Vacation abroad can be an expensive indulgence, with the most costly part of it being the accommodation. There are, however, ways you can limit the amount of money you spend on hotels, and maybe you will even get something extra while at it! Hilton Honors provides exactly the means to do this, with over 5,000 hotels spread over more than 100 countries all over the world, as it allows you to earn Hilton Rewards Points every time you spent money at Hilton hotels. We hope this guide explaining the Top 10 Reasons to Save Hilton Rewards Points, will help you save a couple of bucks!
The Sign-up Bonus
What’s better than free points? Kickstart your Hilton Rewards Points balance right from the get-go by making sure to collect the Hilton Honors Card Sign-up bonus. If you’re planning to be using the services of Hilton in the future, getting a Hilton Honors credit card might be a good idea. Not only does it make the purchase process more convenient, but you also get a number of bonuses towards your Hilton Rewards Points. For example, you will be eligible for 125,000 points after spending at least $2,000 with your card within the first three months of your membership. Pretty good deal, right? What’s more, you can get a free weekend stay after spending $15,000 within a year. If you’re going to be staying at Hilton hotels, you might as well get something back for it!
Stay Points
Whenever you spend money on a night at a Hilton hotel, you are getting rewarded an appropriate amount of Hilton Rewards Points for every dollar. At its base, that amount is 10 points per dollar spent, including any charges and services added to your bill. By getting an elite member status, you might increase that amount by 15%, 25% or 50%, depending on your membership. However, the best way to make sure you get a huge point boost is to use a Hilton Honors card for payment, as it can earn you anywhere from 10x the points, up to even 30x the points. This is an enormous bonus when compared to standard rewards, allowing you to cash-in on some benefits without spending exorbitant sums of money.
Traveling
If you are a user of a car rental service, have airline lounge membership, or even are planning an international phone call, you might also get rewarded for doing just that. Hilton Rewards can be earned when renting cars from many of the major rental services like Avis or Budget, allowing you to net between 250 and as much as 1,500 points per use of the service. If you are planning to buy access to an airline lounge, you might also be eligible for a huge influx of points - rewards for signing start from 4,000 points, depending on the membership, and can reach even 10,000 points! But that is not all, as you can earn even more points while booking a cruise using CruisesOnly, for an additional bonus of up to 50,000 points!
Dining
If you are not convinced yet, how about earning free points every time you pay for a meal or go shopping at the Hilton hotels. What you need to do first is to create a Hilton Honors Dining account and link your credit card to it. After this, you will earn 8 Hilton Rewards Points per dollar spent. But, as always, there is more! You can get a one-time bonus of free 1,000 points after dining for over $25. You can also join the Diners Club program, where you will be able to exchange Club Rewards Points into Hilton Rewards Points. Perfect solution if you prefer the rewards given by the Hilton Honors program better!
Buying points
Have you found yourself in a spot where you are lacking just a few of those precious points for the next rewards, but do not want to go on a spending spree just for that? Thankfully, you can easily buy points directly, without having to spend anything extra on services. On average, Hilton sells its points at the price of 1 cent each and there is a limit of 80,000 points you can buy a year. This may not sound so useful at first, but it can easily be used to reach a higher reward tier when lacking just a few points. Be sure to keep a watchful eye on any promotions and discounts on point purchases, as you can sometimes buy those at even half the regular price!
Free nights
Now that you have earned some points through the various methods, how can you spend them? The easiest and most profitable way of using Hilton Rewards Points would be to redeem them for free nights. You can do this at any property that is participating in the rewards program. There are also different categories, all participating hotels spread between them, with varying point prices per night. Make sure to check that detail carefully, as the difference might be quite significant! While some hotels require on average around 40,000 points per night, there are a couple far more expensive than that, reaching up to 60,000 per night.
You can also use your points to redeem upgraded accommodations. The point price may be a bit steeper on such rooms, but they prove handy if you are in need of a slightly larger, better-equipped room. Look for a Premium Room Reward tag when searching for these rooms.
Additional activities
If you are not looking for free nights (because, for example, you already have your stay booked perhaps), you might want to look into using your hard-earned Hilton Rewards Points in a slightly different way. One of such ways is utilizing the property amenities and activities, such as golfing or carting service. You can also spend your points to upgrade your stay to an all-inclusive package, paying the same amount of money as for a standard room, but still having all the benefits of a premium experience. Moreover, auctions are sometimes organized with unique rewards at stake, so if you have an abundance of points, it might not be a bad idea to participate!
Non-hotel rewards
No time to spend all of those points at hotels but you still do not want to waste them? Thankfully, Hilton provides rewards that can be redeemed outside of a hotel. Through what’s called Hilton Honors Experiences you can find tickets for an arrangement of various events, among them sports and concerts. Perfect opportunity to get something for free, even if you are not planning a vacation trip anytime soon, don’t you think? The choice is really enormous, so you will be sure to find something that will suit your taste. Make sure to browse through all of the offers not only to find the perfect event for you, but also to compare the prices as they can range quite widely between options.
Donate!
If you are feeling generous, donating your Hilton Rewards Points towards a better cause is always an option. Using the site PointWorthy.com, you can select a charity organization to support, converting your points into real money which will be used to make a change. If you are not planning on spending your points anytime soon, we recommend you to consider this option, especially since the conversion rate is much more compelling than with other rewards. For 4,000 points, a charity of your choice will receive $10, and that’s a very generous ratio. There are thousands of available organizations to choose from on the site, so you will surely find one that matches your preference.
It’s absolutely free!
While all of the potential ways of earning even more points, as well as the ways to spend them, seem interesting, the biggest advantage of the program is quite simple - it’s free! While you surely can spend money more aggressively for certain benefits or even buy points, you can still earn quite a lot of them just by using Hilton hotels as you would be otherwise! Every night and every dollar spent accumulates points, which you can then use at any time to lower your future expenses and earn you even more points. It’s a gift that keeps on giving!
