| Hilton Honors quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Point value | 0.5 cents per point ($0.005) |
| Number of properties | 7,800+ |
| Number of Hilton brands | 24 |
| Hilton points needed for a free night | Between 5,000 and 150,000 for a standard room |
| Number of redemption options | 6 |
| Elite status perks |
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| Pros |
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| Cons |
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Although Hilton points are worth less than those of other hotel programs, you could still easily amass enough for a free stay, even if you infrequently stay with the chain. The Hilton Honors program offers everything from affordable brands to luxury escapes, making it a great choice for all types of travelers. Plus, there’s no downside — Hilton Honors is free to join.
The chain’s worldwide footprint makes it easy to use your points, as you can book a reward night at any one of Hilton’s nearly 8,000 properties. Plus, your points won’t expire unless your account is inactive for 24 consecutive months.
Hotel points are fun to collect, but they typically aren’t worth much.
This is an estimate based on our valuations, as Hilton doesn’t reveal the true “value” of its points.
| Hotel | Cash price (incl. taxes) | Points required | Points value |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Draper New York, Tapestry Collection by Hilton | $347 | 80,000 | 0.43 cents |
| Conrad Los Angeles | $540 | 90,000 | 0.60 cents |
| Flemings Mayfair, London | $474 | 80,000 | 0.59 cents |
| Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort | $464 | 70,000 | 0.66 cents |
| Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel | $478 | 80,000 | 0.60 cents |
| Hampton Inn & Suites Mexico City - Centro Historico | $135 | 29,000 | 0.47 cents |
| Average value | 0.56 cents |
You should collect Hilton Honors points with the intention of using them right away. Saving your points for future use is a bad strategy, as rewards programs regularly devalue their points to protect their bottom line. So if you can redeem your points for at least half a cent each on a particular stay, we recommend using your points right away.
If you can cash in your Hilton Honors points for around 0.5 cents per point, it’s likely worth it to use them. To calculate the value of your Hilton points for a particular stay, use this simple equation:
Cash price (including taxes and fees) / Number of points needed for hotel stay = Points value for that specific reservation
Hilton Honors may charge you more points than other programs for a reward night, but the value is still solid, given how easy it is to rack up points. You’ll earn between 10 and 20 points per dollar spent, depending on your Member status. They also have a great international footprint.
The Hilton Honors program is free and easy to join, offering members more than 7,800 properties in 126 countries where you can earn and redeem points. You’ll earn at least 10 points per $1 spent on most stays, and Hilton gives you multiple ways to redeem your points. Plus, their elite program offers valuable perks, which you can easily enjoy by obtaining one of their co-branded credit cards. The ease of obtaining elite status and large international footprint are some of the biggest upsides to the program.
A major downside of the Hilton Honors program is that it operates on dynamic pricing. This means that prices for award nights will fluctuate based on demand. This matters because you may find a hotel room you like, but the price may change before you book the room. Prices for similar properties can vary significantly depending on time and location. Other programs, like World of Hyatt, use an award chart to price their award nights. Hyatt points are also worth much more than Hilton points.
| Hotel | Average value per point |
|---|---|
| World of Hyatt | $0.017 |
| Choice Privileges | $0.011 |
| Marriott Bonvoy | $0.009 |
| Hilton Honors | $0.005 |
| IHG | $0.005 |
It’s easy to get started earning Hilton Honors points, as the program is free and simple to join. You’ll immediately open up multiple ways to earn points.
Hilton has partnered with American Express to provide some of the best hotel credit cards on the market. These cards offer generous rewards rates on all of your purchases and in popular categories like Hilton hotel stays, restaurants, U.S. supermarkets and U.S. gas stations.
| Credit Cards | Our Ratings | Welcome Offer | Rewards Rate | Annual Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hilton Honors American Express Card*
|
Earn 100,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 1/8/2025. | Earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio, 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations AND 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card. | $0 | ||
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card*
|
Earn 165,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 1/8/2025. | Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio. Earn 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases on your Card at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations. Earn 4X Points for each dollar on U.S. Online Retail Purchases. Earn 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card. | $150 | ||
Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express*
|
Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $6,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership. | 14X points on eligible purchases at hotels or resorts in the Hilton Portfolio, 7X points on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies and U.S. restaurants and 3X points on other purchases | $550 | ||
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card*
Learn More
on American Express's secure site |
Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card within the first six months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 1/8/2025. | Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on eligible Hilton purchases. Earn 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on other purchases made using the Hilton Honors Business Card on the first $100,000 in purchases each calendar year, 3X points thereafter. Terms & Limitations Apply. | $195 |
Learn More
on American Express's secure site |
|
The Platinum Card® from American Express*
|
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. | 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel. Terms apply. | $695 |
And while The Platinum Card® from American Express isn’t a Hilton card, it provides cardholders with complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status (enrollment required). You’ll also have the option to transfer Membership Rewards points to Hilton Honors. If you travel consistently and stay at Hilton properties, consider pairing this card with a Hilton card to maximize your points.
