Your Simple Guide To Hilton Honors Points

Hotel Rewards Calculators
Want to make the most of your Hilton Honors Points? Look no further than this simple guide, complete with a handy calculator to help you maximize your rewards!
Last Updated 2023-07-02 By R.Flowers III

Hilton Honors Points: Quick Overview

Earning Hilton Honors Points: Hilton Honors points can be earned booking stays at Hilton brand hotels, using credit cards, traveling with Lyft, and dining out at restaurants and bars. You can also buy points to top off your account.

Ways To Redeem Hilton Honors Points: Hilton Honors points can be redeemed for free stays at Hilton brand hotels, experiences, Lyft rides, shopping at Amazon.com and the Hilton online mall, and car rentals. You can also transfer your points to airline miles.

Hilton Honors Points Value: Based on our valuations, the Hilton Honors points are worth 0.5 cents each on average. This means 10,000 Hilton Honors points are worth $50 in hotel value.

Hilton Honors Transfer Partners: Hilton Honors points can be transferred to over 35 different airline frequent flyer programs.

Hilton Honors Credit Card Partners: American Express Membership Rewards is the only major credit card partner of Hilton Honors.

Hilton Honors points value

How much are Hilton Honors points worth? The answer: about 0.5 cents per point. This means that 10,000 Hilton Honors points are worth about $50 in value when redeemed for free nights at Hilton brand hotels.

Here's our valuations for Hilton Honors points:

Redemption Options Redemption Value (in cents)
Award Nights 0.4 - 0.6
Lyft Credits 0.22
Car Rentals 0.2
Amazon.com 0.2
Event Credits 0.2

How to earn Hilton Honors points

Hilton Honors points are primarily earned staying at Hilton brand hotels. You can also earn points using credit cards, rideshares with Lyft, and dining out.

Hotel stays

Hilton Honors members earn 10 base points per $1 spent at most Hilton properties with the only exceptions being True and Home2 brands in which you will only earn 5 base points per $1 spent.

  • Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts
  • LXR Hotels & Resorts
  • Conrad Hotels & Resorts
  • Canopy by Hilton
  • Hilton Hotels & Resorts
  • Curio Collection by Hilton
  • Embassy Suites by Hilton
  • DoubleTree by Hilton
  • Tapestry Collection by Hilton
  • Hilton Garden Inn
  • Homewood Suites by Hilton
  • Motto by Hilton
  • Hampton by Hilton
  • Home2 Suites by Hilton
  • Tru by Hilton
  • Hilton Grand Vacations (Timeshare)

In addition to that, you will also earn bonus points based on your status in the Hilton Honors program. Here's how many Hilton Honors points you will earn at each status level:

  • Member: 10 points per $1 spent (base).
  • Silver: 12 points per $1 spent (20% bonus).
  • Gold: 18 points per $1 spent (80% bonus).
  • Diamond: 20 points per $1 spent (100% bonus).

You can then add even more points by using Hilton Honors credit cards. When you combine base points, elite status points, and credit card points, you will be able to earn up to a total of 34 points per $1 spent by just staying at Hilton brand hotels.

Use Hilton credit cards

Hilton offers four co-branded American Express credit cards which are some of the best (if not the best) hotel credit cards in the market. They offer the ability to earn points on everyday spending along with top notch benefits when staying at Hilton brand hotels.

Credit Card Benefits
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
  • Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
  • Earn 14X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio
  • Earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases on your Card on airfare purchased directly with an airline or with amextravel.com, car rentals, and at U.S. restaurants
  • Earn 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card
  • Receive complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond status
  • Receive $250 in airline incidental credits with a select airline of your choice and $250 in Hilton Resort credit which applies to purchases at Hilton Resorts including incidental charges every year
  • Enjoy an annual Weekend Night Reward each year and earn a second Weekend Night Reward when you spend $60,000+ on the card.
  • $450 annual fee
Best Overall For Hilton Travelers
  • Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card in your first 3 months of Card Membership.
  • Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio
  • Earn 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases on your Card at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations
  • Earn 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card
  • Earn a Free Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on purchases on your Card in a calendar year
  • Receive complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status and earn Hilton Honors Diamond after spending $40,000 on the card during the calendar year
  • $95 annual fee (See Rates & Fees)
  • Earn 80,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership.
  • Earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio
  • Earn 5X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations
  • Earn 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card
  • Receive complimentary Hilton Honors Silver status
  • $0 annual fee (See Rates & Fees)
  • Welcome Offer: Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card within the first three months of Card Membership.
  • Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points at hotels & resorts in the Hilton portfolio
  • Earn 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on restaurants, wireless phone providers, gas stations, and shipping purchases all within the U.S.
  • Earn 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on airfare booked directly with airlines or Amex Travel and car rentals
  • Earn 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on all other eligible purchases
  • Receive complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status and be upgraded to Hilton Honors Diamond after spending $40,000 or more on the card.
  • Receive 10 complimentary Priority Pass lounge visits per year
  • Earn up to two free Weekend Night Rewards per calendar year spending on the card.
  • $95 annual fee (See Rates & Fees)

