Hilton is offering double points on one and two night stays, and triple points on stays of three or more nights, May 2 – September 5, 2022. Registration required.
There’s no minimum stay required and the bonus applies to your first stay, so there’s no nonsense like only bonusing you starting with your second or third stay.
I value Hilton points at $0.004 apiece. So think of this as an additional 4% rebate on short stays and 8% rebate on longer stays.
You should definitely register for the promotion – and do it now – because even if you aren’t planning to stay at all with Hilton during the promotion period, you might find yourself surprised (perhaps you get stuck overnight at an airport!) and you’ll never remember to go back later and register. So get that part over with, because earning the bonus is better than not earning the bonus.
At 3x, it means that Diamonds will be raking it at a whopping 54x.
The Return On each Dollar (ROD) spent, with elite and co-brand CC bonus points included, will be:
54 * 0.4cpp (if that is how much one ‘nominally’ values a HH point) = 21.6%
54 * 0.5cpp (if one uses how much I ‘nominally’ value a HH point) = 27%
It’s what makes HH unbeatable when it comes earning and redeeming point…
G’day.
Thanks
@DCS
This is a good promo. Am not a Hilton purist (I hold top tier with all of the big three), but agree with DCS that HH has always been the best in my experience for return on spend. By my calculations, I have averaged 20-30% return over the past ~10 years as a diamond using a co-branded card and being smart about my redemption choices.
I tend to get more suites and shiny objects with the other chains (though MR has gutted that, and HH is quite good internationally), but in terms of turning paid stays into free stays, I’ve found HH tough to beat.
@ DCS — No. Hilton is not unbeatable when it comes to earning and redeeming points. As usual, you are leaving our the bonuses offered by other hotel companies. You know, the ones whose points are more valuable than Hiton’s….
@Gene, as a guy who spends a bunch of nights with MR and Hyatt, I would be curious to hear about these very valuable bonuses you reference; right now for MR all I’ve got is the 1k points / night promo.
I’ve kept pretty detailed records over the years and my experience is that tend to earn HH points at about 2x the rate of MR points, but redeem them at about 1.5X the rate. The charts tend to converge at the top for both programs (i.e. top WA and RC properties are often about 100k/night), making the HH redemption a comparatively better return. Near the middle of the chart, it’s a bit squishier, e.g. a 50-60k Hilton versus a 30-40k Westin, so the comparative better value can go either way.
Would love to know what I am missing since I’m apparently leaving all this value on the table. Not a shill or a DCS second account (I believe I’ve been posting here longer than him actually), but call the numbers like I see them. I spread my stays around for a lot of reasons but have always had HH come out on top for pure earn / burn.
@ CW — Not disagreeing with you, more so disagreeing with certain others who proclaim Hilton is best always. One thing often not factored in to all these equations is cash back earned through portals. IHG stays booked through Rakuten earn at least 3x AMEX (often more). Hyatt generally offers zero, Hilton 1x and Marriott 1.5x. Furthermore, IHG has historically offered lots of promos.
Ultimately, none of these drive my business. For me, it is all about suites, club access, and free breakfast. Hyatt Diamond, IC RA, and Hilton are all pretty reliable for these benefits, but contrary to certain people’s belief, Hilton is not always best.
@DCS – I’m Diamond at HH, and I have Hilton Amex card. I don’t quite get the 54x multiplier…Does it mean that, as an example, $141/night room will earn me 7,614 pts?
This brings up a question: is it better to use $$$ with this promo, or use 20,000 HH pts to pay for it?
@ Gene and speaking of portals, best return I’ve found recently is the occasional bump up to 6x miles for Booking.com on the AA Shopping portal.
Last week I booked three wedding weekends worth of hotels (all in locations with few chain options). That’s gonna earn me 10,000 redeemable miles AND loyalty points, plus 3x for paying with CSR.
@Gennady –
Let B = the number of HH base points earned by all per $ spent.
A HH Diamond with the incredible Aspire card earning 3x on this promo will rake it in as follows:
B [base points] + B [100% Diamond bonus on base points] + 2B [= 3x bonus of the promo, by difinition] + 1.4B [Aspire 14x bonus points]
= B + B + 2B + 1.4B
= B * (1 + 1 + 2 + 1.4)
= 5.4B.
By definition, B = 10x , i.e., one earns 10 HH base points per $
5.4B * 10x/B = 54x
Q.E.D
@ DCS — OK, so your Hilton stays are rebating 21.6% currently. That could be another 1x MR=1.55% if you book through Rakuten, so let’s call it 23.15%.
