-
Hi. I’m planning a trip to New York in Oct 2026 and would like some help figuring out the best way to earn hotel loyalty point for it.
I’ve been diligently building my Avios with a BA Premium Amex, I now have my companion voucher and enough points for the business class flights. I intend to downgrade or cancel the Amex now.
I’d like to shift my focus to building up some loyalty points with a hotel via a credit card. My ask then is – what’s the best way to maximise this in the next 6-8 months?
I should be able to clear at least £20k spending in that time. I don’t have a fixed hotel or chain in mind but expect there to be good choice in NY. I was also expecting budget for the accommodation so I guess the strategy could be about maximising add ons or upgrades to what I would expect to pay anyway?
Really appreciate any suggestions.
Just on the basis that Amex points can be converted to various hotel schemes?
There’s nothing more specific?
Nothing on the market any more apart from a hilton debit card and the Marriott Amex.
If you dont know what hotel chain you want to stay at then points you can convert into multiple chains are your best idea.
What research have you done already on which chain might be best for your needs?
And in a place like NYC there are a whole host of non chain hotels that should be considered as well.
Also, have you looked at points prices for various chains – they tend to be very high in NYC (like cash prices!) so you’d need to build up a decent 6-firgure amount to cover a few days’ stay.
What research have you done already on which chain might be best for your needs?
And in a place like NYC there are a whole host of non chain hotels that should be considered as well.
This is really important preparatory work. For ex in NYC I never redeem Hilton points – because I like an in-hotel breakfast
Losing most of my replies this week to web connection errors whilst in the UAE.
I was warning that OP might want to bake in some contingency Avios headroom considering they can’t search for their redemption flight till November 2025. By which time, who knows, the ground may have shifted on prices.
Given that you have limited time and also turnover available on a card, if you are wedded to the idea of using points to get value then you should look at which schemes allow you to buy points to combine with your card spend earnings and then research arbitraging those into a cheaper stay.
As Marriott and IHG rewards are mostly dynamically priced now that leaves Hilton and Hyatt (Accor is a non-starter here as their points have a totally fixed value). Hyatt doesn’t offer any UK based cards so Hilton remains. Hilton regularly sells its points with a 100% bonus which is a plus too (there is one on currently https://www.headforpoints.com/best-uk-hotel-points-promotions/).
In my experience you can get good discounts on mid to high-end Hiltons in the US using points redemptions (particularly at peak times and/or if you can also avail of the 5 nights for 4 you get on rewards). An example might be the Conrad New York which has been reviewed on here https://www.headforpoints.com/2017/06/16/review-conrad-new-york-hotel/)
For a card to supplement this strategy you could consider the Hilton currency debit cards (https://www.headforpoints.com/2025/03/05/special-offer-on-hilton-honors-debit-card/). They don’t give great sign up bonuses but are decent for travel spend. The Gold status with the more expensive card would give you a daily credit in the US ($18 – 50 pp per day, depending on what level of hotel you stay in) but overall the cap on breakfast benefit value makes it harder to justify the card cost if you’re only travelling to the US (outside there you get a proper ‘free’ brekkie).
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
