HERE'S HOW TO EARN UP TO 62,500 HHONORS BONUS POINTS: • 20,000 HHonors bonus points after your first purchase • 30,000 HHonors bonus points when you spend $1,500 in your first three months of Cardmembership • 2,500 HHonors bonus points for each of the first four stays at any participating properties within the hilton Worldwide portfolio paid for with the Card during the first 18 months of Cardmembership • 2,500 HHonors bonus points when you add an Additional Cardmember to your account
No annual Fee either.
I applied and got the above points and also some other combinations of 500, 2500 & 10,000 points for using my AMEX to book at hilton. Also yea since I have other cards I only put $2200 purchases on this card and got the 30,000 points right after my statement hit.
Since hilton increased the category of most hotels last Friday it would be good for one night at a class 7 hotel, which would be hilton hotels in major cities like NYC. Previously those hotels were 40,000 points. Other hilton brands (hampton inn) require less points. hilton VIP offers are multi-night and save points.
If you stay at Hiltons you can upgrade to the Surpass card after you make your four stays, currently that would get you an additional 20K points and you could earn another 2,500 points per stay for 8 stays at hilton family hotels. Card has a $75 annual fee but gives an additional 3 points per dollar bonus on hilton stays.
I accumulated 270,000 points since signing up in late 2008 and upgrading in 2009. I had about 10-12 hilton family stays (mostly weekends) the rest were bonus points and spending points mostly on phone and cable which earns 6 points per dollar - I don't even use the card for gas and groceries or I would have had a lot more. I also prepaid for several stays in 2010 due to low rates, for example $179/night at the Millenium hilton in NYC where I go several times a year.
hilton also has specials, 4th Quarter 2009 was either double base points or 25K additional points if you had four stays in the quarter. First quarter 2010 is a free night at any hilton with four stays in the quarter.
You can rack up points pretty quickly, as a Gold VIP and earning points + points as your preset preference a $100 stay can earn 1000 base points + 500 points and points + 250 Gold VIP bonus points + 2500 first stay points + 500 booking online points (Surpass card only) + 600-900 AMEX points depending on the card. Do it four times this quarter and you have over 20,000 points and a free night at any hilton hotel.
vickh said: current hilton AMEX card holders qualify???
You would have to upgrade to the Surpass card which would give you the difference between 40K points and your original sign up (but not spending) bonus. See my comments above and decide if it is worth the $75 fee.
videogamesaremylife said: What hotels have the best "Bang per point?" I searched Lexington KY (Where I Live) and all the hotels are 25000 - 30000 points per night.
In my experience, those that rent by the hour and have Magic Fingers machines generally have the best bang value.
darambo
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 18, 2010 @ 11:13a
are these the kind of points that can be transferred to airline frequent flyer programs? if so, this rocks!
manuvns said: what is the $ value of 62,500 HHONORS points ? is it worth $625 ?
I would value them anywhere between $300 and $500 depending on how you use them. Since hotel prices vary it is hard to put an exact value on them. A 50K point hotel room can cost anywhere from $99 to $599 if you paid in cash. I wouldn't waste the points if I can pay less than $200 per night, at the same time I used my points to book a $599 per night room I wouldn't have considered paying for.
Edited for spelling.
Zan86
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 18, 2010 @ 12:19p
Damn i just signed up for this card last week, any chance they would honor this if i called?
One of the best benefits of this card is that it gives you Silver status. The only major benefit of silver status is that you are eligible for the VIP awards. Up until last week, you could get a 6 night stay at a top tier hotel for 175,000 points. I recently booked 6 nights at the Tokyo hilton for 175k points while the room rates are $300+ a night. Obviously, you want to use the points to stay at expensive locations. There is another award with this card where you can get a 4 night stay for around 130k points. hilton just upped the number of points needed on Jan 15 so you may now need more points than the 175k or 130k I described above. The hilton site gives all the details.
darambo said: are these the kind of points that can be transferred to airline frequent flyer programs? if so, this rocks!
thanks!
