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The Hilton Honors loyalty program is one of my favorite programs in the points and miles world. It offers thousands of properties worldwide and interesting luxury points redemption opportunities make it a solid choice for my family time after time. With innovative features like points pooling, premium room redemptions, and top-tier elite status just for holding a credit card, it's hard to ignore Hilton Honors.
Here are nine things I love about the Hilton Honors rewards program.
Page Contents
- Pool Your Hilton Points With Others To Get To Redemptions Faster
- Get the Best Mid-Tier Hotel Elite Status
- Earn Complimentary Hilton™ Diamond Status with One Card
- No Shortage of Redemption Opportunities
- Get the 5th Night Free on Award Redemptions
- Frequent Promotions To Boost Your Hilton Point-Earning Ability
- Points & Money Redemptions Offer Solid Value
- Gifting Your Hilton Status to Friends and Family
- Unlock Incredible Value With Hilton Free Night Awards
- Final Thoughts
Pool Your Hilton Points With Others To Get To Redemptions Faster
Hilton's points pooling feature is a real benefit for award travelers with a family, as it allows family and friends to combine their Hilton Honors points. Each pool can have up to 11 members, and each member can send 500,000 points per year and receive up to two million points annually.
To combine points, you must be an active member of Hilton Honors and have been a member for at least 30 days. Plus, you need a minimum of 1,000 points to participate. This makes it super easy to redeem for awards that require a large balance and to take advantage of Hilton's 5th night free benefit (more on that below). You can pool your points here.
In addition, if you'd like to make a simple transfer to another Hilton account, you can do so by transferring points rather than forming a pool. This is subject to the same yearly restrictions as pooling, so you can send 500,000 points and receive two million points per year across both pooling and transferring points.
I have a young son, which has changed how my wife and I travel (for obvious reasons). We sometimes bring a grandparent along on a trip as an extra pair of hands, so pooling our points to redeem for a long hotel stay or a suite that can comfortably fit everyone is our move nowadays.
Get the Best Mid-Tier Hotel Elite Status
Hilton Honors™ Gold is the best mid-tier hotel elite status available, offering a daily food and beverage credit in the U.S. (and free breakfast for two internationally) via your MyWay benefits as well as space-available upgrades at Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Curio, Hilton, and DoubleTree properties, based on availability.
Hilton Gold is also one of the easiest hotel statuses to achieve. The hard route involves 20 stays, 40 nights, or 75K base points. But you can enroll for complimentary Gold status with these cards (Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.):
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
- The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Additionally, the Hilton Honors American Express Card offers complimentary Hilton Honors™ Silver status with a fast track to Gold status after spending $20K in a calendar year.
You can earn this status just by holding one of the cards above, so with the Hilton Surpass‘ $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $150 annual fee (Rates & Fees), you can skip the hoops of earning status that you'd otherwise jump through.
- Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 8/13/2025.
- Get up to $50 in statement credits each quarter for purchases made directly with a property in the Hilton portfolio on your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card. That's up to $200 in statement credits annually.
- Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio.
- Earn 6X Points for each dollar of purchases on your Card at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations.
- Earn 4X Points for each dollar on U.S. Online Retail Purchases.
- Earn 3X Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card.
- Earn a Free Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
- Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors ™ Gold Status with your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card.
- Spend $40,000 on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year and you can earn Hilton Honors™ Diamond Status through the end of the next calendar year.
- As a Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card Member, you can enroll to receive complimentary National Car Rental® Emerald Club Executive® status through the link on your American Express online account. After you're enrolled, you can reserve a rental car by calling National Car Rental directly, using your travel service, or by booking online or through the National Car Rental mobile app. Terms apply.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees. Enjoy international travel without additional fees on purchases made abroad.
- $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150.
- Apply with confidence. Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and you choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- 12X bonus points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio
- 6X bonus points for each dollar of eligible purchases on your card at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations
- 4X bonus points on U.S online retail purchases
- 3X bonus points for all other eligible purchases on your card
In my experience as a Hilton™ Diamond member, my heightened status hasn't benefited my on-property experience. However, the jump in savings and recognition from Silver to Gold is huge, as you'll earn free breakfast at Hilton or food and beverage credits each day and better your chances for an upgrade.
