Hilton Honors is offering a 50% discount on points that you buy until 14 March 2025 (15 March in Australia), which can be leveraged into cheaper Hilton hotel stays. As you can buy up to 240,000 base points per year, you could buy that full allocation of Hilton Honors points at a rate of 0.5 cents USD each (about 0.78 cents AUD).
This can represent good value for topping up points balances for specific redemptions – a 100% bonus or 50% discount is the best offer you will usually see.
However, we don’t recommend you buy points speculatively. You should ideally have a specific hotel stay in mind to compare buying Hilton Honors points versus paying cash.
You can also get your hands on Hilton Honors points by transferring them over from American Express Membership Rewards at a 2:1 ratio.
What is the current Hilton Honors offer?
| Expiry: 3:59pm AEDT 15 March (converted from 11:59pm ET 14 March) |
The minimum points purchase required to trigger the bonus is 5,000 points. You can purchase up to 240,000 points in a calendar year, excluding bonus points.
That means the maximum amount of points you can purchase in this promotion is 240,000 regular points for US$2,400 (~AU$3,752). The bonus brings the cost of each point down from the regular price of one US cent per point to 0.5 US cents.
You should run the maths in advance and see if room reward costs and availability will work for you to buy Honors points instead of paying cash.
Once you’ve clicked through, you’ll need to sign in to your account and the discount will be visible.
Offer history
The usual price set by Hilton is one US cent per point, including taxes. Over the last few years, points have been sold for as low as 0.5 US cents each:
| Date | Cost per point (US cents) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| September 2024 | 0.5 | 100% bonus (highest) |
| August 2024 | 0.5 | 100% bonus (highest) |
| June 2024 | 0.5 | 100% bonus (highest) |
| April 2024 | 0.5 | 100% bonus (highest) |
| January 2024 | 0.5 | 100% bonus (highest) |
| December 2023 | 0.5 | 100% bonus (highest) |
| August-September 2023 | 0.5 | 100% bonus (highest) |
| February-March 2023 | 0.5 | 100% bonus (highest) |
How do I use Hilton Honors points?
Hilton Honors hasn’t published an award chart since 2017. Instead, it follows a dynamic pricing model. That means that the cost in terms of points fluctuates based on the date. In June 2019, it made some properties even more expensive.
The best redemptions tend to lie with mid-tier to high-end properties, especially in more touristy areas. Traditionally, good value can be found at:
- Mid-tier properties like the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel at Universal Orlando, Agra and Queenstown.
- Luxury properties like Conrad Maldives, Tokyo and Hong Kong; Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts; and Hilton Hotels & Resorts.
- Properties located in touristy cities at touristy times, like the Hilton Barcelona and Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik.
A quick way to calculate the value of a Room Reward
If you’ve bought a chunk of points, here’s an easy way to work out the value of your points.
- Divide the cost of the points by the number of points purchased (e.g. US$1,600 ÷ 320,000 points).
- Multiply that value by the points cost of a Standard Room Reward (e.g. a room for 70,000 points = US$350 using the figures above and the booking example below).
Time for a case study! In this example, we’re looking at five nights at a hotel in London. If you hold Hilton Honors Silver status or higher, then the 5th night is free. The room costs £289 (~AU$560) per night, for an overall retail cost of AU$2,800 over five nights.
With points, the same rate is 70,000 points a night. We need 280,000 points for the redemption since the 5th night is free. With a 100% bonus sale, you can buy those points for US$1,400 (~AU$2,123). That’s a saving of around AU$677 just by buying Hilton Honors points on sale.
When the cost of the room using points is lower than the cash price, then that’s when you should consider pulling the trigger on points purchases.
Points bookings also come with flexibility and free refunds. Make sure you factor that in your price comparison too.
Are there any restrictions on buying Hilton points?
You can buy a maximum of 240,000 Hilton Honors points before bonuses each calendar year. If you’re a new member, there is a waiting period for buying points of either:
- 30 days after enrolment if your account reflects activity (a hotel stay or earning of points through an Honors partner); or
- 90 days with no account activity.
