Hilton Honors‘ loyalty program is one of the biggest hotel brands in the world. Additionally, they target leisure and business travelers in: city centers, near airports, convention centers, and popular tourist destinations.
When Hilton Honors members who book directly with Hilton will receive exclusive discounts, amenities, award nights, and elite status. Read below for more information on Hilton Honors and what they have to offer.
Hilton Honors Quick Facts
| Personal Credit Cards | Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card Hilton Honors American Express |
| Business Credit Cards | Hilton Honors American Express Business |
| Redemption Options | Hotel stays Points & Money Travel partners Hilton experiences On property rewards Car rentals Cruise discounts Shopping Charitable donations |
| Value Per Point | $0.002 – $0.01+ $0.006 on average |
Hilton Honors Brands
They have about 18 distinct brands in more than 6,300 locations across 118 countries. With Hilton Honors has a hotel for each style, budget, and occasion. Their portfolio includes the brands such as:
- Hilton Hotels & Resorts
- Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts
- Conrad Hotels & Resorts
- Canopy by Hilton
- Curio Collection by Hilton
- Doubletree by Hilton
- Tapestry Collection by Hilton
- Tempo by Hilton
- Embassy Suite by Hilton
- LXR Hotel & Resorts
- Hilton Garden Inn
- Motto by Hilton
- Signia by Hilton
- Tru by Hilton
- Homewood Suites by Hilton
- Home2 Suites by Hilton
- Hampton by Hilton
- Hilton Grand Vacations
Hilton Honors Elite Status
With Hilton Honors, they have 3 tiers of elite status to offer. The more you spend nights at Hilton properties, you’ll be able to move up in the ranks.
| Elite Status | Requirements |
| Silver | 4 stays or 10 nights |
| Gold | 20 stays or 40 nights or 75,000 base points |
| Diamond | 30 stays or 60 nights or 120,000 base points |
Depending on the tier you choose will unlock more VIP perks.
After you’ve earned an elite status level, you’ll be able to keep it for the rest of the calendar year and the next.
Earning Hilton Honors Points: Co-Branded Cards
American Express (Amex) will come with 2 personal Hilton Honors credit cards and one business card. When you use these cards towards your daily transactions, it’s a super simple and fast way for you to build up your Hilton points.
 The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card offers 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points plus a Free Night Reward after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass(R) Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 4/29/2025. 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. You'll earn: • Get up to $200 back each year on eligible Hilton purchases after you use your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card. • 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. This card does carry a $150 annual fee & no foreign transaction fees. (See Rates & Fees) Terms Apply. |
 The Hilton Honors American Express Card offers 70,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points plus a Free Night Reward after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 4/29/2025. You'll earn: • 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio. • 5X Points per dollar on purchases at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations. • 3X Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card. Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors Silver status with your Card. Plus, spend $20,000 on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year and you can earn an upgrade to Hilton Honors Gold status through the end of the next calendar year. This card comes with $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, so you can enjoy international travel without additional fees on purchases made abroad. (See Rates & Fees) Terms Apply. |
 The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card has a welcome offer of 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card within the first six months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 4/29/2025. You'll earn: • Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on eligible Hilton purchases. • Earn 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on other purchases made using the Hilton Honors Business Card on the first $100,000 in purchases each calendar year, 3X points thereafter. • Enjoy up to $240 back each year (in the form of statement credit) for eligible purchases made directly with Hilton. • Enjoy complimentary National Car Rental® Emerald Club Executive® status. Enrollment in the complimentary Emerald Club program is required. Terms apply. • Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status with your Hilton Honors Business Card. With Hilton Honors Gold status, you can enjoy benefits at hotels and resorts within the Hilton Portfolio. As a Gold member, earn an 80% Bonus on all Base Points you earn on every stay. In addition, you can enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status with your Hilton Honors Business Card. This card has a $195 annual fee. (See Rates & Fees) Terms & Limitations Apply. |
| Credit Card | Welcome Bonus | Ongoing Rewards |
| Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card ($95 annual fee) | 130,000 points – spend: $2,000 – time: 3 months |
12x on Hilton 6x on restaurants, supermarkets & gas stations 3x on all other purchases |
| Hilton Honors American Express Card ($0 annual fee) | 80,000 points – spend: $1,000 – time: 3 months |
7x on Hilton 5x on restaurants, supermarkets & gas stations 3x on all other purchases |
| Hilton Honors American Express Business Card ($95 annual fee) | 130,000 points – spend: $3,000 – time: 3 months |
12x on Hilton 6x on select business purchases* 3x on all other purchases |
Keep in mind that you’ll only be able to gain their welcome bonus on each Amex personal or business card once.
