Elevate Your Stay: Understanding the Hilton Honors Program

Danielle Jul 09, 2024

179 People Read

Free Trip to Hilton Rose Hall Resort in Jamaica

What are the details of the Hilton Honors

Program?

Earning Hilton Honors Points:

The American Express Hilton Honors Credit card was my first travel reward card and kicked off my travel hacking journey. American Express has 3 Hilton co-branded credit cards which you can use to accumulate Hilton Honor points as well as earn lots of points on stays at Hilton hotels. A big way to earn points for free nights is by earning sign-up bonuses awarded on a cobranded Hilton credit card. Signup bonuses are awarded to new cardholders when they meet minimum spending

requirements within a given time frame. American Express offers 3 cobranded Hilton Honors credit cards. To learn more about each Hilton credit card, check out "Unlocking Rewards: Look At The American Express Surpass Card", "Travel Rewards: Exploring the Amex Hilton Honors Credit Card", and "Exploring Perks of the American Express Hilton Aspire Card." To be able to earn a sign-up bonus on all 3 of the Hilton credit cards, sign up for the lowest level card first, which is the American Express Hilton Honors card, then the Surpass, then lastly the Aspire. If you sign up for the mid or higher-level card first, you are not eligible for the sign-up bonus on the lower-level card. We always recommend signing up for the Hilton Honors loyalty program before signing up for a Hilton credit card. By signing up with a hotel loyalty program first, you would supply your loyalty membership number when applying for the co-branded credit card. Also, make sure not to add an authorized user on your account. If you have a partner that you share expenses with, sign them up for their own separate credit card, so that they can earn a welcome/sign-up bonus too. Using this person 2 strategy is a great way to stack up those welcome bonuses.

Hilton Honors Membership Tiers:

Hilton Honors members can earn multiple membership levels, each offering escalating elite status and benefits. The tiers include Silver, Gold, and Diamond. The American Express Surpass card will gain you automatic Gold status, with the availability of Diamond status after spending $40,000 on the card in a calendar year. The American Express Aspire card will gain you automatic Diamond status. The benefits of each status level are:

Silver Status: Earned after four stays or ten nights. Additional perks include a 20% bonus on base points, late check-out, and the fifth night free on reward stays.
Gold Tier: Achieved after 20 stays, 40 nights, or earning 75,000 base points. This tier is also automatically achieved with the American Express Surpass card. Gold members enjoy all Silver benefits plus an 80% bonus on base points and room upgrades. You also get a Daily Food and Beverage Credit or continental breakfast. In recent years, many hotels have done away with free breakfast and instead will give you a $10-$15 credit for up to 2 people per night to use towards purchasing breakfast. To receive these credits you must charge the food expense to your room, do not pay by credit card.
Diamond Tier: The highest tier reached after 30 stays, 60 nights, or earning 120,000 base points. This tier is also achieved automatically with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card or by spending $40,000 in a calendar year on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass. Diamond members (also known as Elite members) receive all Gold benefits with a 100% bonus on base points, executive lounge access, and more. Executive lounges vary a lot by hotel and not every hotel has them. Check out the reviews of a particular hotel, to see what exactly the Executive Lounge offers.
Part of our travel hacking theory is to strategically sign up for cards to earn the sign-up bonus as well as utilize bonus categories on the travel reward credit cards you have. To learn more about our travel reward credit card strategy check out our post.

Hilton hotel

Hilton Honors Free Night Certificates:

There are 2 American Express travel reward credit cards that will earn Hilton Honors Free Night certificates. The Amex Surpass card grants a free night reward after spending $15,000 in a calendar year. The Aspire card grants you an automatic free night certificate. Note that both the Surpass and Aspire have an annual fee, however, it is often outweighed by the perks offered by the card (like free nights at Hilton properties). To learn more about free night certificates check out our blog post.

Hilton Honors Points Redemption:

For hotel stays booked 100% with Hilton points, you get the 5th night free at all hotels in the Hilton portfolio (must be 5 consecutive nights). The best way to use points at a Hilton property is to book in multiples of 5 nights, to take advantage of the 5th night free. If you are staying more days, consider using a combination of points, free night certificates, or booking the remaining nights in cash. This will have to be done in 2 separate reservations. Aside from free stays, another big perk of booking a reservation using points is you do not have to pay resort fees.

Jamaica Hilton Rose Hall

The Hilton Honors loyalty program is a comprehensive program that rewards members for their loyalty with a wide array of benefits such as a fifth night free (for award stays on consecutive nights), late checkout, and free hotel rooms (using reward nights).

The Amex Surpass is consistently my go-to travel reward credit card and has earned me many memorable travel hacked vacations. To learn more about my go-to cards check out "Maximizing Travel Rewards: A Strategic Approach to Which Credit Card to Use"

To learn more about our travel reward credit card strategies check out: