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Hilton Honors increases some hotel points redemption rates with no notice

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Hilton Honors has quietly increased some redemption rates over the last few days, with no notice.

Hilton has no ‘official’ redemption chart any longer, of course.  Rewards are dynamically priced based on the current room rate BUT there is also a cap in place.

This is actually a good system, because it encourages redemptions where you may otherwise not bother.  If a hotel is selling very cheaply for cash in the low season, the cost of a Standard Reward Night will fall too.  The value will be around 0.25p – 0.33p per point.

On peak dates, the cap kicks in.  This is where you can achieve the best value for your points.

I have checked the majority of the Hilton properties in London and there are no changes.  The priciest hotels (Conrad St James, Lincoln Plaza – photo below – and London Hilton on Park Lane) remain capped at 80,000 points.  The cheapest, DoubleTree Greenwich, remains capped at 30,000 points.

However, looking at reports on FlyerTalk it seems that this could be a progressive roll-out rather than a ‘big bang’ change, so perhaps London still has increases to come.  Asia seems to have been particularly badly hit with many properties seeing 10,000 point rises.  It also appears that the vast majority of 10,000 point per night hotels in the US have been moved up to 20,000 points.

I thought I would also look at the ‘exchange rate’ when a hotel is offering redemption rooms for less than the daily cap.  Here are a few London examples for a random date in January 2020 when rates are low and the cap is often not triggered:

Conrad St James – 76,000 points or £235 – 0.31p

The Waldorf Hilton – 71,000 points or £244 – 0.34p

Hampton Waterloo – 46,000 points or £140 – 0.30p

DoubleTree West End – 59,000 points or £162 – 0.27p

DoubleTree Marble Arch – 53,000 points or £164 – 0.31p

Nothing seems to have changed here.  The ‘pence per point’ valuation remains in the range I would expect.  For clarity, the cash price shown is the cheapest non-refundable rate.  Rewards nights ARE cancellable / refundable.  On the other hand, cash nights earn points as well.

If there is something to learn from this it is that Hilton Honors does not feel that it has to give advance notice of changes to the points ‘cap’ on any particular hotel.  If you are considering a Hilton redemption and you have the points in your account, you should book it.

There is no downside – you can cancel at any point for an instant refund – and plenty of upside should the price sneak up.

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. 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.)

Category

Hilton Honors

Comments (191)

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

  • BJ says:
    11 Jun11 June 06:03

    I’m always left baffled by your Hilton points valuation. I don’t doubt the examples you always quote to support it but there are questions as to how representative they are. The lowest I have achieved in the past four years is 0.53ppp for a wide scatter of hotels including around a dozen in the UK, Copenhagen, Brussels, Prague, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur amongst others. Admittedly though, I now feel this coming under pressure.

  • Hilton Honors Customer Service Sucks says:
    11 Jun11 June 06:09

    Don’t always assume reward nights can be cancelled at any time. I’ve often seen restrictions.

    • Dan says:
      11 Jun11 June 06:51

      I was just going to say the same thing! I booked 3 nights for points in Edinburgh in August and this is not cancellable due to ‘high demand during this period’. Understandable in some ways, but I actually found this out when trying to add an additional 2 nights to my stay – which took me escalating my complaint to the hotel manager to get them to relent, cancel my booking and rebook the 5 nights with points.

      • Doug M says:
        11 Jun11 June 11:02

        So at the times they are most likely to be able to resell the room, and probably for more money, they restrict cancellation.

    • BJ says:
      11 Jun11 June 06:53

      Yes, got to watch out for this, especially for reservations in cities during major events. Almost got caught out with these practices twice

  • Howard says:
    11 Jun11 June 07:02

    sorry to be off topic…Re Groupon Iberia Avios

    I bought 35,000 on 20th May and the voucher came within the hour which I redeemed.

    No points on my Iberia Account. I have contacted Groupon and Iberia.

    Groupon say points should have arrived…and as its redeemed nothing they can do and Iberia say we have not received the points…

    Apart from a chargeback (I paid with Capital on Tap if that is possible) what can I do?

    Thanks
    Howard

    • Anna says:
      11 Jun11 June 08:08

      I redeemed 3 coupons during the offer last winter; 2 posted within 10 days but the 3rd took 5 weeks so it does seem a bit hit and miss!

  • Peter says:
    11 Jun11 June 07:22

    Addison Lee will be about £5 more expensive than Uber/Kapten/ViaVan on a £11 journey so no real value there. Waiting time will probably be longer so actually an even worse deal.

    Addison Lee are also known for their hostility towards cyclists.

