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Review: Is Hilton Honors the best hotel loyalty scheme? (Part 1)

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This is the second part of our overview series looking at the main hotel loyalty schemes.  Each scheme will be covered over two articles on consecutive days. One will list the basic facts of the scheme  – basically ‘How does Hilton Honors work?‘ – the other, published tomorrow, will be my subjective view of what is of particular merit.

Hilton Honors covers 8,300+ hotels globally under 24 main brands including Waldorf Astoria, LXR, Conrad, Hilton, Hilton Grand Vacation, Embassy Suites, DoubleTree, Graduate Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn, Canopy, Curio, Tru, Tapestry Collection and Home2Suites.  New brands include Signia (convention focused), Tempo, Spark (economy), LivSmart (budget extended stay) and Motto (group focused). There is also a new partnership with Small Luxury Hotels.

The Hilton Honors website is here.

Hilton Honors review

What is the geographic spread?

The European properties are mainly branded Hampton and Hilton with a growing number of DoubleTree, Curio and Waldorf Astoria sites. I think Hampton is now the biggest brand globally.

In general, many UK Hilton branded hotels in the regions are tired and in need of refurbishment although newer openings (London Bankside, St George’s Park, Manchester, Woking, Bournemouth) are impressive.

DoubleTree is well regarded in the UK despite technically being one rung below the main Hilton brand. The real gems are popping up in Curio Collection and more recently Tapestry Collection – brands which allow interesting independent hotels to join Hilton whilst retaining a higher degree of autonomy.

The most recent high profile UK Hilton opening, Lost Property St Paul’s in London, is part of Curio (review here). LXR, aimed at larger independent luxury hotels, lost its only UK member – The Biltmore in Mayfair – last year. The launch of Waldorf Astoria London at Admiralty Arch is highly anticipated, and outside the UK we should see the original Waldorf Astoria New York re-open this year.

How does Hilton Honors work?

Do I use them?

I do.  I currently have Hilton Honors Diamond status although it will lapse in March 2025. I originally got this via a Hilton status match, which I outline here.

We had a busy year with Hilton in 2024. Our HfP review stays included Maison Astor Paris (review), Lincoln Plaza London (review), DoubleTree Amsterdam Centraal (review), Hilton Saigon (review), Conrad Osaka (review), Mango House Seychelles (review), Waldorf Astoria Seychelles (review), Canopy Seychelles (review), Hilton Mallorca Galatzo (review), Hilton Molino Stucky Venice (review), Hilton London Tower Bridge (review), Canopy Paris Trocadero (review), Virgin Hotels Las Vegas (review, yes it’s a Hilton!), Arts Hotel Porto (review), Canopy Boston Downtown (review), Hilton Newcastle Gateshead (review), Hilton London Bankside (review), Canopy Cannes (review), Reykjavik Konsulat (review), 100 Queen’s Gate London (review) and Hilton Berlin (review). We certainly got around ….

Looking at UK airport hotels, in recent years HfP has looked at the Hampton at Gatwick Airport which is directly at the North Terminal as well as the Hilton at Gatwick South Terminal, Hilton Heathrow Terminal 4, the Hampton at Stansted Airport, the new Hilton Garden Inn at Heathrow T2 and the Hilton Garden Inn at Hatton Cross / Heathrow.  Click the link for our review of each of these hotels.

Hilton Honors review

As I said, I have been particularly impressed by the hotels in the Curio and Tapestry collections.  Hilton is managing to entice some genuinely good independent hotels to join these ‘soft branded’ chains. I am also fond of Hampton, which I see as a cut above Holiday Inn Express. Whilst I’ve never paid to stay at a Canopy, I’ve toured a few and am impressed by the combination of style and cost.

What are the elite levels in Hilton Honors?

Here is a summary of Hilton Honors elite levels and benefits:

  • Silver – requires 4 stays or 10 nights. Benefits are 20% bonus on base points, free bottled water at most brands.
  • Gold – requires 20 stays or 40 nights or 75,000 base points. Benefits are 80% bonus on base points, ‘preferred’ room of some sort (often just a higher floor or better view, not necessarily next category up), free breakfast (F&B cash credit in the US), additional bonuses from 40+ nights per year.
  • Diamond – requires 30 stays or 60 nights or 120,000 base points. Benefits are 100% bonus on base points, non-guaranteed upgrade, free breakfast (F&B cash credit in the US), free high-speed internet, guaranteed lounge access.  Additional milestone bonuses kick in from 40+ nights per year to encourage you to keep staying after you earn or retain Diamond.

Lifetime Diamond status is available but the criteria are tough. You must earn either 2 million base points or be a Diamond member for at least 10 years and complete 1,000 paid and reward nights at Hilton properties.