Related: Which Hilton Honors Credit Card Is Right for You?
Earn Complimentary Hilton™ Diamond Status with One Card
The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offers complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond status — the top tier — as a perk of just carrying the card!
Alternatively, if you don't want to pay a premium annual fee, put $40,000 of spending on eligible purchases on the Hilton Surpass or Hilton Business Card in a calendar year. In this case, you'll earn Hilton Diamond status, which typically takes 30 stays, 60 nights, or 120K base points — a substantial investment of time and energy.
Above what you get with Gold status, Diamond members get a 48-hour room guarantee, express/late checkout, and guaranteed lounge access (where available). Plus, they're eligible for upgrades to suites at check-in.
I've been a Hilton Aspire card member since the card was launched and is one of my “must-have” credit cards for the Hilton benefits each year.
- 14X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio
- 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly through select rental companies, and at U.S. restaurants
- 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card
Related: All the Credit Cards That Earn Hilton Honors Points
No Shortage of Redemption Opportunities
Hilton has a huge footprint with over 8,000 locations — including hotels in places you may not suspect. For instance, those looking for perks at Walt Disney World may balk at on-property pricing at Disney-operated resorts. However, several options in the Hilton portfolio offer early park access without breaking the bank. Plus, you can take advantage of Hilton's 5th night free benefit to further save on award stays for elites.
While the Hilton Lake Buena Vista Palace charges a resort fee on paid stays, award stays in the Hilton program enjoy waived resort fees, furthering your savings.
Better yet, Hilton offers multiple credit cards to help you unlock redemptions. Here's a look at the current welcome bonuses on Hilton Honors co-branded credit cards:
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Earn 175,000 Bonus Points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 8/13/2025.
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 8/13/2025.
- Hilton Honors American Express Card: Earn 100,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points and a $100 Statement Credit after you spend $2,000 on eligible purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express® Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 8/13/2025.
- The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card: Limited Time Offer: Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Plus earn an additional 25,000 Hilton Honors Bonus points after you spend an additional $2,000 in purchases on your Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 8/13/2025.
(Terms Apply)
- 12X bonus points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio
- 6X bonus points for each dollar of eligible purchases on your card at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations
- 4X bonus points on U.S online retail purchases
- 3X bonus points for all other eligible purchases on your card
(Terms apply)
- Earn 7X Points per dollar on eligible purchases charged directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton Honors portfolio of brands
- Earn 5X Points per dollar on eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations
- Earn 3X Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card.
(Terms apply)
- 12X Hilton Honors points on eligible purchases made directly with hotels and resorts in the Hilton portfolio
- 5X Hilton Honors points on the first $100,000 spent per calendar year on other eligible purchases; 3X thereafter
These Amex co-branded cards are the fastest way to amass a healthy balance of Hilton points. They offer significant new card member welcome offers and tangible benefits, for a relatively small (or no) annual fee. If more than one member of your household takes advantage of these offers, you can pool the points into a single account to redeem for a one-of-a-kind holiday!
Related: Best Hilton Honors Redemptions for the Budget-Savvy Traveler
Get the 5th Night Free on Award Redemptions
Another reason to love Hilton Honors is that elite members get the 5th night free on award stays. And it's not hard to get status, considering even the Hilton Amex confers Silver status. That means this benefit offers incredible value while being extremely accessible.
The fifth night free doesn't technically offer your fifth night free. Instead, you receive a discount equal to the average cost of a night across a five-night reservation.
And, according to Hilton's terms and conditions, reservations with 10, 15, and 20 nights will enjoy a free night on every 5th night. You'll need to find standard room availability to use this perk, and you can't use it on Points & Money Rewards reservations.
Frequent Promotions To Boost Your Hilton Point-Earning Ability
The number of points required for Hilton’s high-end properties can be a little deceiving. But when you factor in how fast you can earn Hilton points through methods such as Hilton bonus points promos, and the ability to buy Hilton points, earning enough points for luxury redemptions is a breeze.