Earning Hilton Honors Points: Other Ways
Gain points on hotel stays. Depending on the stays you have with Hilton brands, will make the amount and your elite status vary.
| Status | Most Hilton Brands | Tru & Home2 Suites Hotels |
| Member | 10x points | 5x points |
| Silver | 12x points | 6x points |
| Gold | 18x points | 9x points |
| Diamond | 20x points | 10x points |
Book straight with Hilton, a travel agent, or with a corporate travel portal to be eligible for these points. When you use a third-party website like Expedia, Orbitz, etc or credit card portals like Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel, you will not gain Hilton points.
Pool your points with no more than 10 other people for award stays. Additionally, this is a great option for you to use when you go on vacation with family or friends.
Furthermore, points pooling is free of charge and you’ll be able to transfer your points. Transfer at least 1,000 Hilton points at a time and no more than 500,000 Hilton points in a calendar year. Plus, every Hilton Honors member will be able to earn a maximum of two million Hilton points each year. Just make an account for more information.
You’ll be able to connect a debit or credit card to Hilton Honors Dining to gain bonus points towards eligible restaurants.
There aren’t any minimum spending requirements you must meet. Additionally, you’ll be able to earn on tax and tips as well.
With Hilton Honors Event Planner Program, you’ll be able to earn 1x Hilton points on eligible events at participating Hilton Hotels.
Furthermore, there aren’t any minimum spending requirements, and you’ll be able to gain up to 100,000 Hilton points for each event.
Since Hilton Honors is an Amex Membership Rewards transfer partner, you’ll be able to move your Membership Rewards points towards Hilton at a 1:2 ratio. Additionally, it would be a good idea to stay updated on bonuses that come with promos that can be transferred over.
Normally, it’s not the best way for you to earn points since you’ll be able to get a better value with other transfer partners. However, it’s a good option for you if you’re a little short of an award stay.
Gain points with Hilton travel partners: Alamo, Enterprise, National, Cruises Only, Priority Pass, and Lyft.
- Car rentals. Receive 500 Hilton points each time you rent a car from: Alamo, Enterprise, or National. Plus, you can get an extra 500 points for each day of your rental, for up to 5,000 points.
- Cruises. Gain no more than 50,000 Hilton points when you book with Cruises Only’s Hilton partner website. The amount of points you’ll gain will depend on how long your cruise is.
- Lounge Access. Receive no more than 10,00 Hilton points when you buy a membership with Priority Pass. The amount of points you can earn will depend on the plan you sign up for.
- Rideshare. Earn up to 3x Hilton points on Lyft rides.
If you’re close to a redemption, you can opt to buy the Hilton points you need. You’ll be able to purchase no more than 80,000 points each calendar year at the rate of $0.01 per point.
Additionally, Hilton will do a promotion every now and then for as low as $0.005 per point. Just sign into your account and look at the current bonus offers and the price of purchasing points.
Redeeming Hilton Honors Points
Check out all your Hilton Honors redemption choices below. Remember, Hilton points will expire after 12 months of being inactive.
Hilton Honors does not have an official award chart to look at. Their award pricing will depend on the: brand, location, time of year, and demand. With this in mind, an award night will be around 5,000 points – 9,000 points for a standard room.