When you book a hotel directly through Hilton, you earn Hilton Honors points based on the price of the room, excluding taxes and fees.
Regular Hilton Honors members will earn 10 points per $1 at all properties, excluding stays at Tru & Home2 properties, which earn 5 points per $1.
When you have elite status, however, your points earning potential will increase:
Hilton Honors Dining is a free program that lets you earn Hilton points by connecting your rewards account to any credit card that you use for dining. When you sign up, you’ll be asked to link a credit card. You can link any credit card, not just one from Hilton.
When you use a card linked to your Hilton Honors Dining profile, you will earn Hilton points for dining, in addition to any applicable credit card rewards. This is known as “double dipping” — earning points from two different programs with one purchase.
You will earn Hilton Honors points in the Hilton Honors Dining program depending on how much you dine and whether you opt in to email notifications:
| Points earned per $1 | Requirements |
|---|---|
| 2 bonus points | Sign up for program |
| 5 bonus points | Opt in to email notifications |
| 8 bonus points | Opt in to email notifications Dine more than 11 times per year |
You can buy points directly from Hilton if you need additional points for a reservation. We don’t recommend it, though, since the price you pay when you buy points often exceeds their estimated value of 0.5 cents each.
You should only purchase points if you need to top off your points balance for a stay — not in large quantities. From time to time, Hilton offers discounts on points that may net a decent value.
If you buy Hilton points, use our formula to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth.
You can transfer your Hilton Honors points to a friend or family member if you’re planning on booking a trip together. There’s no fee to transfer your points. You can also pool your points if you both have Hilton Honors points.
After earning Hilton Honors points, you’ll move on to the exciting part — spending them. Hilton points are simple to redeem, but it can be tricky to understand and navigate Hilton’s dynamic pricing.
For example, let’s look at a hotel reservation for the Waldorf Astoria property in Las Vegas. We found a room in April 2025 for around $685 per night after taxes and fees, or 85,000 points. This equates to approximately $0.008 cents per point, an extremely good valuation for a Hilton reward room booking. In this case, using points is a no brainer.
You can book free nights at any of Hilton’s participating brands:
Hilton’s 5th night free benefit gets you an extra night on your reservation when redeeming your Honors Points for a stay of five or more consecutive nights. This boosts your point value by up to 20%. Every fifth night is free, up to four free nights per reservation. You can use this benefit an unlimited number of times.
You’ll need to have Hilton Honors Silver status or higher to qualify for this option. To earn Hilton status, you must meet the requirements or have a Hilton Honors credit card that awards complimentary status to cardholders.
You can transfer your Hilton Honors points to book flights on a number of partner airlines, and also earn Hilton points by flying with those airlines and transferring your miles to Hilton. To do this, you must have your travel partner linked to your Hilton Honors account and all transactions must be done online.
Here are all of Hilton’s participating airline partners:
If you earn Hilton Honors points but don’t want to use them for a hotel stay, you have other redemption options, including:
These redemptions will give you a low value for your Hilton Honors points. If you earn Hilton Honors points through credit card purchases but don’t intend to redeem points for hotel rooms, it may be best to switch to a different travel rewards credit card.
Hilton Honors elite status is a great way to enhance your hotel experience. You can receive benefits like hotel room upgrades, food and beverage credits and bonus Hilton Honors points.
Members typically earn elite status by staying a specific number of nights at Hilton properties. This method is practical for those who travel constantly for work or leisure. However, you can also qualify for Hilton elite status through number of stays or Base Points earned.
| Status levels | Requirements to earn |
|---|---|
| Hilton Honors member | Join the program |
| Hilton Honors Silver Elite | 10 nights, 4 stays or 25,000 base points |
| Hilton Honors Gold Elite | 40 nights, 20 stays or 75,000 base points |
| Hilton Honors Diamond Elite | 60 nights, 30 stays or 120,000 base points |
Here are the different status levels of the Hilton Honors program, along with what each level offers:
|
Member benefits, plus…
Silver benefits, plus…
Gold benefits, plus…
There are four status levels in the Hilton Honors program: Member, Silver, Gold and Diamond.
Hilton Honors Gold status is a high tier of the Hilton Honors rewards program that offers perks like 80% points earning bonus on stays, a daily food and beverage credit or continental breakfast, space-available room upgrades and more. To get Gold status, you’ll need 40 nights, 20 stays or 75,000 base points. Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card and the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card both provide automatic Gold status (enrollment required).
Hilton Honors members accrue base points, stays and nights toward earning or maintaining Hilton elite status over the calendar year (Jan. 1 through Dec. 31). Elite status earned is kept through the remainder of the calendar year, plus the entirety of the subsequent calendar year. Any elite status earned will then reset the following March.
The highest Hilton Honors status is Diamond. Diamond status benefits include space-available room upgrades, 100% points earning bonus on stays and the ability to give elite status to someone else.
The information related to the Hilton Honors American Express Card, Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express, The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card and The Platinum Card® from American Express has been collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply.
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