Hilton Honors review

Hilton has been running regular status match promotions in recent years. The current version of Hilton’s status match is here.  You get Gold status for 90 days and will retain it if you complete eight (for Gold) or 14 (for Diamond) nights in that time. If you are interested I suggest waiting until April when it should update and offer status to March 2027 instead of the current March 2026.

All elite members receive ‘fifth night free’ when booking reward nights, effectively a 20% discount on a 5-night stay.

Reward stays DO count towards earning status.

Suite upgrades are NOT an elite benefit. I am not saying that a Diamond will never get one, but the hotel has no obligation to do so.

British Airways offers free Diamond status to Gold Guest List members of British Airways Executive Club which – until the BA changes kick in on 1st April – requires you to earn 5,000 tier points in one year (3,000 tier points to renew).

The Platinum Card from American Express offers free Gold status for as long as you retain the card. The Centurion Card, which is invitation only, offers free Diamond status.

The full table of elite benefits is here.  As with all other major brands, you will not receive anything, neither points nor benefits, if you book via a third party website such as Expedia.

You can transfer your points to friends and family without charge. I have found this surprisingly useful, especially as transfers can be done online.  It lets me sweep the handful of points my wife earns each year into my account so they are not wasted.

Long-term Diamond members (10 years) can request a one-off rollover of their status without the need to formally requalify which is handy if changing jobs, taking maternity leave etc.

Elite nights (but not elite stays) roll over if you achieve more than is required to renew your current tier level but not enough to be promoted.  You can also gift status to a friend if you stay more than 60 nights per year.

How do you earn Hilton Honors points?

For each stay, you will earn 10 base points per $1 plus a bonus of:

  • 20% for Silver
  • 80% for Gold
  • 100% for Diamond

Some limited service brands, not present in the UK, have a lower earning rate of 5 points per $1. The new ‘Spark’ chain of ibis-style hotels is, encouragingly, earning at the higher rate of 10 points per $1.

Hilton Honors is always running a major promotion so your average number of points earned per stay will always be higher than the numbers quoted above. See our ‘Top Hotel Bonus Points Offers‘ page for any current offers.

Other Hilton earning partnerships of note include:

Is Hilton Honors the best hotel loyalty scheme?

What are Hilton Honors points worth?

We have an article dedicated to working out what Hilton Honors points are worth which you can find here.

Our mid-case valuation is 0.33p per point but you can do a lot better.

How do you spend Hilton Honors points?

There are now NO published redemption categories. Previously, redemption rates for hotels ran from 5,000 points in Category 1 to 95,000 points in Category 10.

Under the new structure, the number of points required is based on the cash cost of that particular night.  The ‘pence per point’ value varies by hotel but is usually around 0.33p.

Importantly, you can pay with ANY combination of cash and points. If you have 80% of the points for a free night, you can use those and pay 20% of the cash price on top – or vice versa.

However – and this is important – the number of points charged per night at each hotel is capped. This means, for example, that you will never pay more than 150,000 points – and usually nearer to 100,000 points – for a standard room at the top Conrad or Waldorf Astoria hotels irrespective of the cash rate.

The cap is important because it means that you still receive ‘outsize’ value on redemptions in major cities on peak dates.

One problem with no longer having published reward charts showing the hotel points price caps is that Hilton can, and does, increase the capped cost of a hotel with no notice. A number of higher end hotels were increased by 5,000 to 10,000 points in late 2024.

Elite members receive the 5th night free on standard room redemptions.

You don’t pay ‘resort fees’. An underappreciated benefit of Hilton Honors points redemptions is that any resort fees, often charged by US and Caribbean hotels, are not applied. This can lead to substantial nightly savings.

Hilton has also ‘Premium Room’ redemptions. In general, you should ignore these. They usually involve Hilton effectively buying your room for you from the hotel, at a fixed exchange rate of around 0.25p per Hilton point. This is poor.

Hilton Auctions allows you to redeem your points for concert and event tickets.  There have been some impressive UK events offered via this platform, including ‘Secret Socials’ concerts at London hotels and Formula 1 events with McLaren. There is currently nothing on offer in the UK but things improve rapidly as the summer sporting and social season approaches.

How does Hilton Honors work?

Do Hilton Honors points expire?

Points expire after 24 months of no activity on the account – see the scheme rules here. This is generous by industry standards. Pre-covid it was only 12 months but it has now been permanently increased.

You could reset the counter by transferring some Amex Membership Rewards points across or buying 1,000 points. Use a tool like AwardWallet to keep track of expiry dates.

I wrote a full article on how to stop your Hilton Honors points expiring.

Can you upgrade using Hilton Honors points?

You can book any room category you want with Hilton Honors and use whatever combination of cash and points you prefer.

