2022 Hilton Honors Frequent Flyer, Getting Started And Advancement - Part II

This is a superb guide to the Hilton Honors frequent flyer program part II. It's enough to read this article about the basics of getting started with Hilton Honors and the various advanced play methods.

These check for other parts.

Hilton Honors Frequent Flyer, Getting Started And Advancement - Part I

Hilton Honors Frequent Flyer, Getting Started And Advancement - Part II

Hilton Honors Frequent Flyer, Getting Started And Advancement - Part III

Hilton Honors Club Points Value

The focus of frequent flyers is playing with points, and the most significant value of points is redeeming them for free nights. The playability of Hilton Honors points is very high. In addition to those above very fast blood back, in the exchange of points room basically can be used to a pretty good value, there are many hotels and even super value.

The Hilton Honors value of points

The value of Hilton points is not constant, and people usually calculate the value of points based on the hotel's cash price and redemption points. Depending on the hotel, the value of Hilton points usually ranges from $3 to $6 per thousand points.

In addition, there is another criterion to determine the value of Hilton points, which is the official sale price of points. At the lowest price of the authorized points sale (buy one get one free or 50% off), the cost of Hilton points is $5/thousand points. Many people in the community agree that this price is the value of Hilton points.

Everyone has a different opinion of the value of points, but it's all about how you intend to use them and how you use them to get the best deal. For example, if you plan to redeem points for a new Waldorf Astoria hotel in the Maldives, then the value is much higher than $5/thousand points.

Many say that Hilton points often depreciate and hotel points go up when they say they will. The general trend is to devalue points, but it's not just Hilton, which group's points don't devalue. But why do people always feel that Hilton's points are consistently devalued? Probably because Hilton was too generous in the past, people are used to taking advantage of the cheap, and now there are fewer hotels that can take advantage of the cheap, resulting in the gap becoming a complaint.

The way to accumulate Hilton Honors points

Official website: https://www.hilton.com/en/hilton-honors/points/

There are many ways for Hilton to accumulate points, and the speed of earning points can be said to be the fastest among all major hotel groups.

Generally speaking, you can earn 10 points (base points) for every $1 you spend. There are additional bonuses for Premier members, 20% for Silver, 80% for Gold, and 100% for Diamond. (Only base points count as qualifying points and can be used for upgrades or premiums)

In addition, Gold and Diamond members, when staying at different hotels, can also choose MyWay benefits to earn up to 1,000 bonus points.

Hilton's quarterly rewards program is usually quite good, with 2x or even 3x rewards or 2,000 points per stay. And Hilton is incredibly generous in that you get rewards for both cash and points stays (no bonus for no spending when rewarded by the multiplier).

And Hilton's various ways of rewarding points are stackable, and the amount of points back when stacked is terrifying. For example: how many points are earned for 2 stays at the Garden Hotel in November 2019, 1 night each, at a price of about $70 per night, for a Gold member?

• Base points: $1 = 10 points, earn 1,400 points

• Gold card extra 80% bonus: 1,400 × 0.8 = 1,120 points

• Gold MyWay option: 1,500 points per booking for 750 points

• Event 1: Mobile App booking: 2,000 bonus points per stay, 4,000 points total

• Event 2: Q3 event, 2X points per stay, 1,400 × 2 = 2,800 points

The total number of points earned after stacking is 10,820, worth about $54 at $5/thousand points, and the return percentage is about 38.5%. If you add in the 7,500 bonus points for two stays that many people successfully registered for not too long ago, then the percentage is even higher at about 65%.

Now you understand why Hilton points depreciate so quickly. You also understand why many people book with the official website when it is more expensive than the OTAs.

Use of Hilton Honors points (redeeming free room)

Redeeming for free accommodation

The primary use of frequent flyer points for all hotel groups is to redeem for free nights, and Hilton is no exception. Usually, we use points to redeem for basic room types, called Standard Room Rewards. Redemptions for more advanced room types are called Premier Room Awards, but few people redeem them because they are not cost-effective.

Hilton has some valuable policies when it comes to redeeming points for stays.