You can pool points with ten other people of your choosing for free. They don’t need to live at the same address. You can transfer 500,000 points in a calendar year and receive four times that (two million points). This is a great way for couples and families to stock up on points.
American Express Platinum Card
Summing up
This deal works best if you have some specific travel plans in mind. Check the paid rate of a Hilton property at your intended destination versus what it would cost to buy and redeem points.
While the offer may be particularly good, it is probably still not quite worth buying points speculatively without a specific use in mind.
After some more information? Read our guide on how to make the most buying frequent flyer points for travel.
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It looks as if I’m in the 100% bonus category but I’m holding out in the hope that the exchange rate is getting better. I agree with others that reward nights aren’t worth it in Australia (at least where I’ve looked) so there hasn’t been any incentive to buy points.
Now I’m heading to the US in a couple of months and reward rates (at 0.5 US cents per point) are often better than cash rates so it’s worth looking at, especially if I can take advantage of the fifth night free. The reward/cash comparison improves if you factor in that rewards have more flexibility than the cheapest cash rates, but yes, check T&Cs!
Annoying. I’ve still got 80% bonus and 160k cap 🙁
Hi Brandon,
each time these offers arrive, my account only shows 80% bonus instead of the 100% that some HHonors accounts are offered. Just wondering if you have any suggestions on how to get Hhonors to offer the higher bonus in future?
Thanks.
Hi there. You might consider having a partner or family member also sign up for Hilton Honors, and seeing if they receive the 100% bonus – as you may be able to buy the points via that other account, and have them transferred to you.
Thanks for this reply Chris. I have tried this already and both of us were only offered the 80% bonus.
I have purchased 5000 points in this round to see if this encourages HHonors to up their offer .
“Points bookings also come with flexibility and free refunds”
In practice such flexibility can vary from property to property. IIRC my Conrad Bora Bora redemption had a 30-day restriction on cancellation. Good idea to check carefully when booking…;)
Hello — Says Expiry: 2:59pm AEDT 23 November 2022 (converted from 11:59pm ET 22 November 2022), however, my partner and I have both tried, using the ‘clicking through’ link above and it comes to an error page once signing in. Just wanted to ask if anyone is having this issue, or it’s now expired? Thanks!
Hi Deb, if you’re having difficulty, please try navigate straight to the Buy Points page: https://www.hilton.com/en/hilton-honors/guest/purchase-points/
The maths really doesn’t add up. Even with the doubling of points, it’s far cheaper to purchase the room outright or do points + pay. I was looking at a room in Sydney. It costs $320, or 53,000 points. To purchase those points using their bonus deal it works out to be well over $400 AU. It’s pretty misleading because the price at checkout is stated as $270 not US$270. As an international brand, surely they could adjust to local currencies.
I agree with you Stealth. I have never found that buying Hilton points, even with their promotions, to be a worthwhile activity. For example, I am a Diamond level Hilton Honors member and when I buy points at 100% the cost of buying such points and using them at, for example, the Conrad Bali, is still more expensive then when I book using cash because I always get an upgrade there but even without an upgrade the cost of the room is no cheaper using paid points than just booking with cc. I am not sure where Brandon has got his figures from but they appear to be a bit misleading.
Has this offered finished already? The links in the article don’t work and there’s nothing about the 100% bonus deal on the HH website.
Hi, the offer link in our guide should be updated now. It’s still showing as 100% for me.
Hi
Just wondering if you can purchase points to help you maintain your status/tier level with the Hilton Honors program?
Hi
An FYI: Thought this bonus would work for me during a Sydney stay in October. Logged in after not using the HH site for a very long time and it indicated a 50,000 points balance. I cannot recall where or how but running numerous accounts can drive one to forgetfulness. So thought ‘huh’ 10,000+10,000 gives me a total of 70,000 and a night in the Sydney Hilton on a particular night.