    • David says:
      11 Jun11 June 07:42

      Are Uber drivers particularly friendly towards cyclists? I’ve hit more Uber passengers than AddLee, when they decide to get out in the middle of the road…

    • Doug M says:
      11 Jun11 June 15:31

      As a regular London cyclist I can offer in my experience AL drivers always draw extra attention. They seems to have a greater likelihood of trying to swerve round things on the inside without the tiresome need to glance in the mirror.

  • ao40 says:
    11 Jun11 June 07:34

    Doubletree Greenwich has increased to 40k, rather than staying at 30k.

    I only noticed as I happened to make a redemption booking the day before the rates went up!

    • Rob says:
      11 Jun11 June 08:01

      When did you see this? I looked AM yesterday and it was 30k.

      • ao40 says:
        11 Jun11 June 19:42

        Last few days. Checked a bunch of random dates again now and showing as 40k standard, with one date at 36k due to reduced cash rates.

        • Rob says:
          11 Jun11 June 20:12

          You’re right. Update coming tomorrow. I think I may have looked at a day which was cheap and where it just came out at 30k as a fluke.

  • xcalx says:
    11 Jun11 June 07:38

    OT I have a Marriott cat 6 (old) certificate that is due to expire on 01 August and would like some advice on my options.

    1 Can I book a stay after this date or get the cert date extended.
    2 I understand this cert is now downgraded to a new cat 4, how should I approach Marriott for a partial refund.
    3 What is the best Marriott phone number to redeem the voucher

    Any other advise re using the certificate would also be welcome
    Thanks.

    • MarkH says:
      11 Jun11 June 08:19

      I have a similar problem except I have an old Cat 8, which converts to new Cat 5 + 30k bonvoy refund.

      Previous reports indicated that when converting the cert you get another year of validity, which is why I’ve sat on it as didn’t have anything immediate to redeem on.

      Even if that’s not the case, if you have a specific redemption in mind they may be more flexible in applying it past the original expiry.

      I’ve also read some people managing to get new Cat 6 from Cat 8 (with no points refund) but it seems this is more likely if you are applying the voucher to a stay at the same time. So you may be able to get new Cat 5.

      The number I’ve used in the past is 020 7012 7312

      • xcalx says:
        11 Jun11 June 08:39

        Thanks for this info,
        I am in the same position, plans to use cert last year changed and I have no plans to use in the near future. I will call Marriott and hopefully when the new cat 4 cert is issued I will have a further 12 month before it expires.

    • Nick M says:
      11 Jun11 June 13:19

      There’s a thread on Flyertalk which outlines the best process to follow – it’s worth reading through… when you “convert” your certificate you should get another year validity added on.

      It may also be worth arguing that you were expecting to be able to use the voucher at a Category 6 hotel… but it may make sense to have redemption options in mind as CS can be fairly rigid in what they can/can’t do.

      Call the London number, ideally in the morning

  • Shoestring says:
    11 Jun11 June 07:44

    Explore a world of benefits and enjoy a welcome bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points when you upgrade1 to The Platinum Card® from American Express, and spend ***£4,000*** in your first three months. Annual fee: £575

    • JS says:
      11 Jun11 June 07:52

      Yup, the easy upgrade route is easy no longer…

    • Memesweeper says:
      11 Jun11 June 07:57

      Oh boy. Any idea when the bar was raised? I thought I was chasing a grand in spend…

      • Rob says:
        11 Jun11 June 07:57

        Last night.

      • Shoestring says:
        11 Jun11 June 10:15

        The use of ‘was’ indicates you already received the Plat, in which case your bar is still £1000. It’s only for applications after last night that it’s £4000.

        • Binks says:
          11 Jun11 June 22:00

          OMG a can’t believe that one. I recently applied for the green and was waiting for the annual charge to hit before upgrade! Another shocking change from Amex this year! Wonder what the rest of 2019 will bring.

    • BJ says:
      11 Jun11 June 08:03

      Ouch first mistake of the year for me, had a feeling for something like this but decided to risk it 🙁

      • Shoestring says:
        11 Jun11 June 08:15

        yep delays it for me, will probs wait until next year’s tax bill arrives just to make it easy

        handy tip for anybody wanting a bit of MS – you can overpay your council tax, no problem there at all, once I did this and got a phone call asking me what I wanted doing with the extra money & why had I overpaid? (I asked for a cheque & said my wife & I had got mxed up 🙂 ); another time they just sent me a cheque without asking; last year they just let the overpayment sit there, I guess it was about £600, so obvs this year’s council tax bill had already got £600 pre-paid when the bill arrived.