1. No tax and service charges

2. Stay 5 and get 1 free

3. Free Cancellation

Hilton Silver members and above enjoy a policy where the 5th night of a standard award stay is free, or a stay of 5 and 1 free, and you can redeem your points for a stay of 5 nights with 4 nights. This policy is currently only available to Hilton and Marriott.

As mentioned earlier, when Hilton sells points for a buy one get one free promotion, the cost to buy points is $5/1000 points. You can compare this buy points cost with the cash price to decide whether to book with points or pay for a reservation.

In addition, Hilton now has a "points + cash" free adjustment redemption policy. In other words, you are free to adjust the ratio between all points and all cash. However, with this adjustment, the value of points is constant.

For example, if a hotel has a cash rate of $80 and 20,000 points, the value of points is $80 ÷ 20,000 × 1,000 = $4 per thousand points. When adjusted, you may receive the following percentage.

• $60 + 5,000 points (($80 - $60) ÷ 5 = $4/thousand points)

• $40 + 10,000 points (($80 - $40) ÷ 10 = $4/thousand points)

Regardless of the adjustment, the value of points remains constant at $4/thousand points, so "points + cash" is no longer as advantageous as it once was. If the value of points is less than $5/1000 points, it is better to book all cash; if it is more than $5/1000 points, it is better to buy points during the promotion to make up for the total points redemption.

Generally speaking, it's still a good deal to use points for 5k and 10k points for hotels.

There are not many 5k points hotels left in Hilton Worldwide, mainly in Turkey, so if you are planning to go to Turkey, you can pay attention to these hotels.

Hilton Honors points Other Uses

There aren't many other uses for Hilton points other than to redeem for points rooms.

Many hotel groups can redeem their points for airline miles, and Hilton is no exception. However, the ratio of Hilton points to airline miles is basically not very cost-effective, and most airlines have a 10:1 balance, so few people will waste points this way.

Another valuable use of Hilton points is participating in the Hilton Honors Experiences auction for experiences such as concert tickets, travel activities, food packages, and more. This points auction occasionally has some very worthwhile redemptions.

Purchase Hilton Honors points

Official website: https://www.hilton.com/en/p/hilton-honors/buy-give-receive-points/

In addition to the average accumulation of Hilton points, you can buy them directly through the official website, and the average price is $10/per thousand points. The best time to buy points is when there is a sale. Usually, Hilton has a deal every month or two, and the lowest price ever buys one get one free (100% bonus). The cost is $5/thousand points.

Under what circumstances do we need to buy points?

Usually, when we need points urgently and can't wait to accumulate them, we can buy a small number of points to make up for them.

Another situation is the points buying party, as mentioned earlier because Hilton has several hotels with good value for points redemption. It is less expensive to redeem by purchasing points than to pay for a reservation, so many people will buy a large number of points first during the promotion so they can use them to redeem for these hotels later.

The maximum number of points purchased per member per year is 80,000, plus an additional 100% bonus totaling 160,000 points. What if you don't have enough points? The Waldorf Astoria Maldives, for example, requires 120,000 points per night. At this point, you can register multiple accounts with your family's details to purchase points and then aggregate them into one bill through the points pool. Each tab can transfer up to 500,000 points and receive up to 2 million points annually.

There is a policy for purchasing Hilton points: registered Hilton Honors members of 90 days or more or 30 days or more with one stay can buy points, and new members cannot purchase. So if you plan to purchase points to redeem for a free room, you should register for an account before it's too late.

Note: Purchased points are not considered tiered points and cannot be used for upgrades or upgrades to Honors membership.

Validity of Hilton Honors Points

Hilton points are valid for 15 months. If there are no changes to your points in your account within 15 months, all points will expire. Any increase or decrease in points will automatically extend the expiration date by 15 months.

The point's expiration date is not shown in the member back office on the official website, so you can only calculate it yourself. You can check the date of your last stay (or the event that caused the points to increase or decrease) and add 15 months to your point's expiration date.

If you are sure you have no plans to stay for the next year but don't want to waste your points, you may want to find a day to have a meal at a nearby Hilton-owned hotel, even if it is a five-star hotel, the food and beverage spending may not be as high as you think.