What do my recent Hilton redemptions say about the value of a Hilton Honors point?

EDIT:  This article was published in 2015. We published a detailed 2023 article on ‘What is a Hilton Honors point worth?’ which you can find here.

I’ve done two Hilton Honors redemption stays in the past week – my first visits to Hilton properties since our impressive stay at Hilton St Georges Park when we visited Thomas (the Tank Engine) Land last year.

I thought I would look at these two redemptions in the context the ‘0.3p per Hilton Honors point’ valuation (0.5p for ‘cash and points’) which I often quote on Head for Points.  Does it stand up to scrutiny?

Hilton London Syon Park on Hilton Honors points

The first stay was last Saturday night at Hilton London Syon Park.  I will write a full review of this property in a few days.  We needed to get out of the house for a night due to over-running building work and I was keen to see how the hotel had changed since it was downgraded from a Waldorf-Astoria in 2013.

I need to confess something.  I screwed up this reservation.

We only decided to go on the Thursday when it was clear the builders were not going anywhere.  I looked on the Hilton website and saw it was still in the Summer Sale at £160 per night or 60,000 points.  We needed two connecting rooms so that was £320.  Using cash was a no-brainer.

However, if I paid with my Hilton credit card then I would get 2,500 bonus points (your first four stays in your first year of the credit card earn this bonus).  I put off booking until I got home and could get the card number …. only to find the sale rates pulled.  Disaster.

I was now looking at £240 or 60,000 Hilton Honors points per room.  That works out at 0.4p per Hilton Honors point, so a little more than my 0.3p valuation.

However … some Hilton properties offer a 2nd room for children at half-price if you call.  If that had been available – I didn’t ring to ask – it would have brought the total cost for two rooms to £360 or 120,000 points.  That is exactly 0.3p.  It would also have been 0.3p of value based on the sale rate which was pulled literally 2-3 hours before I booked.

At the end of the day, I was happy to use points for this one.  There was a psychological barrier to paying £480 for a sub-24 hour stay at a hotel 7 miles from my house.

Reichshof Hamburg, Curio Collection by Hilton on Honors points

On Tuesday night, I was in Hamburg.  Being on my own, and not arriving until 5.30pm, I wasn’t keen to spend cash but I also wanted something smart.  The hugely expensive refurbishment of the art deco Reichshof hotel seemed to fit the bill.

I had written about the Reichshof and the new Hilton ‘Curio Collection’ here.  The opening date was meant to be May but got pushed back to August.  However, I found out over the weekend that it had now opened.

Even better, ‘cash and points’ rates were showing.  The best cash rate was €149 – which itself is low as the hotel has just opened and needs to attract visitors.  The ‘cash and points’ rate was €47 plus 12,000 Hilton HHonors points.

This was a good result.  I was getting 0.85 Eurocents per Hilton point.  You can’t complain on that basis.

(0.85 Eurocents is, not coincidentally, in line with the 0.5p per Hilton point I often quote as my target on a ‘cash and points’ redemption.)

You can learn more about the Reichshof on its website here.  My review is on the way.

What is a Hilton Honors point worth?

Whilst these were two totally different redemptions, they justified (roughly) my target valuations of 0.3p per Hilton Honors points for a ‘full’ redemption and 0.5p for a ‘cash and points’ redemption.

Before anyone asks ….. were my Hilton Gold benefits provided?

Syon Park– no upgrade (claimed to be busy with a wedding, but I’ve never been to a wedding where the guests booked all the expensive rooms and left the cheap ones behind!), free breakfast provided (and they do an impressive spread), 4 x £10 free drink vouchers provided (2 per room), 2pm check-out given on one of the two rooms we booked.  Overall view – happy.

Reichshof – upgraded to a large room (but was told it was ‘because we not full’, my Gold status was not mentioned!) and later to a Junior Suite after some ‘issues’, free breakfast provided, 2pm check-out provided.  Overall view – happy.

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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.)