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Hilton Honors quietly DOUBLES the price of many of its cheapest redemptions

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Hilton Honors has, with no announcement, made substantial increases to the points required to stay at many of its cheapest hotels.

These have been slipped through over the last 48 hours.

As of last week, there were seven UK hotels – I think – which cost 10,000 Hilton Honors points per night:

  • Hampton by Hilton Liverpool / John Lennon Airport
  • DoubleTree by Hilton Newcastle International Airport
  • Hampton by Hilton Newcastle
  • Hampton by Hilton Newport
  • Hampton by Hilton Corby / Kettering
  • DoubleTree by Hilton Sheffield Park
  • Hampton by Hilton Sheffield

Six of them now have a maximum price of 20,000 Hilton Honors points per night. They will be cheaper than 20,000 points on nights when the room rate is under circa £65.  Newport is the only one still showing at 10,000 points.

It isn’t clear how many of the 150 x 10,000 point hotels globally have been raised to 20,000 points, although I have found other examples such as the Hilton Salalah Resort in Oman.  This used to be 5,000 points per night until recently, but jumped to 10,000 points.  It is now 20,000 points.

I randomly checked the six hotels in Malaysia which used to be 10,000 points.   Two are now showing as 20,000 points whilst four remain at 10,000 points.

Some (many?) of the 5,000 point per night hotels globally have also been raised to 10,000 points.

Many of these hotels were, of course, disproportionately cheap at 5,000 or 10,000 points per night.  With the main Hilton in Sheffield costing 30,000 points, having the new Hampton at 10,000 points made little sense as the cash difference was certainly not 3x.  That said, keeping a few bargains in the portfolio does no harm in keeping people interested in the programme.  Giving no notice just continues to undermine trust in the programme.


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

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.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

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:

and for small business owners:

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.)

Comments (134)

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  • Scott S says:

    I’ve stayed at the Hampton Liverpool Airport a few times on points alone and by paying cash (sometimes a third of the price of Manchester hotels on football nights etc.)
    Was very cost effective a while ago when Hilton were selling points with a 100% bonus, so a room ranging from an average £77-£160 a night, could have been picked up for around £37. Even better if you stayed 4 nights with the 5th night free.
    £3 a day parking on top of that (and bridge tolls should you come across the Mersey) but still a bargain they couldn’t have been making money from.

    Worked well for me as Hilton was giving a bonus at the same time for stays so earned a few 1000 points back.

    • James A says:

      I have stayed many times at that hotel and have never been charged for the car park as a gold/diamond. Last stay was around 6 months ago though.

      • paulm says:

        Was earlier this year they started it I think. The £3 is for honors members otherwise £5

  • Mr dee says:

    Also most of the cheap redemptions now say call to book hope this changes as it sounds like a way to avoid pints stays

  • Mr dee says:

    I blame all the 100% bonuses some smart person decided we will increase the redemption amounts by 100% to compensate, I would be asking for compensation if I just purchased on their promo.

    • AT says:

      Exactly. They knew what they were doing. Let’s sell a load of points at half price because we’re going to double the redemption cost.

      This was planned and thus deceitful. It’s a poor way to behave.

    • Alan says:

      Plus remember the US Hilton points credit card earning rates are massively higher than over here so they have a very high inflation that the scheme is trying to offset with these changes, sadly not great for those of us that can’t earn at such high rates!

  • Paul says:

    no
    Oman now 20000 points…I stay where for 5000 points per night, and in March they incise to 10000 which was also good redemption but now….

  • John says:

    Lots of 20000 points hotels are now 30000 too – but theycan be 25K or so when paid rates are cheaper due to the flexible rate thing

  • AT says:

    The two jokes are the Sheffield Hilton at 30k when it’s not even good enough to be 5k, and Hilton Honors doing this without warning.

    The lack of warning makes you view the scheme as more risky and less stable, and so it drops down your list of preferred options and they get a lot less of my cash stays.

    At least its not as bad as the way Curve have screwed everyone by making it impossible to pay taxes and by causing some transactions to be hit with cash advance fees and interest where previously there was none, without any notice at all. Curve now has very little to offer and has demonstrated very clearly that they can not be trusted. They are a financial business and you can not trust them.

    Trust. It’s important.

    • Rob says:

      No one has yet been charged a Curve withdrawal fee.

      • John says:

        Because it’s Sunday… also Don’t fees only show up when you get a statement?

      • AT says:

        They’ve stated (in a blog post rather than by actually telling their customers) that cash withdrawals that used to charge as a purchase will now charge as cash advance. Anyone who uses an ATM as before without having heard about this change will incur a charge. They’ve effectively changed the terms and instead of telling their customers they’ve just mentioned it in a blog post that most users probably wont see.

