Four small reasons why the Hilton Honors hotel loyalty scheme got better yesterday

Hilton Honors made four small improvements to its programme yesterday.  They have not made a big song and dance about any of this, and I’m not sure if they even intend to contact members directly.

The announcement was made in this Flyertalk thread although the first change is not mentioned there.

This is what is changing:

The expiry rule was pushed out to 15 months

You previously had to earn, purchase or donate 1 Hilton Honors point every 12 months to retain your points.  This has now been extended to 15 months.

Whilst this may seem a little odd, it does have some logic behind it.  There are people who will do one Hilton stay every year – perhaps a place they visit every Summer – and 12 months could be an arbitrary cut off.

I have a similar issue with Jumeirah Hotels.  We generally stay in a Jumeirah property during October half-term each year.  Jumeirah Sirius points have a one year expiry.  Last year, because the school holiday was later than usual, I had to have coffee in their London hotel to earn a handful of points to keep my main stash alive.

Earn on food and drink spend at Hampton and other ‘limited service’ brands

For most HfP readers, the biggest change is that you now earn points on incidental spend at Hampton by Hilton hotels.  The Hampton brand has been rolling out strongly in Europe in recent years and I am a fan – the hotels are generally good quality and a step above your typical Holiday Inn Express.

The inability to earn points on food and drink spend was a shame.  This has now changed.

The same change applies at:

• Tru by Hilton
• Home2 Suites by Hilton
• Homewood Suites by Hilton

….. although you are unlikely to come across any of these brands outside North America.

Earn credit on more multiple rooms

You can now earn base points on up to four rooms per night.  The previous limit was two rooms per night.

I assume that you don’t get any status bonus on rooms 2 to 4.  I also assume that, as is currently the rule, all rooms need to be merged into one bill at check-out.

To be honest, ever since Hilton allowed the free transfer of points between members last year, this was never an issue anyway.  You could simply book additional rooms in the names of the actual guests and then transfer the points to your own account afterwards.  The process is easier now, however.

The cap of 100,000 base points per stay has been removed

OK, this is unlikely to trouble most people, given that you had to spend $10,000 before tax to earn 100,000 base points.

It was an issue for people staying at ‘extended stay’ brands who may be there for a number of months.  You would previously have had to check out for one day and then check back in again after missing a night in order to reset the counter.  Again, this is a change which you could previously work around but your life is now easier because it isn’t necessary.

And don’t forget …..

Hilton’s new bonus points promotion, ‘Points Unlimited’, launched on Monday.  You earn 2,000 bonus points per stay with an additional 10,000 bonus points for every 10 nights by 3rd May.  Existing bookings count and all brands are included.  You can register here.

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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.

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:

• 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)

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.)