Hilton is once again offering a 100% bonus when you buy Hilton Honors points until 4th July 2019.
This is a simplified version of their 100% bonus offer that ran in April with two packages available – both carrying a 100% bonus.
You can view the offer by visiting the Buy Points page on the Hilton website, (you’ll to need to log in or create a free account here).
You can either buy:
- 40,000 Hilton Honors points + 40,000 bonus points = $400
- 80,000 Hilton Honors points + 80,000 bonus points = $800
You can ordinarily buy a maximum of 80,000 Hilton Honors points per account, per year.
There is however an easy way around this. Hilton allows free points sharing between members. Your partner/family member/colleague could purchase another 80,000 points (with 80,000 bonus points) and simply transfer them across to you. That would give you 320,000 points for a total outlay of $1600 (about £1,258 at today’s exchange rates).
320,000 Hilton Honors points are enough for a four-night stay at the likes of the Waldorf Astoria Cavalieri or the Conrad Hong Kong. Better yet, Hilton gives the fifth-night free on reward stays for elite members (you can pick up Hilton Gold status with the Amex Platinum card). Throw that free night into the mix and you’re getting a five-night luxury stay for £1,200 or £240 a night.
When should you buy points (instead of paying cash) to stay at hotels?
If you’ve decided it would be good value to redeem points for a hotel stay, ideally you’d use points that you’ve earned ‘outright’. When it comes to a Hilton Honors redemption, these might come from staying at Hilton properties, transferring some Amex Membership Rewards points or even converting Virgin Atlantic miles.
However, if you find yourself short of points and cash rates are unattractive, it can make sense to buy the points required instead of paying cash. The best time to do this is obviously when there’s some sort of bonus running – like this 100% offer – allowing you to get more (points) for your money.
Here’s when you should think about buying points:
Conrad New York
I searched for a random five-night stay in April 2020. The cheapest cash rate via the Hilton website on those nights works out at about £400 per night (including taxes and charges). Alternatively, you can redeem 80,000 points per night. Those points would cost ∼£315 to buy in this sale, saving you £85 per night.
Approximate savings – £85 per night
Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian
The cheapest cash rate via the Hilton website for a three-night stay over New Year 2019 is approximately £440 per night. Alternatively, a free night award would cost 80,000 points per night. Those points would cost ∼£315 to buy in this sale.
Approximate savings – £125 per night
Waldorf Astoria Maldives
I’ve written previously about using Hilton points sales like this one to get a 75% discount at the new Waldorf Astoria Maldives.
The base level room at this hotel is a 234sqm beach villa and the prices reflect that. A random three-night stay in March 2020 would cost approximately £1,250 per night (including taxes + service charges). A free night redemption costs 360,000 Hilton Honors points. You can buy 320,000 of those by using the method described above.
Earning the remaining 40,000 Hilton points should be easy enough – you can convert 20,000 Amex Membership Rewards points or even 26,000 Virgin Atlantic miles.
Buying points allows you to effectively pay ‘just’ £420* per night.
That’s still a lot of money and some people would never pay that for a hotel. But considering you get a 200sqm beach villa in the Maldives, at a property where cash rates are often £2,000+ per night, £400 a night is a very good deal.
Approximate savings – £830 per night
*This doesn’t factor in the cost of the remaining 40,000 Hilton points.
Verdict
A 100% bonus is as good as it gets when it comes to buying Hilton points. As the examples above show, in some circumstances, you can save yourself £100s even if it means having to buy points for a redemption.
If you’d ruled out redeeming points for a planned hotel booking because you weren’t sure you could accumulate enough Hilton points in time, this offer could be a helpful shortcut.
Offer ends 4th July 2019
The ‘Buy points’ offer page on the Hilton website is here
Will you be taking advantage of this Hilton points sale?
Featured images: © 2019 Hilton