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Hilton Honors continues to evolve, but one of its most valuable perks has stayed the same: the fifth night free on award stays.
To take advantage of it, you'll need Hilton elite status. Thankfully, that's easy to get thanks to its co-branded credit cards. With that status, you can unlock the fifth night free and stretch your points further by booking longer stays.
But Hilton’s version of this perk works a little differently than other programs. So here’s how it works and how to get the most value from it.
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How Does the Hilton Fifth Night Free Discount Work?
Hilton calculates its fifth night free benefit using an “averaged award cost” system. Instead of making one night free, Hilton averages the nightly rates across your stay and subtracts the equivalent of a single night from the total.
Here's what this can look like.
Above is the fare calendar for the Umbral, Curio Collection by Hilton. The amount that you'll spend (and save) depends on which dates you stay. For instance, if I booked a stay for May 1–6, I'd spend:
- 65,000 + 65,000 + 65,000 + 54,000 + 58,000 = 307,000 points without a discount
- 307,000 ÷ 5 = 61,400 points per night
- 307,000 − 61,400 = 245,600 total points after the Hilton Fifth Night Free
In other words, the Hilton Fifth Night Free discount is roughly 61,400 points.
However, if I booked a trip from May 7–12, I'd spend:
- 65,000 + 65,000 + 65,000 + 65,000 + 58,000 = 318,000 points
- 318,000 ÷ 5 = 63,600 points per night
- 318,000 − 63,600 = 254,400 total points
By moving my dates slightly, I can increase the number of points saved. But I'll also spend more points overall.
Restrictions on the Hilton Fifth Night Free Benefit
Here are some important details about this benefit:
- The fifth night free is only valid on standard room rewards.
- Free nights can be redeemed for as few as 5,000 points and up to 250,000 per night.
- 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 applied to a single stay of up to 20 nights.
- You can use this benefit an unlimited number of times 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 need Hilton Honors elite status. Fortunately, even entry-level Silver status qualifies, and it’s one of the easiest hotel statuses to earn and maintain.
Any of the four cards below offer complimentary elite status:
- Hilton Honors American Express Card: Complimentary Hilton Honors™ Silver status
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: Complimentary Hilton Honors™ Gold status
- The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card: Complimentary Hilton Honors™ Gold status
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Complimentary Hilton Honors™ Diamond status
You can enroll for complimentary Hilton Honors™ Gold status (plus Marriott Gold Elite status) with the following cards:
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
$150Rates & Fees
(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
$550Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
- 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
$895Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year).
- Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel®.
- Earn 5X points on Fine Hotels + Resorts® and The Hotel Collection bookings.
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 high, but booking five nights on points can unlock significant value. Because Hilton averages the nightly rates and discounts one night from the total, you’ll see a 20% savings.
A longer trip at a luxury resort? Count me in!
Not sure which property to stay at? Check out our votes for the best Hilton points redemptions for luxury stays. Just note that due to dynamic pricing, standard rooms can cost up to 250,000 points or more per night. So, you'll need a lot of Hilton points and standard availability to really maximize this benefit.
Book a minimum of five nights
This bit might seem obvious. If you want to maximize your points, aim to book stays of at least five nights. While shorter stays may fit your plans, extending a three- or four-night trip to five nights can unlock the full value of this benefit.
Better yet, book an even longer stay. The fifth night free applies to every fifth night — so a 10-night stay gets two nights free, 15 nights gets three, and 20 nights gets four.
How To Earn Hilton Points
Before you can maximize your Hilton points, you must first build a stash of them. Thankfully, there's no shortage of ways to earn Hilton points.
Hilton credit cards
There are four Hilton co-branded Amex cards. 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:
(Terms Apply)
- Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points with the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors™ Gold status with your Card. Plus, spend $40,000 on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year and you can earn an upgrade to Hilton Honors Diamond status through the end of the next calendar year.
- 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 a Free Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
- 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.
- 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.
- Whenever you travel more than 100 miles from home, Global Assist® Hotline is available for 24/7 emergency assistance and coordination services, including medical and legal referrals, emergency cash wires, and missing luggage assistance. Card Members are responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers. Other terms and conditions apply.
- Points don't expire while your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card is active and in good standing.
- $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.
- 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
In addition to earning points through credit cards, Hilton also makes it easy to build a balance by pooling points. You can combine 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 0.61¢ 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 is our go-to option for building a rewards balance. However, for Hilton, this is our last resort. The program has limited transfer partners, and the relatively low value of Hilton points means this is rarely a good deal — even when there’s an Amex transfer bonus.
Final Thoughts
While not the only award program to offer this type of 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), Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (Rates & Fees), and American Express Platinum Card® (Rates & Fees)