Bought the points, received the confirmation email, checked the account balance and the 50,000 was gone! Now they are available for reinstating at a cost of USD145. Adding the USD100 to gives an AUD356, which is less than the AUD505 on hotels.com but I wasn’t planning in spending AUD356 (plus dinner etc) for a night out either.
Have sent off an email to HH for both explanation as to why one can log into the account and see and out of date balance and for consideration for either waiving the fee or refunding the purchase.
Hi Steven
Thanks for the feedback. I would have thought an expired balance wouldn’t show up as still remaining without at least some notification that there would be a fee for reinstatement.
Can you please get back to us and let us know how it goes?
Is this promo targeted ?
as I only see 80% bonus on the hilton site and not 100%
Hi Joel
When I clicked on the ‘Buy Hilton Honors Points here link within this article and entered my login details, it took me to the Buy Points page, which showed the offer as being 100% bonus.
I’m seeing 80% on my account as well
I assuming price on these points are US dollars?
Doesnt makes sense when Fx rate is bad
Yes, it’s in US dollars. The foreign exchange rate definitely has a bearing on the value.
As typical… did not buy points as not needed.
But now I may be a 100,000 short of a trip I want to plan.
What is your best guess when the next points offer will be active?
I can’t be 100% sure but if you look at the Offer history table, they seem to run every 2-4 months, which means that my guess would be sometime between August and October.
I can’t find any good value usage of points in Oceania. Doubletree Cairns was the best
Bonus is back to 100% until June 8th, 2018.
Thank you! Table updated.
Keith, The Feb 2018 offer is an 80% bonus, which equates to a 44% discount, not an 80% discount. For example, 36000 points will cost USD200, instead of the usual USD360.
At Member level, my minimum purchase (pre-bonus) appears to be 15000 points (27000 with bonus).
You’re right! Typo 😉 Have changed ‘discount’ to ‘bonus’ now.
Interestingly, my minimum purchase as a Gold member is only 1,000 points and I’ve seen other reports of the bonus kicking it from 10,000 points. Good to know there is a variety of starting points and I have updated the guide to reflect this.
Hi All,
I had to recently cancel a trip to Hawaii and was going to stay at a Hilton so thought I would take a look at this deal..
What I found was that the US$800 to purchase 160k points was almost double the cost of just buying the room.
The room I found was at Waikola Village, Lagoon Tower, Makai, Ocean Side at US$375 or 143k Premium Room Rewards.
Can any one confirm if Premium Room Rewards is the right comparison to Hilton Honors Points?
Cheers,
WD
Okay so I managed to figure this one out. Since the room was in one of the better towers and in the more premium experience “Makai” they charge a huge premium on the points.
If I had gone to one of the other towers further away from the main pool then its gets a lot cheaper at 50k points.
To breakdown:
Waikola Village
Lagoon Tower, Makai, Ocean Side
– Book US$375
– Premium Room Rewards Points 143k
– Buy Points Costs = US$715 (Loss of US$340!)
Palace Tower, Resort View
– Book US$261
– Standard Room Reward Points 50k
– Buy Points Costs = US$250 (Savings of US$11)
Also I would highly recommend you look out of the the Hilton sales where they give 35% off room rates. Those seem like a lot better deal.
Cheers,
WD
I’m struggling on the new Hilton Honours website… but what is the transfer rate of a full purchase of 320,000 for $US 1600 to Velocity Points?
Am I able to transfer Qantas points to Hilton points?
Unfortunately not.
I just signed up to hilton hhonors, but it doesnt let me purchase points since i have to wait the 90 day period. I need to book some hotel rooms for december, and wanted to purchase points to book them, but seems like i cant purchase points in the first place. Is there anyway to get around this restriction.
Also i have a lot of velocity points, more than i can use to fly. I know you can convert 10,000 hh points to 1500 velocity points. Is there anyway i can do the opposite, i.e. convert velocity points to hilton points?
Unless you know someone with an HHonors account you can “borrow”, you’re out of luck.
You can use Velocity points for hotel bookings – see here on the Velocity website. You can’t transfer them to Hilton though, you use them to book instead of cash. You also won’t get great value.
