Yesterday, a new deal came out from Hilton offering a 80% bonus on points purchased or given. Is this a good deal and what does it break down to?
Is Buying Hilton Points With A 80% Bonus A Good Deal?
Getting The Bonus Points
Details
- Points purchased do not count towards elite tier qualification.
- Points.com and Hilton HHonors reserve the right to terminate bonus promotions at any time.
- All purchases must be made through the Purchase page on HHonors.com.
- The 80% bonus purchase is available between February 1, 2016, at 12:01am ET and February 8, 2016, at 11:59pm ET.
- All purchases are non-refundable.
- Offer is subject to change. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer.
- Points will be posted to the recipients Hilton HHonors account within 24 hours of the completed transaction.
If you were buying Hilton points regularly, it would cost 1 cent per point. With Hilton points worth .5 cent or less, buying at double the value is not really a good deal.
But, with this new bonus, the math comes down to buying points at a cost of .55 cents per point. That is pretty close to their value so it may make sense for some. Let’s break it down.
Is It A Good Deal?
Top Tier Redemption
The top category, category 10, costs from 70,000 – 95,000 points per night. That means that purchasing points for such a hotel would cost between $380 – $527 for your redemption. Here is an example for a stay I have upcoming at a Waldorf:
- Cash price is $450 per night
- Award price is 80,000 points per night
- Buying the points would cost $444
As you can see, I would be saving only $6 by purchasing and redeeming points. But it goes much further than that. I would also be foregoing 9,000 Hilton points that I would earn just for paying to stay in the room (base points plus bonus points plus elite bonus). So, obviously, it would not be a good deal to purchase points for such a stay.
Mid Tier Redemption
The math could be a little cloudier for mid range hotels that require 40,000 points. There are some properties that cost over $300 so purchasing the points would be cheaper but still a longshot if you are not buying with a specific redemption in mind now.
Topping Up
But, it makes much more sense to buy if you are short points right now and you need a few more to top up your account for the redemption. Since there is no minimum to buy to get the bonus, this could help if you just need those extra few thousand points.
Also consider transferring from a friend/family Hilton account. It only costs .25 cents per point to transfer so that could be even cheaper.
Hilton Credit Cards
Obviously, the easiest and cheapest way to get Hilton points is to get one of the many Hilton cards available. But if that is not something you can do right now, check out this sale.
