When it comes to hotel points, Hilton HHonor points are some of the easiest to get. Not only are there multiple credit cards that feed into the Hilton point portfolio, but there are also multiple issuers that have those credit cards.
With easy-to-acquire points comes the inevitable – high redemption costs. If you are wanting to redeem for high-end Hilton properties, you are going to have to spend a lot to do that. In peak season at the highest category, you will need 95,000 points for a single night!
Great value can be had in the middle category Hilton properties!
To me, the strength of the Hilton rewards program lies in the redemption possibilities in the mid-tier range. With 10 categories, that leaves a big spread of possibilities and the middle categories can give excellent value for redemption. With those redemption opportunities, acquiring Hilton points can give you more stay for your point and dollar.
Get 160,000 Hilton Points With These Two Increased Credit Card Offers
The links below are not referral links – they will take you right to the public offers. If you would like to support this site, please check out the links available here. Thank you for your support!
Hilton Surpass – 85,000 Points
– Hilton Surpass Application Link (this is NOT a referral link)
The first increased offer is one that I have already written about and that has a few weeks of life left in it – the Hilton Surpass card from American Express with its limited-time offer of 85,000 points. That offer ends July 31, 2015 and is a really good deal if you are in the market for Hilton points! Not only does it come with a bundle of points, but you will also receive Hilton Gold status – which I think is the best mid-tier hotel status out there.
To recap this one, here are the details regarding this card and offer:
- 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
Hilton HHonors Visa Signature – 75,000 Points
Get 75,000 points with this increased offer from Citi!
– Hilton HHonors Visa Application Link (this is NOT a referral link)
The second offer is the offer that just got hiked up yesterday – the Hilton Visa Signature card from Citi. There are two Hilton cards from Citi, this one and the Hilton Reserve. The Hilton Reserve has a sign-up bonus that is free weekend nights. This one has a bonus that normally sits around 40,000 points but does make an appearance at the 50,000 and 60,000 point levels at times.
To my knowledge, this is the first time this card has hit such a high bonus – 75,000 points! Given that this is Hilton, it is good to understand that that amount will still not get you a free night at the top tier during peak time but it is still plenty of points for the mid-tier range.
Here are the details:
- Earn 75,000 Hilton points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months
- Earn 6 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 3 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases at drugstores, at supermarkets, and at gas stations‡
- Earn 2 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card‡
- Enjoy complimentary Hilton HHonors Silver status with your Card.
- Annual Membership Fee: $0
Summary
It is a great perk to be able to have Hilton Silver status for free every year. Sure, it is not worth that much, but it is still better than having nothing! But, if you get the Hilton Surpass card (above) with its $75 annual fee, you will have Gold status as long as you hold that card.
For spending $5,000 in 3 months on these two cards, you will have 160,000 Hilton points (actually, 173,000 points when you factor in the minimum spending). That is a lot of points that will get you several nights at any of the middle or lower category Hilton properties. Given the breadth of the Hilton portfolio around the world, these are great points to have in your account for that trip when nothing else is available if you do not have immediate plans for them!
Another great use is at Hilton all-inclusive resorts. There are quite a few around and being able to get at least 3 nights at these properties is a nice use for the points as well. See the list of available Hilton all-inclusive resorts here.
Check back later this week for some other ways that you can make use of this slew of Hilton points!
i thought you get the gold status only the first year with amex surpass. did amex change the benefit term?
They did change it – it is now Gold status for as long as you hold the card.