I've found that Hilton offers a double-point promotion regularly, with triple-point promotions occurring occasionally. Paired with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, I've earned up to 54X points per dollar on past promotions. Based on the average redemption value of AwardWallet readers of 0.59¢ apiece, that's like earning over 31% back on every dollar spent with the brand!
Related: Do Hilton Points Expire?
Points & Money Redemptions Offer Solid Value
The Hilton Honors revamp also features Points & Money Slider, which has turned out to be one of the program's better innovations. Does it lower the cost of every stay? No, and in the case of redemptions subject to a resort fee, even adding the smallest amount of cash to the slider can add the resort fees in full to the cost of your reservation. The value of the Points & Money Slider differs between properties and dates, and you'll need at least 5,000 Hilton points to redeem with Points & Money and redeem in 1,000-point increments.
We’ve found value in all kinds of points and cash combos, with some of the best value found in Hilton’s mid-range hotels. Not only can this tool lower the cost of your reservation, but if you have plans to stay at a particular hotel and don’t quite have the required points, you can use a Points & Money reservation for any combo that works for you financially.
Gifting Your Hilton Status to Friends and Family
Spreading the joy of travel benefits to family and friends can be a great reward for loyalty. Once a Diamond Elite member reaches 60 nights in a calendar year, they can gift Gold status to a friend or family member.
If you reach 100 nights in a calendar year, you can gift Diamond Elite status to a friend or family member. Diamond Elite members can gift one Gold and one Diamond Elite status per year, assuming you stay for the required amount of nights. Once you have reached the required nights for gifting status, you will receive a claim code by email and instructions on how to gift your status. The gifted status lasts for 365 days from the date it was gifted.
Unlock Incredible Value With Hilton Free Night Awards
While most other award programs put limits on the use of their free night rewards, Hilton Honors does no such thing. You can use a Hilton Free Night Reward for nearly any property at any price point, so long as there is standard award availability (with few limitations). You can use your free night for something more aspirational like the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi or the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, my favorite redemption so far with my Free Night Award.
Final Thoughts
Hilton Honors has transformed itself into one of the best hotel programs out there for redemptions, and the Honors program now counts some stellar features that we love. The points pooling feature allows you to combine points with up to 10 other accounts to reach your travel goals, and the super-achievable Hilton Gold status can get you free breakfast and your fifth night free on award stays.
Did your favorite Hilton Honors perk not make the list? Let us know what it is in the comments below.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (Rates & Fees), Hilton Honors American Express Card (Rates & Fees), and The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Hilton is the best!
Excellent informantion. Thank you for share it!!!!!
All this is good for Hilton, but their web site cannot seem to find my scheduled stays with confirmation numbers and requires me to file a missed stay 100% of the time. So buying your status is really good for Hilton, they can track that.
There is also a feature to transfer points from one member to another, free of charge. Great thing.
Worth to note is that, as a gold member, the reception you get at Hilton hotels in Europe and Asia is often great, much better than in the US. We have had fruit baskets, bottles of wine, choclates, free drinks in the bar day-long, suite upgrades and the like. In the US, reception was typically much like any guest – no extra attention at all.
Members outside the US can’t get the credit cards, so to reach Gold status the quick way to get it as a credit card benefit is not available. I wonder if there is some other “quick way”? Some years, it may be hard to reach the nights/stays requirements.
A great thing with Hilton Honors is that reward stays on many hotels in less frequented locations can be booked at incredibly low “points cost”. I have been on vacations in Turkey, Poland and Romania, and stayed very nicely at only 5,000 or 10,000 points. This is increadibly good value.
As a business traveler who is finally hitting the road again, it seems that the hotels are slow to go back to the pre-COVID level of service. I’m staying at a Homewood Suites next week which, according to their website, has no evening social. I hate to spend time getting carry-out from restaurants after working long hours. You’d think they could at least offer some prepacked sandwiches or salads along with chips and sodas. I understand not serving buffet style, but they could do something for the guests.
I absolutely love Hilton Honors. Clear and simple, with regular promos and excellent treatment of elites.
