Ultimate Guide To Buying Hilton Honors Points

Buying Hilton Honors Points can provide excellent value for those looking to redeem them at luxury Hilton properties which would otherwise cost you an arm and a leg. From time to time Hilton Honors run bonus promotions which can give you a bonus of up to 100%.

Right now and until November 26, 2019, Hilton Honors are offering a 100% bonus on points purchases. The bonus kicks in at 10,000 and all the way up to 80,000 points. Purchasing the maximum allowance of 80,000 points will see you walk away with 160,000 points.

At a 100% bonus, the price per point drops down from the regular US 1c to 0.5c per point. This promotion does appear to be available to anyone but you can click here to check if you’re eligible first, before buying any points.

Hilton Honors Restrictions

I usually don’t recommend speculatively buying points, but when it comes to Hilton Honors it can make sense and here’s why.

Hilton Honors only allows its members to buy a maximum of 80,000 points per calendar year, excluding any bonus points. So depending on your redemption goals, it can make sense to purchase points when a 100% bonus offer is on.

A few years ago Hilton Honors changed its program from a traditional award chart to a variable one based on property availability. To be honest, this hasn’t changed prices too much, and their most expensive properties are still redeemable at 95,000 points per night. Essentially you can always redeem a standard room (which is the most cost-effective) when they are available for sale at cash rates. When a standard room isn’t available the variable pricing appears to kick in which can be much more expensive. Standard rooms can also vary from price depending on availability, but it’s usually a much smaller range.

If you don’t currently have a Hilton Honors account there will be a 90 day waiting period until you can buy points. You can reduce this to 30 days by having some activity in your account which can be a hotel stay, earning of points through a Hilton Honors partner or by simply sending some points over from your credit card rewards program such Amex Membership Rewards.

The Flexibility Of Hilton Honors

Are you one of those people who change plans a thousand times? There’s good news, booking hotels with Hilton Honors points will not only save you money on expensive room rates, but it will also save you money on cancellation fees or non-refundable rooms rates. All Hilton Honors points bookings are fully refundable (usually up to 48h before your arrival).

Hilton Honors Family Pooling

The Hilton Honors maximum purchase allowance of 80,000 points per year can be avoided by making use of the generous Hilton Honors family pooling feature. You can create a family pool of up to 10 people at no extra cost. Sharing the same address isn’t a requirement.

As someone in a family pool, you can send a maximum of 500,000 Hilton Honors Points per calendar year. If you’re the primary person in the family pool, you can receive up to 2,000,000 Hilton Honors points per calendar year. This is an excellent benefit which allows you to build up a nice central points balance.

Maximising Hilton Honors 5th night free

If you have Silver status or above with Hilton Honors you unlock access to the 5th-night free benefit which is available only when booking with points. This can drastically reduce your cost per night.

For example, if you were to book the Conrad Maldives at 95,000 per night for a 5-night stay; you’d only be paying 76,000 if you factor in that the 5th night is free. Since hotels like this often have standard room rates in excess of AU$1000 per night, it definitely makes sense to buy points.

When not to use Hilton Honors Points

While buying points can be a great way to save at least 60% or more on luxury hotels. It always pays to do the math and see if it’s cheaper to pay cash. For most lower end Hilton properties, using points can actually be more expensive compared to paying cash.

Best Hotels To Redeem Hilton Honors Points

The best value redemptions are for those Hilton properties that have obscene rates. These are usually luxury properties so using points means you can enjoy luxury on a budget.

Conrad Maldives Rangali

With room rates usually in excess of $1000 per night, the Conrad Maldives Rangali resort makes for an excellent redemption at 95,000 Hilton Honors points per night. At this price, you can select either a beach villa or an over-water villa.

Conrad Bora Bora Nui

Keeping the tropical vibes going is the Conrad Bora Bora, this island resort clocks in at 80,000 Hilton Honors Points per night. This hotel receives excellent reviews all-round and looks beautiful. It’s high on my to-do list.

Conrad Koh Samui

Conrad Koh Samui is a luxury villa only resort. Perched on a hillside overlooking the ocean from your private infinity pool all for 95,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

Waldorf Astoria Maldives

This brand new property opened in July, the price to come in at 120,000 per night so make sure to redeem 5 nights to get 1 free! The place looks absolutely amazing, and I will be reviewing this resort in November! You can read my guide on how to book Waldorf Astoria Maldives and save BIG.

Buying Hilton Honors In Conclusion

I find that using Hilton Honors on lower to mid-level properties usually has no value or it’s marginal at best. In the end, it all comes down to room rate prices for the nights you want to stay. So do the math and check what works out in your favour. Apart from that, 100% bonus is the highest Hilton Honors offers but it can be targeted so click here to see if you’re eligible for the 100% bonus as some members would only be targeted to 80%. Personally, I wouldn’t buy Hilton Honors at less than 100% bonus since these deals come around multiple times a year.

Where to buy Hilton points?

To purchase Hilton Honors points visit: https://secure3.hilton.com/en/hh/customer/account/purchase.htm

How to avoid yearly points buying limit?

Hilton allows you to family pool and transfer points to anyone. I’ve written a step by step guide on Hilton family pooling & transfers here.