8 days left to buy Hilton Points at up to 50% discount

For the past month, Hilton’s been holding a points sale where you receive a discount of up to 50% on points purchases. This sale ends at 11.59 am on 16 August 2018 Singapore time. You’ll need to log into your Hilton account to see exactly what bonus you were targeted for: 30-50% is the range.

Click here to see see your Hilton points bonus

If you are targeted for a 50% discount, you’re buying points at 0.5 US cents each. My account was targeted for a 50% discount, and with my newly-received BOC Elite Miles World Mastercard, I’m seriously considering topping up my account to earn 5 mpd in the process.

Possible redemption ideas

I mentioned during the hotel hacks workshop that there can be some significant savings obtained by buying points for stays instead of paying the revenue rates.

I gave a specific example of the Conrad Maldives, where the cheapest non-refundable rate can be about US$1,200 after tax, whereas if you redeemed points and got the fifth night free, you’d be paying the equivalent of US$380 a night (without fifth night free you’re paying US$475, which is still a heck of a deal). Remember that points reservations are cancellable, so if you’re comparing this to a non-refundable rate you’ve got an even better proposition on your hands .

Here are some other snapshots of how much selected properties would cost if you bought points versus paid revenue rates. Do note that at the budget and mid-range level, it may be better to pay revenue rates especially if you can buy during a sale. However, at luxury properties you could be looking at some amazing value by buying Hilton points.

Budget

• Hilton Garden Inn Singapore Serangoon (20,000 points; US$100 per night)
• DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru (10,000 points; US$50 per night)
• DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur (10,000 points; US$50 per night)

Mid-range

• Conrad Bali (40,000 points; US$200 per night)
• Conrad Bangkok (40,000 points; US$200 per night)
• Conrad Macao (40,000 points; US$200 per night)

Luxury

• Conrad Koh Samui (95,000 points; US$475 per night)
• Conrad Tokyo (95,000 points; US$475 per night)
• Conrad Maldives Rangali Island (95,000 points; US$475 per night)

In order to get the fifth night free benefit, you need to have at least Hilton Silver status. Fortunately, that can be easily obtained by anyone who has the AMEX Krisflyer Ascend card, and if you’re planning to go down the route of buying points for a stay at a top tier Hilton property you should really ensure you get this status before making your booking.

What card to use?

Points purchases are processed by points.com and billed in USD, so here’s what I’d recommend.

• BOC Elite Miles World Mastercard: 5 mpd, uncapped
• UOB Visa Signature: 4 mpd, minimum $1,000, maximum $2,000 per statement period
• DBS Woman’s World Msatercard: 4 mpd, capped at $2,000 per month. You may need to manually appeal to get the bonus 3.6 mpd credited
• Citibank Rewards: 4 mpd, capped at $12,000 per year

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