        • Shoestring says:
          11 Jun11 June 08:15

          *council tax bill

        • BJ says:
          11 Jun11 June 08:31

          Not difficult to hit the spend, especially since few of us now have other amex spend targets on the go lol Timing is the issue for me, will I keep green for the year and them upgrade in month 13 or just do it soon, who knows, in some ways hard to care, amex have spoiled the fun. Might start doing competitions for fun soon instead of points and miles.

        • Shoestring says:
          11 Jun11 June 08:38

          …also, if you’re a car owner, getting the Morrison’s vouchers with the current Amex offer could be a decent MS opp, between us I guess my wife & I use about £2000 a year in diesel so that’s a good chunk & a good saving, we’ve only got 5% on the Gold cards but others have more (7%, 10%). I think Plat cards were one of the commoner cards to get the offer.

          • Polly says:
            11 Jun11 June 09:31

            Only got 5 on all our cards. Didn’t even know others got 7 and 10.
            That 10% was good around Xmas. Bought loads of those paper vouchers….useful MS too.

          • Andrew says:
            11 Jun11 June 10:13

            10% on Halifax + 10% Next Jump instore for me at Morrisons at the moment.

            Shame the nearest one is an hour’s return drive…

          • Shoestring says:
            11 Jun11 June 10:21

            10% on Halifax card already in the bag. I don’t think we’ll use 10% at Butlins 🙂

            Nor 10% at Waitrose, for that matter – too far plus I don’t like their prices anyway.

            Other offers aren’t too bad but when you get 5% at Co-Op, ignore it and they’ll give you 10% next time.

          • Doug M says:
            11 Jun11 June 11:06

            I got 7% on Plat and 10% on Gold. I find the offers still to be quite random, and not favour the more expensive card.

          • Harry T says:
            11 Jun11 June 19:20

            Planning to buy some Morrisons gift cards for diesel tonight (10% off on Platinum)! Going to fuel up both our cars in conjunction with the 5p off per litre offer.

          • Harry T says:
            11 Jun11 June 19:21

            Out of curiosity, how much money did you drop on vouchers? I’m sort of worried they’ll stop allowing them to be used for fuel in the future.

          • Shoestring says:
            11 Jun11 June 19:27

            they’re not bothered – I asked if £300 was a problem (at the kiosk) and they said not at all, one of the local businesses comes in every month to buy £1000 as staff incentives

          • Shoestring says:
            11 Jun11 June 19:31

            …which sounds sort of tax free for the staff concerned! good luck to them 🙂

          • Harry T says:
            11 Jun11 June 19:42

            Excellent, I shall drop some money on them later. Probably going to buy a load of Morrisons vouchers and John Lewis/Waitrose/Amazon gift cards just before the offer ends. 10% is too good to waste. Almost a shame some spend needs to go towards the Virgin bonus this month.

      • Titus Adduxas says:
        11 Jun11 June 08:28

        You need to read HFP daily BJ! Rob’s mentioned this a few times in the last week or so; I even think it was pinned at the top for a few days.

        • Rob says:
          11 Jun11 June 08:31

          No-one said the Green to Plat upgrade was changing to £4K …

          • Polly says:
            11 Jun11 June 09:24

            No one knew! But l think it was advised to upgrade before the 11th, to get the older 1k /20k spend allowance. I decided to apply Sunday night, but don’t know if approved or not. Will just cancel it, after a couple of referrals if it’s the higher charge on my Plat.

      • Zoe says:
        11 Jun11 June 08:29

        Remind me how many points my husband would get referring me to Green from his Platinum? Is there something he could refer himself for before he cancels? ( we have both had / have BA within the last 2 years)

    • Anna says:
      11 Jun11 June 08:11

      Is it still 35,000 sign up for being referred straight to Platinum? I was toying with the Green route but now think we’ll just both wait 2 years, hit the £4k asap and cancel.

      • Replicable Username says:
        11 Jun11 June 08:22

        It is for now, but let’s see how it looks in 2021…

        • Anna says:
          11 Jun11 June 08:34

          Thanks to HFP we’ve very healthy balances of avios, hotel points and 2 4 1/upgrade vouchers which will last us well into 2021 so for now we’re just holding on to 1 BAPP, 1 SPG and the Lloyds cards (still no letter for me!) and see how the land lies in 2 years.

    • Michael says:
      11 Jun11 June 08:41

      Glad I did this one last month under the £1k rules. 20k MR, 2 Centurion Lounge visits and 2 Priority Pass lounge visits for £40 (how much I card fee I had to pay after refund).

    • Dave says:
      11 Jun11 June 08:52

      I applied last week but application is still processing. Anyone know if this means i’ll have to spend £4k v £1k when i signed up?

