Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. Last week, I received a reminder email from Hilton about the Q4 $50 Hilton credit on my American Express Hilton Honors Surpass Credit Card. I also receive another Q4 $50 Hilton credit from my American Express Business Platinum Card. In the past, it was easy to use both credits, I’d simply book a Hilton stay once a quarter. But things are a little different now with a newborn at home. So when Q3 was coming to an end, I had to get creative to make sure those Hilton credits didn’t go to waste.
While reading Doctor of Credit, I came across a Google Doc called Hilton Amex Credit Reimbursement Data Points. It’s a community-sourced spreadsheet that tracks which Hilton properties have restaurants or lobby markets that code as Hilton purchases — meaning they trigger the $50 Hilton credit, even if you’re not staying at the hotel. Scrolling through the California section, I noticed that the DoubleTree San Francisco Airport has a lobby market that has worked for others. Since I often drive past that hotel when visiting my in-laws, I decided to give it a try.
I stopped by the hotel a few times last month for what I like to call my “snack shopping sprees.” I walked into the hotel, asked the front desk if I could buy some snacks, and they kindly unlocked the market for me. I looked around for snacks and drinks that I liked, aiming for totals close to $25 or $50. When I checked out at the front desk, the rep even offered me a few DoubleTree freshly baked cookies – which I couldn’t say no to. A few days later, the Hilton purchases and Hilton statement credits posted to my account.
I repeated the process again to use up my next $50 Hilton Credit. Sure, $50 worth of snacks isn’t quite as satisfying as getting $50 off a Hilton stay, but it’s definitely better than letting the credits expire worthlessly.
I still hope to put my $50 Hilton Credits toward a real stay this quarter, but if that doesn’t work out, I know I can always go on another “snack shopping spree” at a nearby Hilton hotel. If you have any questions about my “snack shopping sprees,” please leave a comment below. Happy snacking and happy saving!
Who doesn’t want a $4 bag of Lays or M&Ms?
Still cheaper than the movie theater snacks :)
The rules associated with the Amex benefit specifically state that the credit is only good in conjunction with a stay: “For an incidental charge (including charges made at restaurants, spas, and other establishments within the hotel property) to be eligible for a statement credit, the incidental charge must be charged to your room and paid for with your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card at checkout.”
Hi JS, thank you for sharing that info. That may be what is written in the terms but that is not how the credit has worked for me.
Glad you found that Google sheet! Been helpful for me and I added a few points.
Awesome, glad it has been helpful to you and thank you for adding your data points.
Thanks for the tip. By the way, I thought you had your site fixed so that it would pull the whole post into rss readers? It’s not working again, so have missed you the last couple months
Hi Desiree, I’m glad you found the tip helpful. I haven’t posted much over the last 2 months, so you haven’t missed much. I’ll look into the RSS feed issue.
I ended up with having a lunch twice a quarter at Hilton restaurant :)
Hey Alex, that’s great! Were the restaurants listed on the Google Doc? If not, you should submit them as data points to be added to the doc for others to know about :)