For those planning year-end VTL travel to Europe, Hilton has launched a Winter Sale featuring 25% off weekend stays at hotels (the sale also covers the Middle East and Africa, although there’s no VTL countries in those regions yet).
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| Hilton Winter Sale |
This sale is valid for bookings made till 31 January 2022, with stays till 9 May 2022. Three days’ advance reservations are required, and full payment is required at the time of booking. Reservations cannot be refunded or changed.
And yes, despite recent events, “Europe” includes the UK as well.
Hilton Winter Sale
To give you an idea of how much you could save with this sale, here’s some rates I found for hotels across VTL countries
- Hilton Munich City (review): €116
- Hilton Munich Park: €108
- Hilton Frankfurt City Centre: €141
- Hotel Camille Paris Gare de Lyon: €156
- Niepce Paris Hotel: €142
- Conrad London St James: £367 (breakfast included)
- Hilton Barcelona: €104
- Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona: €108
- Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria: €262
- Hilton Milan: €111
- DoubleTree by Hilton Milan: €81
- DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station: €179
- Hilton Amsterdam: €191
In most cases, you’ll get better value by paying the discounted cash rates than redeeming points (based on a value of 0.5 US cents per point).
Register for Hilton’s Q4 promo
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| Hilton Power Up Your Points |
If you’re planning to book stays with Hilton hotels, don’t forget to register for Hilton’s Q4 promo. This offers 2X points on your stays (the graphic above says 3X, but that’s for Hilton Honors credit card members), with no minimum stay requirement.
Stays must be made between 7 September and 31 December 2021. The bonus refers to base points; elite points will not be multiplied. Here’s how many points you can expect to earn.
| Points per US$1 | ||||
| Base* | Promo (2X/3X) | Elite | Total | |
 Member |
10 | 10/20 | 0 | 20/30 |
 Silver |
10 | 10/20 | 2 | 22/32 |
 Gold |
10 | 10/20 | 8 | 28/38 |
 Diamond |
10 | 10/20 | 10 | 30/40 |
| *Stays at Tru and Home2 properties earn 5 base points per US$1, but I doubt any Singapore-based Hilton member is going to stay at one of these anytime soon | ||||
Since base points are awarded based on how much you spend, you won’t earn anything for an award night. However, if you spend on hotel F&B or other ancillaries and charge it to your room, you’ll earn bonus points on that expenditure.
What card should I use for Hilton bookings?
Bookings will be processed in foreign currency, so use the following cards to earn the most miles.
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 OCBC 90N VisaApply here |
4 mpd | Cap at S$2.5K per c. month, until 15 Jan 22 |
 UOB Visa SignatureApply here |
4 mpd | Min. S$1K max. S$2K per s. month |
 HSBC RevolutionApply here |
4 mpd | Cap S$1K per c. month. Must use contactless |
 UOB Lady’s CardApply here |
4 mpd* | Cap S$1K per c. month |
 UOB Lady’s SolitaireApply here |
4 mpd* | Cap S$3K per c. month |
| *Must declare travel as your quarterly 10X category | ||
I would be a bit hesitant about using the DBS Woman’s World Card, since I’m not certain whether your card is charged immediately or only at the point of check-in.
If you hold an Amaze Card, go ahead and use it to save on FCY fees, but be careful about pairing it with the Citi Rewards- hotel expenditure is ineligible for 4 mpd under the T&Cs.
Conclusion
If you’re heading to Europe for some VTL travel (hopefully not Denmark!), do check out Hilton’s winter sale and see if you can snag some savings on hotels.
Just note that the rates are non-refundable, so it’s a good idea to purchase travel insurance that covers trip cancellation or disruption, should the worst happen.
