Hilton Honors, the loyalty program for Hilton Group Hotels and Resorts have launched a 100% bonus on all purchases of Hilton Honors points when you buy 5,000 or more.
Limits on the total amount of points you can purchase each year vary, with some people allowed to purchase a maximum of 80,000 points per calendar year and others permitted to purchase 160,000 points per year.
While the fall of the pound against the dollar potentially means that this deal is no longer as appealing as it once may have been, I will analyse the pros and cons of purchasing points using both a lower category and a high end hotel within the Hilton Hotels & Resorts portfolio as examples.
The following analysis is based on my account in which I can buy a maximum of 80,000 points. If I chose to do so, the equation would looks follows:
As you can see, I could purchase 80,000 points with an extra 80,000 bonus points thrown in for $800.
At the time of writing, purchasing $800 of points would set me back roughly £646 (assuming you are using a card that has no foreign exchange fees).
The first hotel I had a look at was the Hampton by Hilton London Docklands:
Hampton by Hilton London Docklands
In this example there is currently a flash sale running which means the cheapest cash rate is £106 per night. A free night at this hotel costs 30,000 HHonors points and in this points promotion I would have to purchase 15,000 points (+15,000 bonus) which would cost $150/£121 for a free night – I am clearly better off just paying the cash rate in this instance.
The second hotel I looked at was a two night stay at the Conrad Hong Kong:
In this scenario buying points would actually work out cheaper than paying the cash rate for the room.
The cheapest non-refundable cash rate for my dates is £361 per night. The points equivalent is 80,000 points per night and that would cost circa £323 if I was to buy the points outright – a saving of about £40.
The truth is though that this points reservation would be flexible and fully cancelable. This means that the rate we should really compare it with is the cheapest flexible cash rate for those nights which is £425. That being the case the saving achieved by buying the points is actually £100 – an impressive deal.
VERDICT
It is hard to offer a definitive answer as to whether this sale is a good deal or not because it is so subjective. Depending on your travel plans this could be a great deal if your hotel is particularly expensive on your dates yet still has availability to use points on those nights or not so great if you have firm plans and can lock in a good cash bargain.
The best policy as always is to head over to the Hilton website and see what you can find on your dates.
The ‘Buy Points’ page of the Hilton website can be found here
Bonus on purchased points ends 3rd May 2017.