However, these ‘Premium Room Rewards’ – which involves Hilton paying the hotel the full cash rate for your room and recharging you in points – give you a lower ‘pence per point’ return compared to ‘Standard Room Rewards’ which come from reward inventory.  Standard rewards are only available for entry-level room categories.

Are ‘cash and points’ redemptions available?

You can book any room category you want and use whatever combination of cash and points you prefer. This will offer you a poorer ‘pence per point’ return than a standard redemption, however.

Can you convert Hilton Honors points into airline miles?

Hilton Honors points can be transferred to a large number of airlines including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. The ratio is a pathetic 10:1, however (6.7:1 for Virgin Atlantic).

If you assume that 1 Hilton Honors point is worth 0.33p on average, then you would be sacrificing 3.3p of free hotel stays to gain 1 Avios. This is a poor deal given we that value an Avios at around 1p.

Can you earn Avios directly without collecting points?

No.

How does Hilton Honors work?

What are the Hilton Honors UK credit and debit card partnerships?

Can you get elite status with a UK credit or debit card?

Yes, and there are three options.

There are two dedicated Hilton Honors debit cards, launched in late 2024. You earn Hilton Honors points whenever you spend on the cards. These are especially attractive when spending abroad due to the 0% or 0.5% FX fee, depending on card.

You receive FREE Hilton Honors status for as long as you hold the debit cards – Gold status (free breakfast!) 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.

American Express Platinum is also an option. It offers you free Hilton Gold for as long as you hold Platinum, whilst the invite-only Amex Centurion card gives Hilton Diamond status.

Can you get Hilton Honors points with a UK credit or debit card?

Yes. We covered the new Hilton debit cards above.

Hilton Honors is also an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner at a 1:2 transfer rate. This allows you to transfer points earned from the Centurion, Platinum, Gold and Amex Rewards cards in the UK.

Hilton Honors is also a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club partner – you can move Virgin Points to Hilton at the rate of 2 to 3, with a 10,000 miles minimum. As Virgin is a Tesco Clubcard partner, you can therefore convert Tesco Clubcard point to Hilton Honors by routing through Virgin Flying Club, although this is not hugely attractive. You could also transfer points from the Virgin Atlantic credit cards.

Purchasing and transferring Hilton Honors points

You can buy Hilton Honors points for $10 per 1,000 via this link.  Regular sales offer bonuses of up to 100%.

It is easy to use up small quantities of points you may acquire as you can use as few as 5,000 points to get a cash discount on your next booking.

The ‘Points Pooling’ feature allows you to pass points from one person to another for free.  They do not need to share your address or surname. This is a very handy feature which allows you to hoover up points from friends and family members in your account, or to move points to the account of the person with highest status if booking a reward.

What is my personal opinion of Hilton Honors?

In Part 2 of our Hilton Honors review, click here, I will give my personal opinion on the pros and cons of 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 (February 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.

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.

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

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.

Comments (49)

  • NicktheGreek says:

    I’m a Hilton loyalist, but 50% of the time I look at Marriott in the cities I’m staying in. I can scarcely recall when Marriott properties are price comparable to Hilton. For me, the programmes aren’t similar when you have to spend 1/3 more for similar rooms (from what I see).

    Do others find similar or am I just generally unlucky?

    • Veyron says:

      Most of the time I find the equivalent Marriott in the cities I’ve looked at to be considerably more expensive, sometimes double the price of the Hilton brand.

    • Ian says:

      Marriott is not only dearer but far less in number.

      You can get Diamond with 30 nights (if separate stays) with Hilton at under £100 per night.

      Good luck doing that with Marriott or any other chain in the UK.

      • LittleNick says:

        Well IHG can have some cheap spots, yes their night requirement is higher but plenty of places under £100

  • Ian says:

    “Lifetime Diamond status is available but the criteria are tough. You must earn 2 million base points and be a Diamond member for at least 10 years and complete 1,000 paid and reward nights at Hilton properties.”

    It is either 2 million base points or 1,000 nights plus 10 years at Diamond.

    I am passed the 10 years, but still have around 250 nights to go. So not sure if I will make it unless they repeat the double nights promos on a regular basis!

    As for base points, I need around 1.2 million more if opting for that route 😂

    I only need 1 more night to retain Diamond for until 27 thanks to 45 rollover nights.

  • Bath Rd boycotter says:

    For anyone waiting until April for the status challenge – no need! I requested a match from Hyatt Explorist last Monday via the linked website, which does indeed offer status ‘through March 2026’ after completing the required number of nights within the 90-day trial period. However I got upgraded to Gold today and the welcome message states ‘through March 31, 2027’. While the wording in the email is unclear on this point, I expect the 2027 expiry would apply to Diamond as well, should I complete the 14 nights.

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