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You don’t pay resort fees on Hilton Honors redemptions

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I have been in Washington this week at Hilton’s HQ to find out more about what the company is doing.  More from this trip will follow.

There was one thing I learned on Tuesday which I didn’t know, and which none of the other writers in the room knew either.  There are no resort fees to pay on a Hilton Honors redemption when you pay 100% with points.

As we have written about recently, ‘resort fees’ have started to appear in New York of late as well as their traditional haunts of Las Vegas and Hawaii.  If you book a Hilton Honors redemption, however, Hilton pays this fee directly to the hotel on your behalf.

Hilton has done a bad job of promoting this benefit, because it could make a real difference to your thinking when deciding whether to book a cash or reward stay.  Now you know.

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How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (March 2025)

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

There are two dedicated Hilton Honors debit cards. These are especially attractive when spending abroad due to the 0% or 0.5% FX fee, depending on card.

You also receive FREE Hilton Honors status for as long as you hold the debit cards – Gold status with the Plus card and Silver status with the basic card. This is a great reason to apply even if you rarely use it.

We reviewed the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card here and the Hilton Honors Debit Card here.

You can apply for either card here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 30th April 2025, the annual fee on the basic Hilton Honors debit card is halved from £60 to £30. The sign-up bonus is also easier to earn – you need to spend £1,000 either in the UK or abroad within three months. The usual bonus rule requires you to spend the full £1,000 outside the UK.

NEW: Hilton Honors Plus Debit

10,000 bonus points, Hilton Gold status and NO FX fees Read our full review

NEW: Hilton Honors Debit

2,500 bonus points, Hilton Silver status and 0.5% FX fees Read our full review

There is another way of getting Hilton Honors status, and earning Hilton Honors points, from a payment card.

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

and for small business owners:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 60,000 points. You receive 40,000 points when you spend £6,000 within three months and a further 20,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to 120,000 points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. 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.

Category

Hilton Honors

Comments (74)

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

  • Dave Barron says:
    22 Jun22 June 05:04

    Could I just congratulate Rob and Anika for the success of this site. Selling out in only 4 minutes says it all. Please keep up the good work. Personally I couldn’t attend this event but I hope my fellow readers who were lucky enough to get tickets have a fabulous time ????

  • Zed says:
    22 Jun22 June 05:48

    It’s well-known on flyertalk that no resort fees are charged on redemptions…

  • Paul says:
    22 Jun22 June 06:09

    I am new to collecting VS miles having taken out their credit card and took advantage of their 6000 offer for 3 days car hire with Avis.
    The car was booked via their link on the VS web site and was for the requisite 3 days and for the correct group etc. 5 weeks later and despite providing VS with the receipts and all associated paperwork still no miles.

    Have had an email overnight stating that they now have to contact their partner to ensure no miles awarded to another frequent flyer programme, a process that will take up to 60 days. They then state that they will only contact me if it is rejected.

    As I said, new to Virgin but this experience is putting me off. Are all partner claims this tedious and difficult? They are making BA look professional.

    • Rob says:
      22 Jun22 June 07:28

      Virgin / Avis is historically messy.

    • Rash says:
      22 Jun22 June 07:57

      Ok, so the past 2 bookings have not tracked correctly for me. Just 500 have been sent over, not an additional 5000. I called Avis yesterday on their system they sent over the additional 5000 and asked me to contact Virgin or wait 4 weeks.

      Bare in mind the 4 before these 2 tracked fine and 6,000 points were in my account a week later.

    • Vivian says:
      22 Jun22 June 09:49

      FWIW in February I booked 2 x 2-day hire under the 6,000 miles offer, for a long weekend in June in Boston, and the miles (incl. bonus) credited about a week after I returned the car. This was the first time I associated my FC number with Avis rather than BAEC. On both rentals my FC number was shown on the invoice.

      • Michael Jennings says:
        22 Jun22 June 10:50

        I did more or less the same. First time I had associated my FC with Avis, 2x two day weekends. One of mine was in Portugal and the other in Germany, but no problem and they points all tracked quickly.

    • Rob says:
      22 Jun22 June 12:08

      Try joining Avis’ loyalty scheme (can’t remember name) then put a ‘missing miles’ claim in with them. I had the same prob on their previous 6000 miles offer (over 2 days); claimwd miles posted within a week. All the best.

  • Lax says:
    22 Jun22 June 06:34

    Never had resort fees on redemptions at Hilton.

    Says a lot about how little interest or knowledge of Hilton the writers had that were there.

    Not new news!

  • Mark2 says:
    22 Jun22 June 07:08

    OT
    Remember that if you have the Amex Esso offer it is still on until 15th July and it works every time.
    I have used it about 30 times so far at an Esso station with a Tesco Express attached. I have bought Tesco gift cards which raised the suspicion of the manager who took me in his office as he thought that I was a victim of a scam. Also the statement credits are per day rather than per purchase as normal and intermittent emails. I can now get 10% off petrol at the big Tesco and buy John Lewis gift cards to get 10% off at Waitrose or Amazon gift cards.

    And three plus weeks to go.

    • the_real_a says:
      22 Jun22 June 13:47

      Ive had this the past 3 years but the algorithm doesn’t seem to like me this time.

  • Mike says:
    22 Jun22 June 07:13

    Is there an after market for HFP Summer Party tickets ?

  • David says:
    22 Jun22 June 07:22

    OT: I recall Rob said he was going to hear from Miles & More on Thursday about mileage expiry after the credit cards close down. Any news?

    • Rob says:
      22 Jun22 June 07:25

      Not allowed to say but it was better news than I expected. Letters to arrive within 2 weeks.

  • Rob says:
    22 Jun22 June 07:30

    Cheers Gary

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

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