Transfer points to Hilton

Hilton is a direct transfer of one major U.S. credit card rewards program: American Express Membership Rewards. Points earned in the program can be transferred to Hilton at a rate of 1,000 AMEX points for 2,000 Hilton Honors points.

Here's our favorite Membership Rewards credit cards for earning with Hilton:

Credit Card Highlights
Best For Lounge Access & Luxury Travel
  • Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
  • Earn 5X points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel (up to $500,000, then 1X)
  • Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel
  • Earn 1X points on all other eligible purchases
  • Global Airport Lounge Access including Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Club Lounges (when flying Delta), Airspace Lounges, Escape Lounges, and Priority Pass Lounges
  • Over $1,400 in annual credits which includes airline incidentals, Uber Cash, digital entertainment, Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection, and more
  • Enroll in complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status and Hilton Honors Gold status
  • Terms Apply
  • $695 annual fee (See Rates and Fees)
Best For Restaurants & U.S. Supermarkets
  • Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months.
  • Earn 4X points at restaurants and on up to $25,000 in annual U.S. supermarket purchases
  • Earn 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
  • Earn 1X points on all other purchases
  • Up to $120 in Uber Cash credit each year
  • Up to $120 in dining credits each year
  • Terms Apply
  • $250 annual fee (See Rates and Fees)
Best For Lounge Access & Luxury Business Travel
  • Earn 120,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with your Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
  • Earn 5X points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com
  • Earn 1.5X points on select business purchases and on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else, on up to $2 million of these purchases per year
  • Earn 1X points on all other eligible purchases
  • Global Airport Lounge Access including Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Club Lounges (when flying Delta), Airspace Lounges, Escape Lounges, and Priority Pass Lounges
  • Over $1,400 in annual credits which includes Dell, Adobe, Indeed, CLEAR, and more
  • Get 35% points back when you redeem points for all or part of an eligible flight booked with AMEX Travel
  • Enroll in complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status and Hilton Honors Gold status
  • Terms Apply
  • $695 annual fee (See Rates and Fees)
Best For Business Rewards
  • Earn 70,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
  • Earn 4X points on the 2 select categories where your business spent the most each month
  • Earn 1X points on all other purchases
  • Get 25% points back when you redeem points for all or part of an eligible flight booked with AMEX Travel
  • Terms Apply
  • $295 annual fee (See Rates and Fees)
Best For Small Business & Miscellaneous Purchases
  • No current offer.
  • Earn 2X points on the first $50,000 in purchases per year, then 1 point per dollar thereafter
  • No annual fee
  • Terms Apply
  • $0 annual fee (See Rates and Fees)

Book rides with Lyft

You can earn bonus Hilton Honors points riding with Lyft. As a Hilton Honors member, you'll earn up to 3X points on Lyft rides that fall under economy, luxury, and extra seats and 2X on shared rides.

If you use Lyft a lot, you'll want to be sure to link your account to Hilton. Even if you don't use Lyft often, I'd recommend linking it just because you never know when you might.

Dine out

Hilton Honors points can be earned dining out at restaurants and bars. You can earn up to 8 bonus points per $1 spent dining at all participating partners.

In order to earn points, you'll sign up for a free and connect a credit card of your choice to the program. When you use that card to pay for your meal at participating restaurants, you'll earn bonus Hilton Honors points.

Points earned in the Hilton Honors Dining program are in addition to the points you would normally earn. This means you'll still earn credit card rewards as well as points with the restaurant's loyalty program if they have one.

So you can attach the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card which earns 6X points at U.S. restaurants or take it a step further by adding the American Express® Gold Card which earns 4X Membership Rewards points at U.S. supermarkets, equal to a whopping 8X Hilton Honors points after being transferred to Hilton.

If you're looking to earn points with little to no effort (outside of eating), I recommend signing up. You'll be surprised at how often you earn bonus points when eating out.