Last Year Hilton Honors allowed me to access great promotions for my stay at the hotel and also it allows to shop with points on Amazon. Big Deal!!
I’m currently Hilton Gold (Amex Platinum) with Silver elite as a fallback (Hilton Honors Amex), and this is my first and primary hotel loyalty program as a newcomer to points and miles during the pandemic. In my Hilton profile, the MyWay Benefits allows you to pick which benefit you’d like with particular brands in the portfolio. Given that the continental breakfast is undoubtedly the better value since it’s per day, in which situations would it be better to choose the 500/1000 points per stay option in lieu of breakfast? When one is just on the cusp of redeeming in Bora Bora/Maldives? 🙂
Not everyone eats breakfast. I often work odd hours and am either on the way to work during the hours breakfast is available or asleep because I’ve worked the night before. Otherwise, breakfast would win every time.
Hello, could you help me? I would like to be a member of the E-rewards opinion panel, with any of your invitations.
You should be able to join without an invitation! Here’s the page to get started: https://www.guestopinionrewards.com/signup
I hope Hilton will extend status for 2021 to the whole year. My typical constant travel has dropped to zero during the pandemic.
I have a Hilton Honors number but do not recall what it is and the usage goes back far enough I don’t have a recent email with that number on it?? Can I reclaim those points? if so, when?? And how can I use your system to find the honors number?? Wishing to apply for a new
Amex Express card??
Please contact Hilton Honors to get it resolved. Unfortunately, we are unable to help you with your Hilton Honors membership number.
Can I join Hilton Honors without applying for a credit card?
Yes, you should be able to do that.
Final found out about the status of my missing award POINTS. After 4 1/2 months messing around with Salesforce.com inc. without any results, I got and excellent answer from the Hilton manager where I was attempting to use the POINTS. I had emailed, over the months, every possible Hilton address I could find. Apparently, one those emails was forwarded to the Hilton site manager with the answers. I received an email from the manager regarding the POINTS issue. I immediately emailed him back a whole string of detailed circular correspondences between Salesforce.com Inc. and myself with screen shots of the attempted reservation at the manager’s facility. The very next day the manager responded with a logical and succinct explanation of what happened with my POINTS.
As it turns out, my POINTS had expired days before I attempted to make the reservation, but the POINTS were still showing as available in my Hilton Honors account. It seems that my Hilton Honors account had not been updated when I was attempting to use the POINTS. Logical explanation provided by the Hilton manager in TWO days!
My personal experience with the Hilton Manager was stellar. The multi billion dollar Salesforce.com Inc. who purports to provide Customer Relationship Management of behalf of Hiltion has failed to be effective regarding my issue.
Lesson learned: Forget dealing with the offshore incompetence and try to find a domestic source for Hilton issue resolution.
Just a word of warning. Your Hilton Honors point are very useful as long as they remain in your Hilton Honors account. In November I was making a reservation on line, using points and money. I was unable to complete the transaction online due to technical problems on Hilton’s website. I completed the reservation by telephone with a Hilton agent. Due to errors made by the agent my points were never applied to my reservation and ALL of my POINTS were subsequently deleted from my Hilton Honors account.
After numerous emails and phone calls the POINTS have yet to be restored. Apparently the problem resides with Salesforce.com, Inc. who provides Customer Relationship Management for Hilton. Salesforce.com, Inc. provides Hilton offshore responses to all online inquires. Salesforce.com, Inc. has provided me numerous pandering responses and still no restoration of my POINTS. It seems that Salesforce.com, Inc. is not empowered to restore my POINTS without some behind the scenes communication with Hilton sales?
As of today, I am still receiving inane emails from Salesforce.com, Inc., but now have received a complaint number, for what that is worth? Telephone attempts to have the POINTS restored have also not been fruitful. Telephone calls ended up with endless 800 number referrals and dropped call transfers.
In summary, your POINTS are useful, as long as you do not have to engage the dysfunction Hilton Customer Services.
Hey Mike, so sorry to hear about the situation. I came across this post this morning “My Hilton account was hacked… Twice.”
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/my-hilton-account-was-hacked-twice/
Perhaps that’s not the issue, but maybe the fraud dept. can help.
