Bits: Caffe Nero rewards double dip, bargain redemptions at DoubleTree Kuala Lumpur

News in brief:

Double dip on Caffe Nero purchases

A new cashback offer has appeared on a lot of American Express accounts.  You may find this on your online statement page by clicking the ‘Offers’ tab.

You will receive 10% cashback on all purchases at Caffe Nero made before 29th March.  Department store concessions are excluded.

As we wrote last month, Caffe Nero is also the highlight of the new ‘earn Avios from in-store shopping’ service launched over at avios.com.   Once you have registered your credit or charge card with Avios, you receive 10 Avios points per £1 spent at Caffe Nero.

If you register the same American Express card which you used to load the cashback deal, this means that you will receive 10% cashback plus 10 Avios per £1 spent at Caffe Nero until 29th March.

Bargain Hilton redemptions at DoubleTree Kuala Lumpur

The DoubleTree in Kuala Lumpur is generally regarded as one of the best Hilton HHonors redemptions available anywhere in the world.   I haven’t stayed there myself and wouldn’t normally mention it for that reason, but a reader dropped me a note on the hotel last week which made me think that I should give it a plug.

The DoubleTree is a Hilton HHonors Category 2 hotel.  This means that it is just 10,000 Hilton points per night.  KL is not very expensive, of course, so you need to look at this in the context of local rates.  Given my valuation of 0.3p per Hilton point, however, it is still great value.

If you don’t have any Hilton points, you’d need to convert 6,667 Virgin Atlantic miles or 5,000 American Express Membership Rewards points per night.

As with all Hilton redemptions, if you have Hilton status – and you get free Silver status with the free Hilton credit card or free Hilton Gold with American Express Platinum – you get five redemption nights for the points of four.  This means you pay just 8,000 Hilton HHonors points per night on a five night stay.

This is what the reader said:

I have just come back from Kuala Lumpur where I believe I have made my best ever redemption on a Hilton property – DoubleTree KL – and would like to share it, because I think it’s a hot tip to anyone who may have a KL trip planned.

It’s a steal at only 10k points per night.  I booked a basic room and got upgraded to a suite.  This was due to my Hilton Diamond status – which by the way I have to thank you for. I saw your status matching post and requested Hilton whether they would give me Diamond for having Concierge at Carlson, and they did.

The hotel has an executive lounge, accessible to Diamond status holders.  It’s on the 34th floor with amazing views over the city, breakfast is served and there is also a happy hour (free food and drinks) which runs from 5:30-7:30pm each day of the week.

Because we stayed a whole week, it ended up costing me only 8,700 points per night.At this rate, I find it impossible for anyone to go wrong with this hotel. It’s a world apart from any other Hilton property we stayed before.

The hotel home page is here if you want to find out more.  You can see a full list of all Hilton Category 2 (10,000 point per night) hotels here.

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How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (September 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 and they come with generous sign-up bonuses. 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)

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

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.)