The Hilton Surpass has been seeing a hike every now and then to 80,000 Hilton HHonor points (from the usual 60,000 points) – we saw it in December (for a couple of months) and again in March. Now, it is back again but even higher this time – 85,000 Hilton HHonor points.
Some of the easiest hotel points to get are the Hilton HHonor points. They have so many different credit cards – even cards from different issuers! Even though they are far from the most valuable hotel points, there are a few reasons they still retain value to me: 1) It is so easy to get their points! 2) There are so many Hilton hotels around the world 3) The hotels that are most used for races were left relatively untouched by the devaluation. Because of those things, I am always looking for more good deals with the Hilton HHonors program.
Read: how to get hotel mid-tier status and why you want it
85,000 Hilton Points With the Hilton Surpass
For a limited time, the Amex Hilton Surpass card has upped the bonus to 85,000 points after spending $3,000 in 3 months. This is an incredible amount of points (that will not get you one night at the highest tier Hilton hotels) and is a higher bonus than we saw it earlier this year. In addition to the points, you will get automatic Hilton Gold status (which I view as the best mid-tier hotel status) which will get you free breakfast at hotels! There is a $75 annual fee up front, but for what you can get with the points, I find it worth it.
American Express Hilton Surpass
Here are the terms for this offer:
– hilton surpass 85,000 points (disclosure: I do not receive a commission for this link)
- Earn 85,000 points after spending $3,000 in 3 months
- Earn 12 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with a participating hotel or resort within the Hilton HHonors portfolio of brands‡
- Earn 6 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations‡
- Earn 3 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card‡
- Enjoy complimentary Hilton HHonors Gold status with your Card. ‡
- Annual Membership Fee: $75 (not waived the first year)
- Offer expires July 31, 2015
What Can You Do With These Points?
85,000 is a lot of points. Of course, it does not possess the same value as the 80,000 points that used tp be offered with the IHG card (simply because of IHG’s Point Break lists), but you can still do a lot with this many points. For starters, many of the category 3 and 4 hotels offer exceptional value at the best bang for the point. There are a lot of those category hotels around the country so the 85,000 points could really help you there.
These points could also serve as a reserve account for when you need to stay at a hotel and rates are high. Since there are so many Hilton hotels around the world, you can be assured that there will be one where you need to be almost all of the time. One such scenario would be airports. I had a similar experience this year when a trip came up last minute that had me staying overnight in Chicago. I used 40,000 points to stay at the hilton in chicago’s o’hare airport. Incredibly convenient and saved me over $300.
Want a great value with these points? using points for all-inclusive resorts – hilton edition
One of my new favorite uses for Hilton points is all-inclusive resorts. I have stayed at a few all-inclusives now and my most recent was completely on Hilton points at only 50,000 points per night. That was an exceptional value for what we got to enjoy.
There are a lot of options with Hilton points – the first step is to just get the card. 🙂 If you only want to stay at the top tier Hilton hotels, then you would probably be better served with the citi hilton reserve card. This gives two free weekend nights at any Hilton after meeting the minimum spend.
No matter how you cut it, 85,000 points is a lot. Even if you do not have a short-term Hilton goal, these points should sit nicely for awhile since Hilton already did a ton of damage to their award chart last year.
marathoning in style – hilton hotel edition (2013 race dates)
If i’m a Hilton Gold via this card, and i book an award stay for a friend/family, do they get the free breakfast (which i would have received if i was staying instead).
It will depend. You could put it under your name and add the friend to the reservation. Chances are that it will be just fine.