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Hilton Honors has undergone big changes over the last several years, adding new program features and cementing its relationship with Amex through four co-branded credit cards earning Hilton points. All Hilton cards offer elite status of some sort — and that gives cardholders access to the Hilton fifth night free benefit. Furthermore, three of the four cards allow cardholders to score one or more free nights. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
With that in mind, we want to share some tips for maximizing the fifth night free offered on Hilton points redemptions.
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How Does the Hilton Fifth Night Free Work?
In the simplest terms, when you book an award stay, the fifth night will be free of charge. However, the way Hilton calculates the payment is a bit tricky. While a traditional fifth-night-free benefit allows you to pay the full award rate for four nights and receive the fifth night on the house, Hilton has broken the mold and opted for an “averaged award cost” system.
So how does it work? Rather than providing the fifth night for zero points, Hilton averages the nightly value of the stay across all nights of an award stay that is five (or more) nights, then deducts the cost of one night from the stay. You can see the example courtesy of the Hilton Honors website below.
As the image above shows, if your booking spans more than one rewards rate, Hilton automatically averages out the cost of all nights and then deducts the cost of one night from the total.
For example, let's look at a six-night stay where the first three nights are 50,000 points per night and the last three nights are just 30,000 points per night. It will work like this:
- 50K + 50K + 50K + 30K + 30K + 30K = 240,000 points
- 240,000 / 6 = 40,000 points per night
- 240,000 – 40,000 = 200,000
- Total cost: 200,000 points
Restrictions on the Hilton Fifth Night Free Benefit
Here are some of the nitty-gritty details that are important to know about this benefit:
- The fifth-night-free benefit is only valid on standard room rewards.
- The stay must be booked directly with Hilton for five or more consecutive nights at the same property.
- The fifth night free does not apply to paid stays, points + money rewards, premium rooms or upgrades, or reward certificate stays.
- No more than four free nights can be claimed in one stay of up to 20 nights.
- You can claim this benefit as many times as you like each year.
Related: Things We Love About the Hilton Honors Rewards Program
How To Get Hilton Fifth Night Free
To access the fifth night free on award stays, you must have elite status with Hilton Honors. Fortunately, any status from Silver and up will do. Thankfully, Hilton Honors status is one of the easiest hotel rewards programs in which to get and maintain elite status.
Any of the four cards below offer complimentary elite status:
- Hilton Honors American Express Card: Complimentary Silver status
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: Complimentary Hilton Gold status
- The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card: Complimentary Hilton Gold status
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Complimentary Diamond status
You also can enroll for complimentary Hilton Gold (plus Marriott Gold) status with these two cards:
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
Related: How to get hotel elite status for free (or almost free)
Ways To Maximize the Hilton Fifth Night Free
Stay at a luxury resort
The cost of luxury resorts is often quite high, but you can save an automatic 20% when booking five nights on points. Remember, the way Hilton calculates its fifth night free is by averaging the nights and then discounting the stay.
So when you book a luxury resort for five nights using points, you'll receive a built-in discount. A longer trip plus a discount on top of it? Count me in! Not sure which property to stay at? Check out our votes for the best Hilton points redemptions for luxury stays.
Book a minimum of 5 nights
This bit might seem obvious. But if you really want to maximize your points, try to avoid booking less than five-night stays. A short one or two-night stay may make sense with your travel plans. But if you're starting to plan for three or four nights, see if it works to plan five nights so you can truly maximize your points.
Better yet, book an even longer stay. Hilton's fifth night free discount applies to every fifth night. This means a stay of ten nights will have two nights free, a stay of 15 nights will have three free nights, and a stay of 20 nights will have four free nights.
How To Earn Hilton Points
Before you can maximize Hilton points, you must first build a stash of them. Thankfully there's no shortage of ways to earn Hilton points.
Hilton credit cards
As we mentioned above, four co-branded Amex cards earn Hilton points. The best Hilton card for you will depend on your individual situation. However, the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card is a Goldilocks sweet spot for many travelers:
- Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- 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.
- $150 annual fee.
- 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
Pool Hilton points
On top of opening credit cards and spending on them, Hilton makes it incredibly simple to pool Hilton points between members. Hilton Honors members can pool points with up to 10 other people. This means that you, your partner, your siblings, and your parents all can pool points to work toward an epic vacation.
Buy Hilton points
You can also buy Hilton Honors points. Hilton often offers 100% bonus point promotions — which drop the price to just 0.5 cents each. That's less than the average redemption value of 0.59¢ per point that AwardWallet members get from Hilton Honors points. Just make sure to wait until there's a buy points promotion.
Transfer points to Hilton
Typically, transferring points into a program is our default option for building a balance of airline or hotel points. However, for Hilton, this is our last resort. Hilton doesn't have many transfer partners. Plus, the low value of Hilton points means that its rarely a good idea to transfer points to Hilton — even when there's an Amex transfer bonus to Hilton.
Final Thoughts
While not the only award program to offer this benefit, the Hilton Honors fifth night free is not something to overlook. With many ways to earn and combine Hilton points, and tons of properties to choose from, this benefit can boost your next trip from good to great.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (Rates & Fees)
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