In my opinion, the Hilton Honors program is often underrated. While I agree that redemption values can often be astronomically high, it’s also very easy to earn Hilton Honors points at a rapid clip. At the moment, we’re seeing three amazing co-branded hotel welcome bonuses from the Hilton portfolio.
With these limited time offers, you not only earn points, but also free night certificates. However, the proof of the pudding lies in the eating – how can you extract maximum value from these welcome bonuses? Let’s first have a look at the bonuses, followed by strategies on how you can extract maximum value out of them. These limited time offers are ending soon on July 31, 2024.
3 AMAZING HOTEL CREDIT CARD Welcome BONUSES
In the world of marketing, we talk about customer segmentation quite often as part of our tactics. When you look at the three products on offer by Amex, you can see that they’re targeting three specific types of travelers. Let’s have a look at who these customers are and how these customers can extract value from these offers.
DIPPING MY TOES – THE OCCASIONAL TRAVELER : 70,000 POINTS + 1 FREE NIGHT CERTIFICATE
With the no annual fee Hilton Honors card, the occasional or entry level travel can easily avail some amazing benefits. You’ll earn a welcome bonus of 70,000 points and one free night certificate after you spend just $2,000 in the first 3 months of card membership.
APPLY NOW FOR THE 70,000 POINTS + 1 FREE NIGHT OFFER
SLOWLY SETTLING IN – LOOKING TO EXPLORE MORE: 130,000 POINTS + 1 FREE NIGHT CERTIFICATE
With this offer on the Hilton Surpass card, the traveler who is now looking to ramp up his or her trips, will enjoy mid-tier Gold status, in addition to a welcome bonus. With this welcome bonus, you can earn 130,000 points and 1 free night certificate after you spend just $3,000 in the first 6 months of card membership.
APPLY NOW FOR THE 130,000 POINTS + 1 FREE NIGHT OFFER
SEASONED TRAVELER AND HILTON LOYALIST – LOOKING FOR LUXURY: 175,000 POINTS + 1 FREE NIGHT CERTIFICATE
The Hilton Aspire card is perfect for a traveler who is loyal to the Hilton Honors brand and is looking to book stays at high-end luxury properties. With this welcome bonus, you’ll earn a welcome bonus of 175,000 points and 1 free night certificate. You’ll enjoy top-tier Diamond status simply for keeping your card account active and also earn up to $600 in credits each year.
APPLY NOW FOR THE 175,000 + 1 FREE NIGHT OFFER
EXTRACTING VALUE FROM WELCOME BONUSES
Now to address the elephant in the room, how do you extract value out of these bonuses? Your best bet would be a book a 5 night stay instead of a 4 night stay. Why? Because no matter which card you get, you’ll get your 5th night free when you book using points. Also, you can add that free night certificate to your stay make it a 6 night stay.
HOW TO BOOK THESE STAYS
Thankfully, Hilton has a really handy points explorer tool on their own website.
You can search by region and the type of property. Most importantly, you can search by moving the points slider at the bottom. It will give you a range of properties you can book for a given amount of points. I’ve only listed a few properties in the list below.
You will be surprised at how many properties you can book with a single credit card welcome bonus and string together a 5+1 = 6 night stay by tagging in that free night certificate.
| Credit Card | Welcome Bonus Link | Minimum Points you will earn after meeting spend | Free night Certificate | Few example Properties for a 5 night stay that you can book with 5th night free benefit |
| Hilton Honors Card | 70,000 points and 1 free night certificate | 76,000 | 1 | DoubleTree Baga, Goa, India, DoubleTree Frankfurt Niderrad, Hampton Gdansk Airport, Hampton Warsaw Airport, Hilton DaNang Vietnam, Hilton Garden Inn Hanoi |
| Hilton Surpass Card | 130,000 points and 1 free night certificate | 139,000 | 1 | Hampton Inn York, Hilton Garden Inn Palm Springs, Hampton Inn Miami Midtown, Doubletree Chicago – Oak Brook, Hampton Berlin City Centre, Hampton Krakow, Hilton Garden Inn Vienna, Double Tree Kuala Lumpur, Hampton Bogota, Hilton Bangalore, Conrad Pune |
| Hilton Aspire Card | 175,000 points and 1 free night certificate | 193,000 | 1 | Embassy Suites by Hilton San Diego Bay Downtown, Hilton Garden Inn New Orleans French Quarter, Homewood suites Austin Downtown, Hampton Amsterdam Schipol Airport, DoubleTree Edinburgh, Conrad Bangkok, Hilton Buenos Aires, Hilton Garden Inn Dubai Mall of the Emirates, Hilton Cape Town City Centre |
SEASONALITY
Like with any other hotel chain, you will see fluctuations in prices based on how soon or which date you’re booking during the year. The exact points price may be slightly different, but the tool does a good job in helping you get a decent idea of what the pricing would look like.
TOPPING UP
If you’re falling short by a few points, you always have a couple of options:
- Transfer your Amex Membership Rewards points to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio
- Buy Hilton points (currently on offer with a 100%) bonus
THE PUNDIT’S MANTRA
As you can see in the examples above, a single credit card bonus can go a long way in helping you book your next trip. In addition to points, you’re also earning valuable free night certificate with these credit card bonuses. You can add another night to your stay at no cost to you. In many cases, a single credit card welcome bonus can give you up to a thousand dollars in value, if you’re able to string together a 6 night trip as mentioned in the examples above.
Depending on your style of travel, you can either dip your toes with the no annual fee Hilton Honors card or opt for the Hilton Aspire card if you’re looking to stay at aspirational properties.
I love using Hilton points and free night certificates to book some really memorable stays at aspirational properties over the last 10 years, which include, but not limited to properties like Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, Waldorf Astoria Rome, Waldorf Astoria Bangkok, Conrad Koh Samui, Conrad Dubai, Grand Wailea Maui and the Hilton Maldives Amingiri.
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The Aspire no longer offers the FNC. Please update the post accordingly.
It still does.