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Earn bonus Hilton HHonors points with the IHG Rewards Club Visa credit card

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If you got the IHG Rewards Club Visa credit card when the sign up bonus was tripled recently, here is an interesting little quirk.

The IHG credit card is issued by Barclaycard, who also issue the Hilton HHonors Visa card.

One of the benefits of the Hilton HHonors credit card is that, during the first year of having the card, you receive 2,500 bonus Hilton HHonors points when you pay for a Hilton hotel stay with the Hilton card.  The maximum bonus is 10,000 points.

However ….

hilton Paris Opera

A HfP reader recently stayed at a Hilton and paid with his IHG Visa (he doesn’t have the Hilton card).  This triggered 2,500 bonus Hilton HHonors points.

It seems that the Hilton system cannot differentiate between an IHG and a Hilton Visa.  It isn’t worth getting the IHG card purely to take advantage of this, but if you have it anyway – and find yourself at a Hilton – you may want to pay with it and see what happens.

PS. The photo is of the new Hilton Paris Opera

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

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The Platinum Card from American Express

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Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

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Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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American Express Business Platinum

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American Express Business Gold

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Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

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For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards

Comments (32)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • ComeFlyWithMe123 says:
    30 Apr30 April 09:40

    Slightly OT but anyone know once you have earned Gold via the Hilton VISA (£10K spend in calendar year) and cancel when your status has updated, do they take the status away?

    I’m trying to find more detailed T & C’s but the benefits are summarised as follows:

    Enjoy HHonors Silver status for as long as you are a cardmember. Earn an upgrade to HHonors Gold status any time your total spending reaches £10,000 in a calendar year.

    It suggests you must be a card member to keep the status but we all know it doesn’t always work like this 🙂

    • opal says:
      30 Apr30 April 10:44

      You can cancel it and keep Gold status for the rest of 2015 and whole 2016. Mine was cancelled in September 2014 and my Gold status expires on 31/12/2015.

      • ComeFlyWithMe123 says:
        30 Apr30 April 11:12

        Thanks Opal. I think I’ll take the risk and cancel as soon as I get upgraded to Gold.

        Do you remember how long it took to upgrade your status once you had spent the £10K?

  • Gabbai says:
    30 Apr30 April 09:42

    Who knows maybe, as had reportedly happened with the Club Carlson 30k bonus for a paid stay, you could also get this bonus on a free point stay by making a small charge to your [free] room!

  • Craig says:
    30 Apr30 April 10:03

    I have had a Hilton Visa in the past and collected the maximum 10,000 points. I have the IHG visa too, I have 2 stays next week, I’ll certainly pay using the IHG and see what happens.

  • Andy says:
    30 Apr30 April 13:04

    Hilton’s only or perhaps a Doubletree might trigger it? Staying at the Doubletree Leeds on a hotels.com rewards night so it’s already “paid” (just taxes), but I’ll try and put a couple of drinks on the room, pay with my IHG Visa and report back.

  • Sididdly says:
    30 Apr30 April 20:43

    I recently took out the IHG card for the 60k sign up with no particular intention to use it extensively. As an IHG Platinum I had no targets to hit but the new elite level made me decide that it was worth putting 7.5k on the card to get there and then obviously another 2.5k for the free night would be a no brainer. As a frequent traveller staying at Hiltons I will be interested to see if my last three stays paid for with my IHG card post.

  • What's the Point says:
    7 May7 May 21:09

    I can confirm that a 2,500 Visa bonus has appeared in my Hilton account when using the IHG credit card to pay for a points and cash stay at a Hilton!

  • What's the Point says:
    10 May10 May 17:22

    I also got 4,000 points for a free night redemption at the Waldorf – based on the 2 current promos running!

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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