If you travel to popular locations at peak times of the year, you should expect a higher amount of points needed for an award stay. Normally, you’ll be able to find better award rates if you book more than 90 days before your stay and with brands like:
- Embassy Suites
- Hampton by Hilton
- Home2 Suites
If you don’t have enough points for an award night don’t fret. Hilton Honors will allow you to pay with both points and cash. So you’ll be able to see how many points you want to use. It will start at 5,000 points and in 1,000 point increments.
When you use Points & Money, it can be a cheaper option for you depending on where you’re staying. Remember, the Points & Money selection is made in stone, you will not be able to cancel or get partial cash refunds.
With Hilton Honors, they have many travel partners to choose from such as:
- AeroFlot Russian Airlines
- AeroMexico
- Air Asia
- Air Canada
- Air France/KLM
- Air New Zealand
- Alaska Airlines
- All Nippon Airways
- American Airlines
- Amtrak
- Asiana Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- China Eastern Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- Emirates
- Ethiopian Airlines
- Etihad Airways
- EVA Air
- Eurowings
- Finnair
- Frontier Airlines
- Garuda Indonesia
- Hainan Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Iceland Air
- Japan Airlines
- Jet Airways
- LATAM
- Malaysia Airlines
- Philippine Airlines
- Qantas Airways
- Qatar Airways
- SAS Scandinavian Airlines
- Saudi Arabian Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- Turkish Airlines
- United Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- Virgin Australia
Normally, 10,000 Hilton points will gain you 1,000 airline miles. However, this isn’t the best option for your Hilton points. It’s better if you redeem your points towards award stays.
Other than getting Hilton experiences, it’s better if you don’t use your Hilton points for other redemption choices provided below. You’ll receive a smaller value of $0.006 per Hilton point.
| Option | Point Value |
| Hilton Experiences | Varies |
| Charitable Donations | $0.0025 |
| On Property Rewards | $0.002 |
| Shopping | $0.002 |
| Car Rentals | $0.002 |
| Cruise Discounts | $0.002 |
Hilton Honors Tips & Tricks
Here are some pointers for you on how to take advantage of your Hilton Honors membership.
Receive an automatic Silver status with the Hilton Honors American Express card. Then, you’ll be able to get the Gold Status when you spend at least $20,000 in a calendar year. Additionally, you’ll earn the automatic Gold Status with the following credit cards:
- The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card
- Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
- The Platinum Card from American Express
- Business Platinum Card from American Express
The Hilton Honors Surpass and Hilton Honors Business will enable you to earn the Diamond status if you spend a minimum of $40,000 in a calendar year.
If you have a Silver elite status or higher, you’ll be able to get your 5th night free on award stays. Additionally, you’ll be able to save more and get more value for your Hilton points.
Keep in mind that all 5 nights must be open as standard room awards. Plus, you’ll be able to get no more than 4 free nights in one stay as well. In other words, you’ll be able to reserve no more than 20 consecutive nights with this benefit.
If you’re in the middle of two status levels, and it’s getting closer to the end of the calendar year. You’ll be able to keep your current status for the rest of the year and all of the next year. Then, when the new year comes, any elite stays or nights you earn will be added to the new year.
Furthermore, Hilton Honors is one of the small handful of hotel loyalty programs that come with this perk.
Gain lifetime Diamond status in 2 eays:
- Earn 2,000,000 base points over the whole course of your membership OR
- Finish 1,000 paid or award nights.
Additionally, with one of those requirements, you must also have held Diamond status for at least 10 years in your account history.
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Conclusion
Hilton Honors is a great way for you to use points towards award nights and other great features. However, one of the major setbacks is that it’s a complex dynamic award pricing program rather than having a user-friendly award chart. But, with their elite status program, it will enable you to earn more points compared to other hotel loyalty programs. Plus, when you pair it with an American Express Hilton Honors credit card, you’ll be able to boost your earning potential.