Currently, my IC RA stays are earning 10x base + 10x bonus + 10x IHG credit card = 30x = 15%. Add in the ~1,700 per night current bonus (=$8.50 or 3.4% on a $250 night). Add Rakuten of at least 3x MR = 4.65%. Total = 15% + 3.4% + 4.65% = 23.05%.
Remind me again, why is Hilton’s point earning so amazing?
There have come plenty of detractors before you. They started with a much bravado and then just simply went out with a whimper. I am confident that is your fate as well.
As I recall, you argued with me when I said the ROD of most major programs are the same when adjusted for differences in base earn rates. You just also showed that the same holds when adjustments are made for other types of equivalent earnings ( assuming what provided is legit). All I can say then is Q.E.D.
As for Hilton’s point earning being amazing, I do not have to remind you of anything. You just proved the point.
Goodbye
@DCS – good example. Thank you.
My number would be lower, since I’m don’t have “incredible ” Aspire card, just the pedestrian variety, so my earnings multiplier is 12, not 14. And I’m not staying 3 nights, only two, so it’s double not triple.
Still, the question remains unanswered – am I better off paying $150/night with this promo, for 2 nights, or using 20,000 pts per night from my stash?
@Gennady asks the age-old question of cash vs. points:
First, a Diamond with a ‘pedestrian’ variety HH AMEX (12x), staying just 2 nights (2x) will earn:
B + B + B +1.2B = 4.2B or 42x, which is not bad at all.
Your options:
1) Cash: 2 nights at $150/night = $300 * 42 = 12,600 points earned, not bad.
2) Use points @20,000/night = $300/40,000 = 0.75 cent/HH point, excellent as that is like getting 2.25cents/WoH point
What to do:
I would be happy with either, therefore, I would have to consider other factors to decide.
Right now, I would pay cash because I am on the cusp of attaining Lifetime Diamond status and need to accumulate base points by doing revenue stays. Paying cash is especially lucrative now because until December 31, 2022 every single bonus point earned with any co-branded HH AMEX card counts as both redeemable point and base point.
In your case, you would earn
a. The normal number of base points: 300*10 = 3000
b. Base points from your AMEX card: 300 * 12 = 3,600
Total” 6,600 base points or more than double what you would earn regularly.
If one needs base points, it’s no-brainer…
G’day.
@ Gennady — Since you most likely aren’t pursuing Lifetime Diamond status, like some egomaniacs who pursue benefits redundant to their “incredible” credit card, use points. The points value for the redemption you describe is excellent.
Did I mention that I am also Lifetime Diamond? It costs just $450 per year and comes with a $250 airline credit and $250 Hilton resort credit every year. Impressed?
@Gene – very impressed!
I’m lucky that I got my Diamond status by accident (was always Gold or Silver) right before the pandemic started. And learned to really enjoy and appreciate it since. So, $450 for Lifetime Diamond sounds like a deal! Do share the secret, please?
Truly pathetic and I am not referring to you comments, @Gennady.
As for lifetime Diamond for $450, that is more stupidity.
In the US if you get approved for the incredible HH AMEX Aspire card, you also automatically get the HH Diamond status, which is every bit as good as if you earned the status the “hard way” by spending what is required.
On the other hand, to earn Lifetime Diamond, one must have been a Diamond for at least 10 years — non-consecutive ok — and earned 1,000,000 base points or spent 1,000 eligible nights. A really tall order, so that not just anyone gets to breathe the rarefied that HH Lifetime Diamond breathe.
G’day.
“…rarefied air…”
@ DCS — A very tall waste of money, given that a Lifetime Diamond gets exactly zero benefits over a credit card Diamond.
@Gene — I begged you to just stop addressing me because you are flake. Take this claim, for instance:
This would be too subtle for a brain like yours to notice, so let me edify you and others with similar half-baked ideas: increasingly, Hilton Honors is moving toward a system that prioritizes perks based on elite status. Lounge access was already somewhat prioritized. Now, the program’s new highly innovative and exciting global automated upgrades are prioritized in the order Golds < Diamonds < Lifetime Diamonds. On purpose, it would seem, Hilton is fasttracking long-time Diamond members to LF Diamonds, with every HH AMEX CC bonus point counting as base point 2 years running. This is going to make LF Diamond a de facto elite level above regular Diamond.
Given that suite upgrades are the perk for which there is the most competition among elite members, the notion that "Lifetime Diamond gets exactly zero benefits over a credit card Diamond" (which I also happen to be, btw), is the precisely the sort of garbage for which I beg you to stop addressing me.
Clear enough now that you should be playing in the minors where you belong, and leave me alone.
@ DCS — I stand corrected on the zero benefits. Thanks.