        • Rob says:

          That’s not what it says. Like Revolut, they are now coded in such a way that a card company can choose to treat them as cash if it wants.

          Like Revolut top ups, some card companies will choose to charge and others will not.

          No-one has reported a charge yet.

      • AT says:

        “For example, your card issuer will be able to identify cash withdrawals from your payment card, therefore withdrawing cash from a credit card is not recommended.”

        Seems pretty clear to me. They’ve changed from “cash withdrawals are OK” to “cash withdrawals are probably not OK”, without telling their customers.

        That’s the important part – without telling their customers. A blog post isn’t adequate.

        Just like offering points for sale then cutting their value just days later. It’s a nasty way to operate.

        • shd says:

          Curve are still looking for a business model, since processing credit card transactions at debit card rates isn’t one.

  • mr dee says:

    Well I am glad that I haven’t brought any points for many years now, sad to see many destinations gone up in price though especially without notice but this is the points game I guess….

  • Bob says:

    O/T Humbly seeking your opinions/thoughts/suggestions :
    Seriously thinking of ditching BAPP/avios and switching to Virgin airmiles 241.
    I having been ‘doing’ Avios for over 10 years and it has served my family and I well over the years, albeit seen BA service and airmiles/avios devalued over the years including the addition of tax to redemptions (but that is not exclusive to BA in fairness).
    I have been looking at Virgin airmiles and working out if it is just as easy / practical to earn V miles living near regional airports (GLA and EDI) also the availability as well for rewards/companion seats on regional to London based airports flights.
    What are your thoughts/knowledge on the following: 1. Can I use my 241 from EDI as part of my long haul flights?
    2. Do Virgin flights have the same limited 4 seats per flight for companion/rewards tickets?
    3. I’m l daft to switch just because I’ve being doing it for so long and it might be I just want a change and that’s not good enough a reason?
    Thanks in advance for indulging me with this conundrum!

    • mr dee says:

      No harm in diversifying

      • TripRep says:

        Bob, presumably you’ve read HFP articles on Virgin, the new loyalty scheme and credit card offers.

        If not you can find links to them here searching for “Virgin”

        https://headforpoints.com/top-posts/

        • Graham Walsh says:

          Just trying to work out the Club card savings. The terms just reference one brand of travel is not allowed.

          Bob – just be aware of the limitation of the 241 on VS. You can only fly in the class you have status for. Can’t redeem in Upper if not Gold.

      • swhostring says:

        Yep – do both. I kept alive 100K Virgin miles for nearly 20 years – I had to park them somewhere when I gave back my corporate Amex card – but had no use for them. Having built up my Avios stash, a couple of years ago I decided to put some energy into collecting V-miles as well, I think my wife & I now have something not too far short of 1M. It was easier with Tesco Clubcard promotions (which have now disappeared) but you can still get some useful points with wine, financial products etc. Plus I have high hopes for 720,000 V-miles on Tesco Xmas Saver this year (2x £360), why not give it a go, you can’t really lose, ie worst case scenario it doesn’t work & just ties up some money.

        • TripRep says:

          Any further details on the calculations for 720000 miles

          Sounds unbelievable…

        • swhostring says:

          My mistake – it’s £720 Clubcard points, so 172800 V-miles, 207360 with the 20% bonus. 0.347p/ point.

          Check your Gmail.

        • swhostring says:

          Check your Gmail.

        • swhostring says:

          @Matt B – you can’t do it directly like that. My mistake on the math, it’s 207360 miles for £720 = 0.347p

        • AT says:

          Terms and conditions item 4:

          “Clubcard points are not collected on cash top-ups. Christmas savers top-up vouchers cannot be used on Clubcard partners or converted into Airmiles/BA miles.”

        • curious says:

          Care to share the plan then?

        • Genghis says:

          All of these terms. Only use the terms if they’re to your advantage…

      • Bob says:

        Thanks to everyone so far.
        More info:
        Triprep, i have read the links, thank you. I would be applying for the Virgin CC with the annual fee £160 to get the 241 comp. ticket. Destinations differ year on year, but thinking of Japan for the next one, class is eco or PE.
        swhostring: tell me more please about getting 720K v-miles on tesco xmas saver (2x£360)??

        • Alan says:

          For Japan I’d consider using your VS miles to go ANA business or first (see recent article by Rob)

    • TripRep says:

      Bob, more info required… it very much depends where your usual destinations are and how frequently you fly and your preferred class of travel.

      The 241 is only for Gold’s AFAIAA.

      Doubt that it includes domestic connection.

      IIRC GLA only has MCO as a direct destination and it’s not all year round either.

      • Alan says:

        Domestic connections are no longer on redemption tickets since Little Red closed. You can buy a codeshare ticket on Flybe to LHR for either VS or SQ, but only on paid-for tickets.

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