The Ultimate Hilton Honors Guide

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Last updated on April 9th, 2024

Hilton Honors is the hotel rewards program from Hilton Worldwide Holdings – more commonly known as Hilton Hotels. The Hilton Honors program is regarded as one of the richest rewards programs available today. This reputation is built on the back of the impressive signup bonuses of Hilton co-branded credit cards, such as the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.

What Hotels Are in the Hilton Portfolio?

The following hotels and resorts make up the Hilton Worldwide Holdings portfolio, and participate in the Hilton Honors program:

Canopy by Hilton DoubleTree Hilton Hotels & Resorts Homewood Suites
Conrad Hotels & Resorts Embassy Suites Hilton Garden Inn LXR Hotels & Resorts
Curio Collection by Hilton Hampton by Hilton Home2 Suites by Hilton Motto by Hilton
Tapestry Collection Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts Signa by Hilton

How to Earn Points with Hilton Honors

The easiest way to earn Hilton Honors points is through stays booked directly with Hilton properties. Basic Hilton Honors members earn ten base points for every dollar they spend on their room when booking through Hilton.

Honors members can also earn additional points when they take part in bonus promotions designed to encourage members to stay at participating Hilton hotels, resorts, and suites. These promotions typically offer the prospect of double, triple, or even more points with every participating stay.

Bonus Points with Elite Status

Members can also earn points with their elite status levels:

Member Silver Gold Diamond
Guaranteed rate ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Earn points ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
No resort fees ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Digital check-in/out ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Choose your room ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Digital key ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Free Wi-Fi ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Access exclusive exeriences ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Free bottled water ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
5th night free ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Elite rollover nights ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Spa discount ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Room upgrades ✔️ ✔️
Food credits ✔️ ✔️
Milestone bonus ✔️ ✔️
Lounge access ✔️
Status extension ✔️
48-hr room guarantee ✔️
Elite status gifting ✔️
Points bonus on stays 20% 80% 100%

Travel Partners

  • Lyft: Honors Club members earn 3X points for every dollar spent on eligible Lyft rideshares in the U.S. and Canada (excluding shared rides) and 2X points for every dollar spent on eligible Lyft shared rideshares.
  • Priority Pass: Honors members who join Priority Pass receive not only access to over 1,000 lounges across the globe but also earn up to 10,000 bonus Honors points.  Priority Pass signup bonuses are as follows:
    • 4,000 Points for a standard membership
    • 6,500 points for a standard plus membership
    • 10,000 points for a Priority Pass Prestige membership
  • Alamo: Honors members can earn 500 bonus points on each Alamo rental, up to a maximum of 5,000 points.
  • Enterprise: Honors members can also earn 500 bonus points on Enterprise car rentals, up to a maximum of 5,000 points.
  • National: Honors members receive 25% savings on National car rentals and can earn up to 500 bonus points with qualifying rentals – up to a maximum of 5,000 points.

Shopping and Dining

Hilton has partnerships with thousands of retailers around the world, making it easy to earn rewards points. For a complete list of participating shopping or retail locations, visit the dedicated Hilton shopping page.

Honors members can earn up to 8x points for every $1 spent with over 10,000 dining partners worldwide. Members also earn an additional 5x points per dollar spent when they sign up for Hilton Dining email alerts notifying them of new locations near them, and they then book a table.

Hilton offers far more than just hotel rooms, as it also plays host to thousands of events each year. The Hilton Honors program allows event planners to earn one point per dollar spent when they book their activities with participating Hilton hotels and properties – up to 100,000 points.

To earn points, an event planner must contact the sales department at the participating hotel directly, request a proposal, and ask for events planner points and have them included in the event contract.

Limitations on Earning Points with Hilton Honors

As with many hotel rewards programs, there are limitations on how points can be earned in the Honors loyalty program. Points cannot be earned on bookings made through third-party discount websites, such as Trivago, Orbitz, Priceline, Booking.com, Expedia, Kayak, Hotwire, Travelocity, or others.

What Are Hilton Honors Rewards Points Worth?