I work for Hilton!! This honors program is awesome and the guests love it especially now that they have rolled out the shop with points on amazon!! It’s very exciting!!
Booked a room here and had plenty to choose from in the area. The hotel was clean and friendly people. The hotel began renovations that day and the fumes were nauseating, the poor hotel workers could hardly deal with it. I couldn’t use the gym, pool or eat at the restaurant due to the fumes. Fumes like this are very dangerous and I called Hilton honors to discuss the situation. I asked for a supervisor and they gave me Evelyn, after discussing the problem and severity of it her response was “if you get sick keep the doctor’s bill.” Evelyn did not try to transfer me to a hotel or anything, terrible experience at this hotel.
Thank you for your review. If you have AmEx Ascend card, do you get the complimentary Hilton Honors status every calendar year regardless of card earnings? Or die the gold status expire after the calendar year is up?
Yes, you get Gold status simply by being a primary cardholder.
Hilton has a great Program!!! Event better.
Thank you for the article .. My opinion and experience prove to me that Hilton program is one of the mid range features and cannot compared to Marriott and Spg program either in term of features , benefits , or the recognition from the different chain hotels ..
in addition to that this program is misleading the members and not transparent specially in term of redemption .., the have removed hotel category in order to make it in the gray aria so no member can know how much points needed for any hotel for redemption .
most of the hotels in many countries have increased the required redemption points twice a year .. such as Cairo from 10 k to 20000 and Alexandria 5000 points to 20000 points , and in tangier morocco from 10000 points to 20000 even the fact that the maximum points required for one night redemption as per the provided link by Hilton is showing less then these numbers check (http://pointsandmoney.hilton.com/ )
Marriott gives you guaranteed late checkout until 4 PM for platinum and gold members while Hilton you have to ask and request and begging them to get until 2 or 3 PM . even if you are platinum member .
So the conclusion ,, the comparing between Marriott and Hilton is comparing between Mercedes and Hyundai cars .
I’ve been split between SPG and Hilton for a while but with the Marriott-SPG merger and the Hilton Aspire card, I’m planning to go all in with Hilton for a while and see how much I enjoy the diamond status. I have some stays coming up and will see what kind of upgrades i get (i’m looking to see how they provide suite upgrades)
I am all in on Hilton. Aspire card….HGVC member….use the app all the time…..diamond status…..love it. Learning the ends and outs, but find that it works for us as a family and like the variety they have.
Good write-up. I am a little tired of the SPG Marriott stuff… Still spending 5 nights in a Marriott, but like the idea of keeping my options open.
Hate dynamic award! Many hotels do not drop point stay amount when the cash cost drops substantially.
Love Hilton Diamond. It works very well for us including the 5th night free and the bonus nights on the Hilton Macquarie Visa card for Australians.
Just caught your article here. I am a lifetime platinum elite with Marriott and though I enjoy the status, though I certainly do not feel special–do you think Hilton with grant diamond status to me if I show them my Marriott status ? Average 105 nights per year
You could certainly try for an outright match — they have an official challenge site: https://statusmatch.hiltonhonors.com/ Perhaps in the documentation you provide, provide a note asking for an outright match showing all of your hotel activity — or simply switch to them right away and get 8 stays in to keep Diamond for a year — or just get the new Hilton Aspire card from Amex, which if you stay frequently with Hilton is a complete no-brainer. It earns the most Hilton points/dollar when you stay at Hilton properties and gives you instant Diamond.
Do Hilton point still expire after 12 months of inactivity?
Yes, but it is SUPER easy to keep them from expiring: https://awardwallet.com/blog/do-hilton-honors-points-expire/ — Use a single point for a purchase at Amazon.com. Done.
As noted, YES the expire if you don’t have any activity. Just found out I lost my miles but can buy them back. LOL!! Agree with another post that Marriott Bonvoy is a MUCH better rewards program. Points don’t expire. Just booked a night at the Ritz in Marina Del Rey with points. Need I say more?!
I don’t think Hilton points are all that valuable though, and the flexible award pricing eliminates a lot of potential “high value” redemptions during peak season.