Hilton Honors rewards program

Hilton Honors (previously Hilton HHonors) is one of the largest hotel reward programs in the world with more than 57 million members. It offers exclusive benefits when you stay at venues in the Hilton Hotels portfolio, hundreds of ways to earn and redeem points and even offers ways for you to earn more frequent flyer rewards.

How does the Hilton Honors rewards program work?

This loyalty program provides benefits to frequent guests at Hilton Worldwide properties, including their hotels, resorts and premium timeshare sites, in more than 100 countries and territories. Members of the program can earn points which they can redeem for accommodation bookings as well as a range of other travel, shopping, entertainment and everyday activities.

Hilton Honors members also gain access to a range of instant benefits from the luxury hotel company. These benefits include exclusive member discounts on rooms, free wi-fi access, room upgrades, complimentary additional guests for your booking, free nights, late check-out and complimentary continental breakfast. Members also receive a more personalised service than other guests and have the opportunity to earn both Honors points and frequent flyer miles through the program.

How do I join the Hilton Honors program?

There is no fee for Hilton Honors membership and you can become a member of the rewards program any time via the Honors website. Simply follow the steps below:

After confirming your membership via email, you can download the Hilton Honors app for your mobile device. This gives you access to a digital Honors card. You can also go to your account and request a card in the mail if you prefer. After that, you’re ready to start earning and redeeming points and privileges.

Earning Hilton Honors reward points

You can earn Honors points in a number of ways. We’ve outlined options for all the key categories below.

Hotels and resorts

Members earn a base rate of 10 Honors points per US$1 spent on rooms and eligible room charges, including telephone calls and room service, at most Hilton Worldwide properties. This earn rate can make it difficult to calculate points on spending in Australian currency, but as an example, a stay at a Hilton Hotel that cost $250 would earn you around 1,839 points (as of 10 January 2017).

There are also some exceptions to the amount earned at the following properties:

• Hampton by Hilton™ or Homewood Suites by Hilton™ hotels. These properties only earn 10 points per US$1 spent on your room rate.
• Home2 Suites by Hilton™ hotels. You only earn 5 points per US$1 spent on your room rate.
• Hampton by Hilton™ hotels in China. These properties are currently excluded from the Hilton Honors program.

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Travel and transport

You can earn Honors points for the following travel and transport options:

• Car rental. Partners include Avis, Budget, Europcar, Alamo, Car Club, National, Sixt and Ace Drive (Singapore). While Avis, Budget, Alamo, National and Sixt all offer a base rate of 500 Honors points per rental, the others vary. Europcar, for example, offers 250 points per rental anywhere in the world, while Ace Drive offers 10 points per SGD$1 spent on car hire or limousine rental in Singapore.
• Priority Pass airport lounges. Sign up for Priority Pass membership and you’ll get Honors points as well as access to more than 600 VIP airport lounges globally. The Honors points you’ll earn vary based on membership level. You’ll earn 4,000 points for a Standard Membership (US$99), 6,000 points for a Standard Plus Membership (US$249) and 10,000 points for a Prestige Membership (US$399). You can also check out Priority Pass discounts and deals to see if you can save money on your membership.
• Cruises. You can earn points on your cruise if you book through Hilton Honors partner CruisesOnly. Points range from 6,000 points for a 1-5 night cruise and up to 50,000 points for a cruise of 13 days or more. However, none of the departure ports are located in Australia, so you’ll be limited to bookings for cruises in overseas locations such as North America or Europe.
• Mobile roaming. You can earn Hilton Honors bonus points when you register for mobile roaming services with either OneSimCard or Travelling Connect. Both partners offer points per minute when using the service, and OneSimCard also offers 100 bonus points on sign up. Participating countries and mobile networks vary for these services, so make sure you check each option based on your travel plans.

Transferring points from frequent flyer or other loyalty programs

You can boost your Hilton Honors rewards balance by transferring points from an eligible travel or frequent flyer program. Currently, the eligible partners include the following:

• Amtrak. Exchange 5,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points for 10,000 Honors points.
• Hawaiian Airlines. Exchange 10,000 HawaiianMiles for 15,000 Honors points or 20,000 HawaiianMiles for 30,000 Honors points.
• Multiplus. Exchange 5,000 Multiplus points for 6,250 Honors points.
• OK Cashbag. Exchange 37,500 OK Cashbag points for 5,000 Honors points.
• SriLankan Airlines. Exchange 20,000 FlySmiLes miles for 10,000 Honors points.
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Exchange a minimum of 10,000 Flying Club miles for 15,000 Honors points.

Shopping, dining and entertainment

The Hilton Honors program has a wide range of shopping, dining and entertainment partners in various locations around the world. For Australian members, the following are the two most relevant ways to earn points:

• Hilton Honors Shop-to-Earn-Mall. This online shopping hub allows you to shop from anywhere in the world and earn points for your spending. Partners include Apple, Asos, Booktopia, Bonds, The Iconic and StrawberryNET. You can customize the store by region and currency (ie, Australia) and most partners earn between one and five points per dollar spent.
• OpenTable bookings. Formerly known as bookarestaurant, this online dining reservation service offers 500 Honors Points when you book and dine at one of over 500 restaurants across Australia. Plus, if the restaurant you book is located within a hotel in the Hilton portfolio, you will receive a 50% point bonus, giving you a total of 750 points per eligible booking.