      • Michael says:
        11 Jun11 June 09:01

        Probably not if you signed up under the old terms – if they changed yesterday as stated above you would deffo have a case for only having to spend £1k.

      • Tracy says:
        11 Jun11 June 09:24

        I applied 2 weeks ago and got refused 😳. First refusal ever…..was told I could write and appeal. Makes sense now…..

    • guesswho2000 says:
      11 Jun11 June 09:19

      Timely reminder to request a metal replacement to my plastic Platinum card! Amex were very helpful, and happy to deliver the card overseas.

      I’d been holding off replacing the plastic card which I’ve somehow folded having thrown it into my bag in the HKG Centurion lounge, I didn’t /just/ want the metal one…

    • Optimus Prime says:
      11 Jun11 June 10:48

      In the meantime they’re giving targeted transfer bonuses to their US customers… 40% when transferring Amex MR to BA and 50% if transferring to Marriott!

      • Anna says:
        11 Jun11 June 11:12

        On the plus side though, this on top of BA’s eye-watering “fees” on redemptions for Americans, even more of them might decide to leave the avios game and leave more availability for the rest of us!

      • Mr(s) Entitled says:
        11 Jun11 June 20:27

        Amex did a 50% bonus to Hilton at the turn of the year in the UK, albeit targeted.

  • TripRep says:
    11 Jun11 June 07:56

    The 10k Hampton I use on the West Coast of Florida has doubled to 20k, luckily I got wind of these changes a month ago and booked it at 10k.

    Rob – doing a tour of your old stomping ground at the moment. Stayed at DT Sheffield Park the other night, £57, upgraded to a suite, free breakfast, 4x (four) drinks vouchers for the bar 🙂 Pool/spa okay but a bit small. Restaurant closed for full refurb so breakfast was slow.

    Now trying out DT Forest Pines, newly refurbished for joining the chain. £90, King Suite upgrade, HH Gold= free breakfast, complementary beers + wine in suite fridge. Trying out the pool/spa later after lunch (late checkout)

    Staff at both places really friendly and helpful.

    • Dan says:
      11 Jun11 June 08:15

      Would be interested in any thoughts about forest pines once you’ve finished your stay TripRep? It’s about 20 minutes down the road from me so ideal for family, if it’s an acceptable standard

      • Replicable Username says:
        11 Jun11 June 08:27

        I’ve stayed there. It’s popular with air crew from a nearby airport, Humber I think.

        Has very long corridors and walks to and from rooms. Staff friendly. Rooms average. Restaurant food was edible but not worth the bill. Nice pool, sauna and steam room.

        • TripRep says:
          11 Jun11 June 10:01

          Actually we were in the restaurant at DT FPs last night, Sea Bass for Mrs TR and Shoulder of Beef for me, £16 each, both really good, nice presentation, portions didn’t look huge but was full afterwards.

          The King Suite we are in is quite the hike, but great room, feels recently refurbished, nice bath and separate shower/0wet area

          Breakfast was decent, unable to make me an omelette, but poached eggs made to order and smoked salmon provided on request despite originally being told DTs don’t do this. (Not in my experience)

          As you’d expect heeps of golfers here, not sure how many are on the attached course, been hosing it down for 24hrs straight. ::-D

      • TripRep says:
        11 Jun11 June 13:20

        +1 on the DT FPs swimming pool/sauna/steam room. Receptionist allowed us to use after checkout, busy with the rain still on.
        Rectangular Pool is probs 20m, not too warm either, so decent for a swim. Jacuzzi reopens after upgrade later this week.

    • Anna says:
      11 Jun11 June 08:17

      +1 – HGI Vienna South has also doubled to 20,000 points. I’ve got 2 nights booked in December at the old rate, which is an absolute bargain as the flexible cash rate also seems to have increased heftily to 199 euros per night!

    • Doug M says:
      11 Jun11 June 11:10

      Which Hampton in Florida, always interested in recommendations.

      • TripRep says:
        11 Jun11 June 11:27

        Spring Hill on US19, 40 mins drive north of Clearwater, useful tactical stay after a day on St Pete Beach before driving up to the Nature Coast

        • Doug M says:
          11 Jun11 June 15:41

          Cheers. Good to file away for when in the area. Randomly OT I stayed at the Residence Inn in Clearwater for a night a couple of years back, first time not at the beach. Wow. Scientology central. I like to walk around to see an area, people either appeared homeless, or were dressed as these clones, which a quick google revealed to be L. Ron’s boys and girls. Shockingly huge buildings they seem to have, doubtless running an evil empire needs a lot of office space.

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