is the highest membership status in the Hilton Honors program. Members spending 60 nights, 30 stays, or earning 120,000 base points will receive Diamond elite tier status. Apart from inheriting all the perks of the lower tiers, the diamond tier offers 100% Bonus Points.
Diamond members and one accompanied guest also get complimentary access to Executive lounges in the hotels. Members can relax and enjoy culinary delights and drinks in Executive lounges. These members also get complimentary access to Premium wifi at participating hotels. They also get guaranteed rooms in select hotels on a 48-hour period notice.
Members completing Diamond tier status for three years and staying 250 life nights. Alternatively, earning 500,000 base points get an extension of status for a year. This one-year extension doesn’t require any minimum criteria. Diamond members can give Gold status as a gift to any other member on hitting 60 nights in the calendar year. If the member hits 100 nights in a calendar year, they can gift a Diamond status.
Lifetime Diamond status is awarded to a select few Hilton Honor members. To achieve Lifetime Diamond status, a member has to reach some milestones. They need to keep the Diamond tier status for 10 years. Or they may have spent 1,000 nights in Hilton hotels. Alternatively, they might have earned 2 million Base Points.
Accrual of Bonus Points
Members earn a fixed amount of Hilton Honors Bonus Points after achieving eligible nights each year. They earn 10,000 Bonus Points at 40 eligible nights. Further, they earn 10,000 Bonus Points for every 10 additional eligible nights thereafter.
Members will earn an additional 30,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points on their 60th eligible night per calendar year.
Within a calendar year, the maximum number of nights that a member could achieve toward these bonuses is 365 nights. These are equivalent to an additional 360,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points per year. Milestone Bonuses are considered bonus points. Hence, they do not count as base points for the purposes of earning status for the calendar year.
Rewards and redemption of Points
Hilton Honors members can redeem their Points on a number of experiences of their choice. They also get access to Exclusive Hilton Honors Experiences. Members can redeem their reward points to bid on auctions to win these experiences.
Free nights
Members can redeem their Points to book free nights in Hilton Hotels and Resorts. They can book any combination of Points and money. The best part about the Hilton rewards is that there are no blackout dates. Members can choose any dates at their convenience and on the basis of their reward points balance. Hilton Honors Points can be earned for stays only at hotels within the Hilton Portfolio.
Experiences
Hilton Honor members get VIP access to concerts, dining, sporting events, and more with their Points. These exclusive events are usually placed in auctions. Members can put in bids to win access to these events. Hilton Honors Experience team reaches out to the winning members within 2 business days. They will confirm the identity of the member and issue the requisite tickets.
Lyft rides
Members can also link their Lyft account with the Hilton Honors account. They can earn points on Lyft rides. Members can earn 3 points for $1. They can also redeem the Hilton Honors Points to pay for rides.
Shopping
Hilton also offers an online mall to redeem points. Members can select Shop with Points options to redeem points in the online mall. They can also redeem points on everyday purchases at Amazon.com.
Rental cars
Additionally, members can also redeem Points for car rentals with multiple rental car providers. For instance, Alamo, National, and Enterprise.
Airline transfers
Hilton also has partnerships with several airlines. Hilton Honors Loyalty Members can convert their Points into airline miles.
Hilton Honors members can also connect their Hilton Honors and Ticketmaster accounts. They can also redeem Points for live experiences like Live Nation concerts. Also games and other events on LiveNation.com and Ticketmaster.com.
Hilton Honors Co-branded Credit Cards
Hilton also has a partnership with American Express to issue co-branded credit cards. These credit cards offer users to earn Base Points. They earn points on staying with Hilton as well as on everyday purchases.
Hilton Honors Card
Fees: This credit card charges $0 in annual fees. It also charges no foreign transaction fees.
Rewards: Card members also earn 100,000 Bonus Points. They have to spend $2,000 in purchases on this credit card within the first 6 months.
Pros of this card: Firstly, this credit card offers complimentary Silver status in Hilton Honors. If card members spend more than $20,000 in a calendar year. The status will also upgrade to Gold Tier status.
Card members earn 7x points on eligible purchases in the Hilton hotels and resorts portfolio. They also earn 5x points on dining, takeouts, or delivery in US restaurants. Further, customers also earn 5x points on Groceries at the US supermarket. Cardmembers earn 5x points for gas at US gas stations. For the rest of the eligible purchases, they will earn 3x points.
Further, American Express also provides other offers for their card users. These include the Global Assist Hotline to offer assistance in case of an emergency. Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance Protection for rental cars. Complimentary membership to ShopRunner with free 2-day shipping.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card
Fees: This credit card charges $95 in annual fees but no charges on foreign transactions.
Rewards: Card members also earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points. They have to spend $3,000 in purchases on this credit card within the first 6 months of the credit card membership.
Pros and Cons of this card: Firstly, this credit card offers complimentary Gold status in Hilton Honors. They can also get a free upgrade to the Diamond tier on spending $40,000 in a year. Further, members can earn a free night of spending $15,000 in a year.
Card members earn 12x points on eligible purchases in the Hilton hotels. They also earn 6x points on dining and takeout at US restaurants. In addition, they earn 6x points on gas at US gas stations. They also earn 6x points for groceries at US supermarkets. For the rest of the eligible purchases, they earn 3x points.
Further, this card offers other American Express features such as Global Assist and Send & Split. It also offers Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance, and others. Finally, this card also offers Priority Pass Select membership for Primary cardholders. Members get 10 complimentary visits every year. They get access to over 1,200 lounges in over 130 countries.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Fees: This credit card charges $450 in annual fees.
Rewards: Card members also earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points. They have to spend $4,000 in purchases on this credit card within the first 3 months of the credit card membership.
Pros and Cons of this card: Firstly, this credit card offers complimentary Diamond status in Hilton Honors membership program. Next, the card members earn one free night on the anniversary of the card. They can also earn an additional free night on spending $60,000 in a year.
Card members also get $250 in statement credits against purchases made in the Hilton Resorts and hotels. They also get $250 statement credits against incidental charges on one selected airline in a calendar year. This is a good reward to earn back any charges like excess baggage, gate charges, or others charged on this card.
Further, cardmembers also earn a $100 statement credit on booking rooms at hiltonhonorsaspirecard.com. They have to book a minimum of 2 nights. The bookings should be in participating Woldarf Astoria and Conrad hotels and resorts.
Card members earn 14x points on eligible purchases in the Hilton hotels and resorts portfolio. They also earn 7x points on eligible travels booked through AmexTravel and on dining in US restaurants. For the rest, of the eligible purchases, they earn 3x points.
Additional advantages
This credit card also offers some of the other American Express advantages, which include:
- Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance
- Premium Global Assist Hotline
- Baggage Insurance Plan
- Concierge
- American Express Experiences
- Return Protection
- Send & Split
- Fraud Protection
- Year-End Summary
- Pay It Plan It
Finally, this card also offers Priority Pass Select membership for Primary cardholders and up to two accompanying guests. This requires the member to enroll for the Priority Pass membership. Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offers some of the best rewards in its category.