Tip For Transferring Hilton Points Between Accounts

I really do not like paying for points. Sure, there are some cases where it is a good idea to do so because of a trip you are ready to book and the insane value you are going to get, but that is pretty much it! When transferring Hilton points between accounts, they will charge you for that so it is like buying points (though at a big discount). If you need to do that, here is something you should know.

Tip For Transferring Hilton Points Between Accounts

Last year, I wrote a guide on transferring hotel points between accounts. In this guide, you will notice that Hilton is one of 2 hotels that charge you to transfer points between accounts. The rate is $12.50 per block of 5,000 points (a cost of .25 cents per point).

Why Pay For Our Own Points?

– Link For Transferring Hilton Points

While I obviously do not want to pay for points that we already have, it can make sense in some cases. With my Hilton Diamond status, I have gone ahead and booked several Hilton stays this year, most with points but some as paid stays. With my Hilton account just about depleted, I found one more thing that I wanted to use points for. My wife and I are making a short trip later this year for our anniversary and I found award availability at a Waldorf I had been looking at. Between my wife’s and my account, we had enough points but not enough in just one. So, I paid to transfer the points.

Problems Transferring

Points transferred using this option will post within 24 hours

This was actually the second time I had done this in the past month as I previously needed just 5,000 points for a different award. Both times, the same thing happened. I waited the required 24 hours for the points to come to my account and – nothing. I waited several more hours and still nothing. The first time, I finally called in after 36 hours since it was for an award I was afraid was going to dry up (for my Iceland trip for the Reykjavik Marathon).

While very nice, the agent was not really helpful and told me the reason I was not seeing the points was that there was a minimum of 10,000 points for a transfer. I pointed out the website form and she was puzzled. Then she proposed that maybe because it was a weekend it would take longer – doesn’t say anything about that in the terms. Finally, she spoke with a supervisor and said maybe in the next several hours I would see something.

Miraculously, when I got off the phone, the points were in my account and I received the transfer e-mails! This last time, I took to Twitter and mentioned that if Hilton was going to specify a time that it takes for points to transfer, they should stick to it or change the terms. They tweeted back and said they would look into it. Again, miracously within a few minutes, I had the points transferred and e-mail confirmations in hand!

What Is The Tip?

Actually, it is two tips. The first is that if you need fewer than 10,000 points, do the transfer online here. Apparently, they can only do transfers over 10,000 points on the phone and the first agent suggested that is why the first transfer did not go through (not the reason).

The main tip is this – if you do find you need to transfer Hilton points, make sure you Tweet them (or call them) if it takes longer than 24 hours. Do not just keep waiting if it is longer than that!

I know it takes a few days with SPG and a couple/few days with Hyatt, but Hilton specifies that it is 24 hours or less. If you are paying to transfer Hilton points, you most likely need them and you do not want to lose out on your reservation because their system is too slow. They can manually process so give them a call or tweet.

In fact, you could likely even contact them before 24 hours if you need the points right away. Obviously, they can manually process this so they may do it quicker if you tell them of your need.

Summary

While it is never nice to “pay” for points you already own, there is a time and place for when that can be useful. And when that time and place come together, you do not want to be stuck waiting for days for a system that does not work the way that Hilton says it should. Just give them a call or tweet so that you can get the points you need to book what you want.