Hilton HHonors ‘fixed miles’ option now no longer available

The Hilton HHonors option of earning ‘Points and Fixed Airline Miles’ ended on January 6th.  This change was originally announced last November.

‘Points and Fixed Airline Miles’ was a generous deal for short stays, especially overnight stops in cheap properties.  Both Virgin Atlantic and, back in the day, BMI allowed you to earn 1,000 miles.  British Airways offered 500 Avios.

You now have only two collection options at Hilton Family properties:

“Points and Points” – you will receive 10 Hilton HHonors points per $1 plus a bonus of 5 points per $1

“Points and Variable Miles” – you will receive 10 Hilton HHonors points per $1 plus 1-2 airline miles per $1

You can set your earnings preference in your Hilton HHonors profile, and you can change it from stay to stay.

• For BA Avios, the airline rate is 1 mile per $1
• For Iberia Avios, the airline rate is 15 miles per $10 (so don’t credit to BA!)
• For Virgin Flying Club, the airline rate is 2 miles per $1

The rates for other airlines can be found here.

I tend to value a Hilton point at 0.3p.  You might do better, possibly 0.5p if you can get ‘cash and points’ for your chosen hotel when you redeem, but not all hotels offer that.  On that basis, I would suggest:

An Avios collector is better off taking ‘Points and Points’ in Iberia as I do not value 1.5 Avios (1.2p-1.5p) higher than 5 Hilton points (1.5p or more with ‘cash and points’).

A Virgin collector is probably better off taking ‘Points and Variable Miles’, as I would value 2 Flying Club miles (1.5p-2p) higher than 5 Hilton points (1.5p) unless you were confident of getting ‘cash and points’ redemptions.

This change is not the end of the world – Hilton remains, after all, the only programme where you can collect points and airline miles.

You also have the option to not take any airline miles at all and earn a larger number of Hilton points instead, although since they were devalued it is debatable if you want to build up those too much. 

Hilton lost a lot of friends back in February 2013 when it unveiled a massive devaluation of the Hilton HHonors programme.  Prices of rooms at top properties jumped from 50,000 points to a maximum of 95,000 points …..

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How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)