Buying, gifting and transferring points

In addition to earning points for spending and activity with program partners, you can buy, gift or transfer Honors points to other members. The following are the key details for each option:

• Buying points. If you have been a member for at least 30 days, you can purchase up to 40,000 Honors points per calendar year via your membership account. You must buy the points in 1,000-point increments, with the total cost of points shown in US dollars before the purchase is completed.
• Gifting points. You can also buy points as a gift for other Honors members. You will need to provide their Honors membership number and need to buy points in increments of 1,000. No member can receive more than 40,000 points per year as a gift.
• Transferring points. You can transfer points from your account to another Hilton Honors account in increments of 5,000 points up to 200,000 points per transaction.

Earning frequent flyer points through Hilton Honors

The Hilton Honors reward program also allows you to earn frequent flyer points or miles on your eligible hotel stays with 65 frequent flyer programs, including Qantas Frequent Flyer and Velocity Frequent Flyer.

This means you can earn points twice when you stay at Hilton properties: once through the Hilton Honors program and once through your preferred frequent flyer program. To earn frequent flyer points, you just have to link your Hilton Honors membership to your frequent flyer membership.

To give you an idea of the potential frequent flyer points you could earn, this table provides details for frequent flyer rewards programs that are popular in Australia.

Redeeming Hilton Honors points

When you have earned enough points, you can redeem them for rewards via the Honors website. Simply log in to your account, click “Redeem Points” from the left-hand menu on your account page, and choose your reward option from the following categories:

• Hotels and resorts. Reward bookings at Hilton properties start from 5,000 points for a Standard Room. You also have the option of room upgrades, spa treatments, fine dining, golf lesson and other activities. Depending on your chosen reward, you may be able to use a combination of points and cash for your bookings.
• Experiences. You can use your points to “bid” for concerts, travel excursions and events all around the world. For example, in January 2017 you could bid to celebrate the Chinese New Year at Hilton South Wharf in Melbourne, with the opening bid set at 100,000 points.
• Travel and transport. This category allows you to convert your Hilton Honors points into miles with participating frequent flyer partners, including Qantas and Etihad Airways. You can also redeem points for a car hire with Alamo, National and Sixt or redeem points for a cruise with CruisesOnly.
• Shopping and dining. The Hilton Honors Shopping Mall offers a wide variety of rewards for Australian members, including homewares, technology, fashion, jewellery, gift cards and dining experiences.
• Donate points. You can donate points to a range of charities via PointWorthy.com with donations starting from 4,000 points for an equivalent value of US$10.

Hilton Honors membership levels

The Hilton Honors program has different membership levels or tiers that offer an increasing number of benefits and bonus points. The base level is known as Blue and offers the following benefits:

• Points for eligible spending with program partners
• A guaranteed booking discount
• Digital check-in
• Complimentary in-room and lobby standard Internet access at participating Hilton Worldwide properties
• The ability to register your room preferences for faster bookings and check-in
• Late check-out at participating Hilton Worldwide properties
• Express check-out
• A “Second Guest Stays Free” offer at participating Hilton Worldwide properties

Access to higher membership levels provides additional perks and requires you to stay at a specific number of Hilton properties each year or to earn a specific number of Hilton Honors points. We’ve included an overview of the higher membership tiers and benefits below:

Silver membership

You’ll make it to the second level of the Hilton Honors program when you have had 4 stays or spent 10 nights in a Hilton property within a calendar year. This provides you with the following benefits:

• A 15% point bonus on the base rate
• A free night for Standard Room Reward stays of 5 nights or more
• A “Second Guest Stays Free” offer
• Complimentary access to fitness centres
• Two complimentary bottles of water per stay at participating hotels and resorts

Gold membership

You’ll achieve Gold status if you have 20 stays or spend 40 nights in Hilton properties. You can also make it to this level if you earn 75,000 Honors Base Points in a calendar year.
In addition to the benefits available to Blue and Silver members, Gold guests can enjoy the following privileges and perks based on where you stay and your membership preferences:

• A 25% point bonus
• Upgrades to a preferred room
• Complimentary breakfasts
• Complimentary snacks
• Point bonuses for stays at participating Hilton properties

Diamond membership

The highest tier of the Hilton Honors program is available to members who have 30 stays or spend 60 nights in Hilton properties in a calendar year. You can also achieve Diamond status by earning 120,000 Honors Base Points in a year. Benefits vary between properties and your preferences, but include the following:

• A 50% point bonus
• A guaranteed room when you make a reservation at least 48 hours prior to your arrival
• Spa, golf or restaurant discounts
• Complimentary meals and snacks
• Point bonuses for stays at participating Hilton Worldwide properties

What should I consider before joining the Hilton Honors rewards program?

• Point expiry. Hilton Honors points do not expire as long as you earn or redeem themwithin 12 months or stay at a participating Hilton portfolio hotel within 12 months.
• Base vs. Bonus points. The key difference between these types of points is that you need a specific number of Base points to reach higher membership tiers. While some rewards earn “Base points”, others only offer “Bonus points”. Make sure you consider this if you’re aiming to reach higher membership status.
• Exchange rate. Many of the points earned are calculated based on US dollars, so the amount you get could vary when you spend in Australian dollars.
• Honors membership number. You must provide your Hilton Honors membership number in order to earn points. While you can file a claim for missing hotel stays, most other partners won’t allow you to retroactively claim points.
• Membership support. You can get membership support online via the Hilton Honors website or by calling Hilton Honors Customer Care (Australia) on 1800 446667.

The Hilton Honors hotel rewards program has no joining fee and offers a vast range of ways to earn and redeem points. It also provides members with exclusive privileges and perks at Hilton properties. If you’re a regular guest at Hilton hotels and resorts, then it may be worth registering as a member to get more benefits when you travel.

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