Buy points

If you're a few points shy of a redemption, you can buy Hilton Honors points directly from their points.com portal. Hilton Honors points are on sale quite often. They can be purchased for as low as 0.5 cents per point several times per year.

Ways to redeem Hilton Honors points

Hilton Honors points will have the best value when redeemed for free nights at Hilton brand hotels. They can also be used for experiences, Lyft rides, shopping, car rentals, and airline transfers.

Free nights

Hilton Honors points can be redeemed for free nights at Hilton brand hotels which will give your points the best value of between 0.4 and 0.6 cents in value.

If you have Hilton Honors elite status, you can obtain higher value using Hilton's 5th night free perks which allows you to book five nights for the cost of four. You can obtain status easily with any of Hilton's credit cards including the no-annual fee Hilton Honors American Express Card (see rates & fees).

Lyft rides

Hilton Honors points can be redeemed for Lyft credits starting at 4,500 Hilton Honors points for a $10 credit. This gives your points a value of 0.22 cents apiece.

Shop on amazon.com

Amazon's Shop with Points allows you to redeem Hilton Honors points at checkout. Every 500 Hilton Honors points you redeem will give you $1 in value on Amazon.com. If you enjoy shopping on Amazon.com, I recommend using Amazon's own co-branded credit cards.

Rent cars

Hilton Honors points can be redeemed for car rentals with Alamo, Enterprise, and National through their own car rental portal.

Hilton Honors transfer partners

Hilton Honors points can be transferred to over 35 partner programs. The transfer ratio varies depending on the partner, but most are at a 10:1 ratio meaning that every 10,000 Hilton Honors points you transfer will give you 1,000 points or miles with the partner program.

At such a low ratio, this isn't the best use of Hilton Honors points, but it can be useful if you need to really top off an account.

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Hilton Honors elite status

Once you sign up for a free Hilton Honors account, you will become a Hilton Honors member which allows you to earn and redeem points in the program. As you book direct with Hilton and earn credit for your stays, you'll be able to earn elite status in the program.

Here are the requirements for each membership level in the Hilton Honors program:

  • Members: Sign up for a free account.
  • Silver: 10 nights per calendar year.
  • Gold: 40 nights per calendar year.
  • Diamond: 60 nights per calendar year.

Regardless of your status in the program, all Hilton Honors members receive discounted booking rates, no resort fees on reward stays, digital check-in and check-out, the ability to choose your room, access to digital room keys, free Wi-Fi, and access to exclusive Hilton Honors Experiences.

Hilton Honors member benefits

As a Hilton Honors member, you will receive 10 Hilton Honors points per $1 spent at Hilton brand hotels. You'll also receive all of the standard benefits.

Hilton Honors silver benefits

Hilton Honors silver members receives 12 Hilton Honors points per $1 spent, free bottled water, access to the 5th Night Free benefit, elite rollover nights, and all-inclusive spa discounts. You'll also receive all left over benefits of being a standard member.

You can obtain complimentary Hilton Honors silver by holding the no-annual fee Hilton Honors American Express Card.

Hilton Honors gold benefits

Hilton Honors gold members receive 18 Hilton Honors points per $1 spent, space-available room upgrades, daily food and beverage credit or continental breakfast, and milestone bonuses. You'll also receive all left over benefits of silver and member.

You can obtain complimentary Hilton Honors gold by holding the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, The Platinum Card® from American Express, or The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.

Hilton Honors diamond benefits

Hilton Honors diamond members receive 20 Hilton Honors points per $1 spent, space-available room upgrades up to 1-bedroom suite, executive lounge access, premium Wi-Fi, 48-hour room guarantee, and elite status gifting. You'll also receive all left over benefits of lower elite status levels.

You can (surprisingly) obtain complimentary Hilton Honors diamond status by holding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.

Hilton Honors points calculator

Use the Hilton Honors points calculator to determine which credit cards will earn you the most points based on the monthly or yearly spending amounts you enter.

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These estimates are to help guide you towards making the best decision when it comes to picking up a rewards credit card. They should be used for illustrative purposes only.

You can click on the estimated earnings to see the calculations or click on the card to learn more and apply for the card through our partners.

Do note that all spend amounts entered into the tool above will carry over to every credit card rewards calculator on the site, so there's no need to re-enter spend if you choose to dive deeper into calculating rewards for credit cards on the site.

**Amount of rewards when transferred to program.

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