Yes, HH points are transferable to miles, but with massive deflation -- usually 10K HH for 1.5K miles. IMO, it's better transferring the other direction. 30K AA miles = 60K HH.
robstrash said: One of the best benefits of this card is that it gives you Silver status. The only major benefit of silver status is that you are eligible for the VIP awards. Up until last week, you could get a 6 night stay at a top tier hotel for 175,000 points. I recently booked 6 nights at the Tokyo hilton for 175k points while the room rates are $300+ a night. Obviously, you want to use the points to stay at expensive locations. There is another award with this card where you can get a 4 night stay for around 130k points. hilton just upped the number of points needed on Jan 15 so you may now need more points than the 175k or 130k I described above. The hilton site gives all the details.
The six night stay I booked prior to Jan 15th jumped from 175K to 225K points.
Another advantage of the Surpass card it gives you Gold VIP status which includes complimentary breakfast at Hiltons and room upgrades when available - including on award stays.
Thanks for the link. I checked, and 50,000 points only gets you a $100 gift card. I might still apply for the free night at a nice hilton, but I'm glad I know how much value the points have for anything else.
I'm trying the $75 annual fee AMEX Surpass card for 1-2 years. It offers 40,000 bonus points (after first purchase) and 2,500 bonus point each for the first 8 stays. The big benefit is gold status for the first year (or so). Free breakfast! I was surprised it gave me triple points for paying my cell phone bill.
Unraveled said: Pretty good deal with no-annual fee.
I'm trying the $75 annual fee AMEX Surpass card for 1-2 years. It offers 40,000 bonus points (after first purchase) and 2,500 bonus point each for the first 8 stays. The big benefit is gold status for the first year (or so). Free breakfast! I was surprised it gave me triple points for paying my cell phone bill.
If you get it now it will actually give you Gold VIP status until March 2012. They give you a full calendar year to spend enough ($20K) to extend it.
The only problem I ever have with these sorts of offers is that "4 stays" is not 4 nights in the same property. When I stay at a hotel its by the week and not the night.
Pretty much ALL hotel rewards programs are only worth using to redeem for stays at their property except those that offer the same sort of deal in transfer to an airline program. Marriott was an exception for a few years, but the general devaluation of awards has hit them as well. I did "buy" an early big screen plasma TV from them 7 years or so ago when it was offered at half points. (225K instead of 450K)
I used to live in mostly Marriott properties, as a 100% field traveller. I just used the last of my accumulated points last year for a 4 day stay at Dragoncon in Atlanta.
I didn't stay in hilton or Hyatt properties much, my companies used Holiday Inn and Marriott.
ProfessorEd
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jan. 30, 2010 @ 11:01p
Since, a $100 gift card can be gotten for 50,000 points which could be earned by spending $8333.33 on groceries, drugstores, etc., this makes the points worth about 1.2 cents when used this way, not very attractive if you have a 2% Schwab card.
Incidentally, since 100,000 American Airlines miles can be converted to 200,000 hilton points (at a $30 fee)this could give you $400 in spending at certain stores, making this a way to use American airline miles you cannot use for flights or hotel stays.
mikef07
Senior Member - 3K
posted: Feb. 4, 2010 @ 8:00a
Got my 5 x 2500 bonuses for first 5 stays (Why 5 instead of 4 is beyond me) = 12,500 bonus points
Got 32,500 point bonus Got 22,500 point bonus Got 2500 point bonus Got 2000 point bonus for booking rooms online using the card (4 x 500 points)
Total so far is 72,000 points
Have about 6 to 8 more stays over the next 30 days. Will let everyone know if I get 2500 bonus + 500 bonus for each or if all I get is 5.
darambo said: are these the kind of points that can be transferred to airline frequent flyer programs? if so, this rocks!
thanks!
I came across this web based converter when I was looking into converting my Continental miles to HHonors points (which I'm not going to do, since the devaluation is too great).
RedWolfe01 said: The only problem I ever have with these sorts of offers is that "4 stays" is not 4 nights in the same property. When I stay at a hotel its by the week and not the night.
Here's an HHonors offer for a free night if you have 4 stays OR 10 nights, before 3/31/10.
Note - You must register for the promo before you check in.
dippy943
Tired Member
posted: Feb. 17, 2010 @ 12:09a
Watch out here -- the additional 30,000 points for spending $1,500 is only specified in the text at the top right of the application page -- it's not in the terms and conditions. So be sure to take a screen shot to prove what offer you applied under.
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