How to Redeem Points with Hilton Honors

The easiest way to redeem Hilton Honors points is through booking free night stays with participating Hilton properties. While Hilton claims that reward nights start as low as 5,000 points, most free nights usually cost between 30,000 and 40,000 points.

The exact rate of points required for booking a free night depends on the category of the hotel, the time of proposed booking (whether off-peak or peak season), the room is booked, and the location of the property. Silver, Gold, and Diamond Elite members also receive a complimentary 5th night free when they book standard rewards stays of five consecutive nights or more.

To book rewards nights, members need to book their stay via the Hilton website or through the mobile app, and check the box labeled “Use Hilton Honors Points.”

Transfer Points to Travel Partners

Hilton Honors points also transfer to the frequent flyer rewards programs of over 40 different airlines. The following airlines are partners with Hilton:

AeroMexico Air New Zealand China Eastern Airlines Ethiopian Airlines
AirAsia Big All Nippon Airways Delta Airlines Eurowings
Air Canada British Airways Emirates Eva Air
Air France Cathay Pacific Etihad Hainan Airlines
Iberia KLM Qatar Airlines Turkish Airlines
Japan Airlines Korean Air Saudi Airlines United Airlines
Jet Airways Malaysia Airlines SAS Scandinavian Airlines Virgin Atlantic
JetBlue Qantas Singapore Airlines Virgin Australia

Other Ways to Redeem Points

  • Shopping: Honors points are redeemable towards merchandise through the dedicated Hilton Honors Shopping Mall, for gift certificates with some of the largest merchants in the world, or shopping with Amazon.
  • Share or Pool Points: Hilton also allows members to either share their points with loved ones through gifting or pooling points with friends or family to help reach expensive redemption goals.

Hilton Honors Membership Tiers Explained

Here is a more detailed breakdown of what each tier in the Hilton Honors loyalty program can expect:

Silver

Silver is the first elite tier in the Hilton Honors program that offers perks beyond what regular (Blue) members can expect. Silver status requires at least four stays or ten nights per year, or a Hilton Honors Amex cardholder.

Silver Benefits

Silver members can expect the following perks:

  • 20% bonus points on stays
  • Priority late check-out
  • Access to the dedicated reservations line
  • Elite tier rollover nights
  • 5th night free
  • The second guest stays free
  • No resort fees on reward stays
  • Two complimentary bottles of water
  • Complimentary Wi-Fi

Gold

Gold is the next tier in the Honors loyalty program and offers enhanced perks beyond those of Silver Elite members.  To qualify for Gold Elite, members must have at least 20 stays, 40 nights per year, 75,000 points, or be a Hilton Honors Amex Surpass or Hilton Honors Amex Business cardholder.

Gold Benefits

Gold members can expect the following perks in addition to those experienced by Silver members:

  • 80% bonus points on stays
  • Space available room upgrades (up to Executive room-type)
  • Complimentary breakfast
  • Unlimited milestone bonuses

Diamond

Diamond is the top tier in the Hilton Honors in the loyalty program and offers further enhancements than those Gold members can expect and requires 30 stays, 60 nights per year, 120,000 points, or being a Hilton Honors Amex Aspire cardholder.

Diamond Benefits

Diamond members can expect the following perks beyond Gold:

  • 100% bonus points on stays
  • Up to one suite upgrade
  • Executive lounge status
  • Elite status gift
  • 48-hr room guarantee
  • Diamond status extension
  • Choice of a free welcome gift of points, breakfast, or amenities

Current Hilton Credit Cards

There are currently three personal Hilton Honors credit cards and one business credit card through American Express. These cards offer lucrative impressive perks, points on gas stations, restaurants, and other categories, and excellent Hilton Honors bonus points after meeting minimum spending requirements within the first months of card membership – or in a calendar year.

Check out more

Travel Rewards Credit Cards

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About: Cory Santos
Cory Santos

Cory is the senior credit card editor at BestCards, specializing in everything credit card-related. He’s worked extensively with credit cards and other personal finance topics, including nearly five years at BestCards. Cory’s extensive knowledge is an essential part of the BestCards experience, helping readers to live their best financial lives with up-to-date insights and comprehensive coverage of all facets of the credit card space, including market trends, rewards guides, credit advice, and comprehensive credit card reviews.

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