Tag Archives: Hilton Hotels

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New Program Benefits Available for Hilton Honors Members

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Hilton Honors program updates went live last week. They say, as you can see from this email, that the new program elements and perks are based on feedback and will give Hilton travelers more of what they want. Maybe, maybe not. I don’t have any Hilton stays booked right now and Hilton is only my third most used hotel chain, but I am a Hilton Gold Elite Member, and I do have a stash of Hilton Honors points which I intend to keep from expiring, so I figured I should take a look at these changes.

Changes like these usually reward the more loyal customers who stay more often and spend more money. If you’re an infrequent customer and spend less with Hilton, you’ll receive even less in the way of benefits. I fall into the second category. Hilton’s confusing award chart as well as its point award devaluations have kept me away from the program these past few years. Hilton Diamond Elite Members likely see some of these changes as positive, though I get the sense more and more travelers are looking closely at Marriott/SPG since the merger.

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How to Prevent your Hilton Points from Expiring

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A friend of mine recently asked me if her Hilton points will expire. That got me thinking that sometimes people don’t even realize that points do in fact expire. Also, keeping track of hotel points expiration dates can be tricky. It’s true that there are multiple ways of doing this and you’ve likely found one that works best for you. We often think of points as a currency and since currency doesn’t expire, we forget that points do! So the first answer I gave her was that YES, Hilton points do expire.

Hilton Hotels loyalty program is called Hilton Honors and the points expire when the account has had no eligible activity in a 12-month period. Of course, after telling this to my friend, I knew her next logical question would be, HOW do I keep my points from expiring? Good thing there are many ways to do this, so let’s refresh your memory on this topic, too. Here’s what I told her:

Eligible activity that will keep your Hilton Honors points from expiring include some obvious and some less obvious options, such as:

  • Staying at a Hilton property on a points-earning eligible rate
  • Putting spend on a co-branded Hilton credit card to earn points
  • Participating in the Hilton Dining Program and have a qualifying dining expense
  • Shopping online through the Hilton Honors Shopping Portal
  • Transferring points to a Hilton Honors account from an external program, such as American Express Membership Rewards
  • Purchasing points
  • Earning points using programs such as e-Rewards or eMiles
  • Using Hilton Honors points to shop at Amazon

Let’s take a closer look at some of these options. Continue reading →

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I’m in a Miles & Points Funk Part 1: Hotels

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Good morning everyone, I apologize for my lack of blog posts recently, but I’ve found myself in somewhat of a miles and points funk. Usually, I’m in an upbeat, positive mood, but lately, I’ve found it hard to get excited about the miles and points game. It seems that everything that I once loved has changed for the worse (that might be a tad dramatic). Let me share what’s on my mind so you can see where I’m coming from. Let’s start with hotels first.

I recently spent 100,000 Radisson Rewards points for 2 nights at the Radisson Blu Crete, and I’m not impressed by the new Radisson Rewards program. Since the free night certificates for spending $10,000 (and $20,000 and $30,000) on the US Bank Club Carlson credit cards are only valid at hotels in the US, it’s not worth spending money on those credit cards. I tried to rally my fellow readers and travel blogger friends by sharing my dissa-point-ment with US Bank and Radisson Rewards on Twitter, but I got no response from either company. I plan on keeping both of my Club Carlson credit cards just for the 40,000 points on my cardmember anniversary.

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SPG & Hilton are Currently Running Point Promotions (Both Offers Expire Tomorrow)

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Whether or not you buy hotel points when promotions are running, it’s good to know about your options. We all like to travel more, for less! Topping up accounts for an upcoming stay can serve us well when we can get more value from the cost of the stays than we spend on buying those points. I use up my SPG points and Hyatt points way faster than I drink my flat whites, so I keep a list of hotel point promos handy to see if they’ll work for me. Currently, two of the four major hotel chains are running their buy points promotions. Depending on your travel plans, these might be worth checking out.

Starwood Offer: Expires March 16, 2018

I find I can never have enough SPG points. They are extra valuable because when you transfer them to airlines rather than use them for hotel stays, for every 20,000 points transferred, you get an extra 5,000 points. That’s an inexpensive way to buy airline miles. Many people, given their allegiance to Marriott, use these points for Marriott stays as well. They transfer to Marriott in a 1:3 ratio. That’s another good value for these points. Starwood is currently running a 35% off promotion so you can buy the maximum amount of points for $682. And don’t forget, you can gift Starwood points as well. The 35% offer seems to be their standard offer. Starwood has a yearly purchase limit of 30,000 points per account. The offer runs through March 16, 2018.

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Hilton, SPG & IHG are Currently Running Point Promotions (IHG Promo Expires Tomorrow)

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Whether or not you buy hotel points when promotions are running, it’s good to know about your options. We all like to travel more, for less! Topping up accounts for an upcoming stay can serve us well when we can get more value from the cost of the stays than we spend on buying those points. I use up my SPG points and Hyatt points way faster than I drink my flat whites, so I keep a list of hotel point promos handy to see if they’ll work for me. Currently, three of the four major hotel chains are running their buy points promotions. Depending on your travel plans, these might be worth checking out.

Starwood Offer: Expires March 16, 2018

I find I can never have enough SPG points. They are extra valuable because when you transfer them to airlines rather than use them for hotel stays, for every 20,000 points transferred, you get an extra 5,000 points. That’s an inexpensive way to buy airline miles. Many people, given their allegiance to Marriott, use these points for Marriott stays as well. They transfer to Marriott in a 1:3 ratio. That’s another good value for these points. Starwood is currently running a 35% off promotion so you can buy the maximum amount of points for $682. And don’t forget, you can gift Starwood points as well. The 35% offer seems to be their standard offer. Starwood has a yearly purchase limit of 30,000 points per account. The offer runs through March 16, 2018.

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