Hilton Honors selling points with a 100% bonus

Hilton Honors has launched its first points sale for 2022, and as usual, it’s a 100% bonus on points purchases up till 10 February 2022. 

Thanks to the VTL scheme, you can now travel to nearly two dozen countries quarantine-free. This opens up a whole range of possibilities for using Hilton points to save on hotels, especially around peak periods where rates shoot up.

Buy Hilton Points with a 100% bonus

Buy Hilton Points with 100% bonus

From now till 10 February 2022, 11.59 a.m SGT, Hilton Honors members who buy a minimum of 15,000 points will receive a 100% bonus. Hilton points usually cost 1 US cent apiece, so a 100% bonus means buying points at 0.5 US cents each, the lowest price we ever see available.

A total of 80,000 points (pre-bonus) can be purchased per year. This is sometimes increased to 160,000 points (pre-bonus), but they’ve decided not to do so for this sale. 

Hilton recently revised its points expiry policy such that points expire after 24 months of inactivity (versus 15 months previously). Earning or redeeming even a single point resets the clock, and in any case Hilton has paused the expiration of all points until 31 December 2022. 

What can you do with Hilton points?

Hilton members with Silver or higher status enjoy the 5th night free on all redemptions, creating some fantastic opportunities to save on hotels during peak periods (if you need an idea of how to get Hilton Silver status, it’s offered to all AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend cardholders). 

To illustrate some VTL situations where buying Hilton points might be useful, consider London. A flexible rate at the Conrad London St. James costs US$473 per night, or 80,000 points. Buying points at 0.5 US cents each yields a nett price of US$400, or a 15% saving. If you stay five nights, your per night rate will be just US$320. 

Alternatively, consider New York City, where hotel prices spike around Christmas. Even a modest Hilton Garden Inn is going for US$560! Buying 70,000 points (US$350) would be a much better option.

If you fancy something nicer, the Conrad New York Midtown is going for 95,000 points a night (US$475), versus US$671 with cash.

Otherwise, the classic use case for buying Hilton points is to snag a stay at a luxurious resort at a place like the Maldives. 

Award nights at the Conrad Maldives go for 95,000 points, while paid rates can cost as much as US$990+ a night before tax.

If you purchase Hilton Honors points at a 100% bonus during this sale and use them at the Conrad Maldives, you’ll effectively be paying only US$475 a night. Staying five nights? The price drops to US$380.

Remember, using Hilton Honors points to book your stay gives you a flexible reservation, compared to paying the lowest available rate which is usually non-refundable. 

Don’t buy points speculatively

While buying points can be a great way of saving on stays, you shouldn’t be buying them speculatively. Back in June 2019, it was reported on Flyertalk that Hilton had quietly raised the redemption rates on numerous hotels worldwide without any notice.

Fortunately, this didn’t affect the top-tier properties (so the Conrad Maldives/Koh Samui still costs at most 95,000 points for example), but just goes to show the dangers of “dynamic pricing”.  My advice is that you confirm award pricing and availability at the hotel you want before buying points.

My sense is that the best value Hilton redemptions are for properties in the highest tier (80,000-95,000 points per night). Remember, Hilton no longer publishes award charts and can change hotel categories at will; it’s a lot easier for them to move lower tier hotels between bands than it is to increase the highest cost redemption band. This is still fixed at 80,000-95,000 points, with the exception of the Waldorf Astoria Maldives and Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos (120,000 each).

What card should I use to purchase Hilton points?

Hilton points purchases are processed by Points.com and charged in USD. You should use the following cards to maximize your returns from buying Hilton Honors points:

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Apply here	4 mpd	Cap of S$1K per s. month
UOB Visa Signature Apply here	4 mpd	Min S$1K Max S$2K FCY spend per s. month
SCB Visa Infinite Apply here	3 mpd	Min S$2K spend per s. month
UOB PRVI Miles Apply here	2.4 mpd	No cap
S. Month= Statement Month | C. Month= Calendar Month

Remember, you can always pair the Citi Rewards Card with the Instarem Amaze Card to earn 4 mpd on Points.com purchases, without foreign currency transaction fees. 

I don’t recommend using the DBS Woman’s World Card for Points.com purchases, as many people have reported issues with getting the bonus points credited. 

Conclusion

Buy Hilton Points with 100% bonus

Hilton’s first points sale of 2022 features a 100% bonus, and runs from now till 10 February 2022. I wouldn’t buy points for staycations, but if you’re heading overseas, it’s worth seeing if there’s ways to save by buying points.