I’ve taken advantage of this promo to buy 160k HH points as well as the citi double points promo (effectively 4 HH/$ on Prestige) for Maldives next year. Good deal
With 5th night free for reward redemptions.
Hi can you tell me what the cost is for purchasing the amount of points you needed? and where you are staying in maldives?
Anyone know whether purchasing $300+ worth of Hilton points would qualify for the current AMEX $150 statement credit deal? If so, it would be absolutely amazing – especially if one has multiple AMEX registered for the deal!
Unfortunately not – Hilton points purchases are processed by points.com, not Hilton.
I have paid and booked for a X4 night stay at the Hilton Brisbane which is coming up in a month. Since making that booking I have joined the Qantas frequent flyer program, the Qantas club and HHonors.
Can this upcoming stay be used to gain points on my frequent flyer card? Thanks.
Yes, you can earn HHonors points and/or Qantas Points from your booking.
DT at Cairns showing up as 40,000 points/night (not 30,000 pts). Did HH devalue it recently?
Hi Keith (and also others) – The 2X rewards for transfer onto HHonors is back. Valid until Jan 17.
Thanks Keith!
Are you able to advise how to redeem Hilton Points as in transfer them to your Frequent Flyer program? Velocity to be exact…
Hi Keith. Would you be so kind in letting me know what the offer was? So that i can keep an eye out in the future? Thank ou!
Sure, sorry – it was 2x the usual points when transferred out HHonors from Citi Rewards.
Does anyone know what double promo Citi offfere on Hhonors? What Andrew is talking about….
Your reply would be appreciated! Thank you!
This was an offer that ran earlier this year, I think until around January. Was a good deal.
thanks for the info Keith, I think it is worth buying some points for those folks out there who have their points expiring with Hilton Honors and want to hang on to these.
Just did a search for a room in Milan in April 2017 using Reward points and there was nil availability, is this common?
As a new Hilton HHonors™ member, you may purchase points 30 days after enrollment if your account reflects activity, including a stay or earning HHonors Points through an HHonors Marketing Partner. After 90 days of enrollment, HHonors members are eligible to purchase points regardless of account activity.
only thing to add here is 5th night free can come in nicely.
used this in Austin and Maldives when Citi offered a double promo on Hhonors.
if you’re close it makes sense to spend that 5th night and spread out the average cost
I am looking at a 7night stay at Doubletree in NYC in January. I’ll definitely be doing the comparison. Thanks Keith
Can I transfer my HH points to singapore airlines or any of the star alliance airlines. If so, do they give you a bonus amount of points if you transfer the points?
There’s a heap of info from HHonors about their partners and transfer rates here. They don’t generally offer incentives or bonuses to transfer points.
Is it allowed / worthwhile to purchase the bonus HH points and then transfer them to Velocity?
Probably not.
10,000 HHonors points = only 1,5000 Velocity points. At US$0.005 per HHonor point, you would pay US$0.033 per Velocity point, or currently around $0.043 Australian.
I value Velocity points at around $0.01, so I see buying Velocity points this way as paying 4x too much.
some people can buy up to 160,000 points a year and get 160,000 bonus points on top. seems like this is targeted?
Yes, this extra purchase amount does seem targeted. Not sure what criteria are being applied though. Helpful if you get it!
Planning a trip to Hawaii in October this year.
Hiltons lowest category is 6 throughout all the islands in Hawaii.
Is there any value for many to be had if I bought points now?
Sorry, hard to answer this specifically. You’ll need to look specifically at the paid rates for the dates you are looking at vs the cost if you bought points. Run the numbers in Excel at 0.5c per point and see which way you come out on top.
does anyone know if hilton offer family pooling type arrangements?
Yep you can transfer, but it costs you – $25 USD per 10,000 points. Can be done here.
thanks Keith!
looks like it could be worthwhile for Conrad Maldives then.
Right – this promo is one to take advantage of at the extremes – low category hotels that are otherwise a little pricy in $$, or high category hotels that are super-expensive in $$ (like the Maldives!)