AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
After three devaluations in just nine months, Hilton Honors is becoming harder to love. Frequent negative changes like these leave a sour taste for members who work hard and spend a lot to stockpile points, and each increase pushes aspirational properties further out of reach. With the cap for a standard award night now at 250,000 points, it’s fair to wonder — are Hilton’s free night certificates next in line for changes?
Here's what we know.
Is Hilton Planning to Devalue Free Night Certificates?
Hilton’s free night certificates are incredibly generous. In their current form, they can be redeemed for a free night at nearly any Hilton property on any day of the week, as long as there’s standard-room award availability, whether that property costs 20,000 points or 200,000 points per night.
Since there’s no cap, Hilton Honors members have been able to redeem a certificate for a night at properties like the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, even as the standard award cap climbed from 150,000 to 200,000 points, and now to 250,000 points.
That makes these certificates an incredible way to save hundreds of thousands of points (or thousands of dollars) at Hilton’s most aspirational hotels. But it also raises the question: at what point does Hilton decide to impose a cap on certificates, similar to how IHG and Marriott restrict theirs?
To get clarity, we asked Hilton if members should expect changes. A spokesperson confirmed the following to AwardWallet:
“Free Night Certificates can be used for standard room rewards and are not restricted by the number of Points required to book. There are no planned changes to Free Night Certificates applicability in the foreseeable future.”
For now, you can keep earning and redeeming Hilton free night certificates without worrying about immediate changes. Still, no benefit is guaranteed to last forever, so it’s best not to sit on your certificates in case adjustments do come down the line.
Bottom Line
There have been a lot of negative changes in the Hilton Honors program this year. Three devaluations in just nine months is almost unheard of. But if it’s any consolation, Hilton says it doesn’t currently have plans to cap its free night certificates, so they remain one of the best ways to book aspirational properties you might not otherwise want to pay for out of pocket.
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.
