Complete Guide to Hilton Honors

Hilton Honors is one of the largest hotel loyalty programs in the world, with an extensive network of more than 8,800 properties across 139 countries and territories.

The hotel giant offers everything from budget stays to grand-scale luxury — and fortunately, its global reputation is a level above Paris Hilton’s 2000s-era reality show, The Simple Life. However ironic, the late Conrad Hilton’s great-granddaughter was living anything but a simple life. 🫠

With its breadth of properties, a solid portfolio of co-branded credit cards, and plenty of ways to rack up points, Hilton Honors has landed in our top picks for good reason.

What is Hilton Honors?

Hilton Honors is Hilton’s free loyalty program. Members earn points on stays, credit card spending, and more. The more loyalty you show, the higher your elite status — and the better the perks.

Hilton’s global portfolio spans over 20 brands:

How to Earn Hilton Honors Points

There are a handful of ways to earn Hilton points — some are more popular (and lucrative) than others. Let’s walk through the most common ways.

🛏️ Hotels Stays

You’ll earn points when you book a stay directly with Hilton (not third-party OTAs). Most properties award 10 points per dollar spent, but there are a few exceptions:

• 3 points per dollar at LiveSmart Studios

• 5 points per dollar at Home2 Suites

• 10 points per dollar at all other Hilton brands

On top of the base earnings, elite members also earn bonuses:

• Hilton Honors Silver: 20% bonus points

• Hilton Honors Gold: 80% bonus points

• Hilton Honors Diamond: 100% bonus points

These bonus points are in addition to the points you’ll earn from also holding one of Hilton’s co-branded cards.

💳 Credit Cards

Having a Hilton-branded card is one of the best ways to earn additional points. All of Hilton’s cards are issued by American Express — ranging from basic to premium options.

*Earn one Free Night Reward after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases on your card in the first three months of card membership. **Enjoy one Free Night Reward and every year after renewal. Earn an additional night after you spend $60,000 on your card in a calendar year.

🤝 Transfer Partners

Hilton is a transfer partner of American Express with a ratio of 1:2. This means every 1,000 Amex points transferred will become 2,000 Hilton points. You can also transfer Bilt Rewards to Hilton at a 1:1 ratio.

With Amex, this might sound like you’re doubling your value, but that’s not always the case, as Amex points are generally much more valuable. Still, if you need to top off your Hilton account and have some Amex points to spare, it’s a good option to have.

🚗 Ride with Lyft

You can link your Hilton Honors and Lyft accounts in order to start earning 3x points per dollar on Lyft rides (this includes economy, luxury, and extra seats). Plus, you’ll earn 2x points per dollar on shared Lyft rides.

And, if you feel so inclined, you can also redeem Hilton Honors points for Lyft credits… but that won’t be the best use of them. However, if you’re in a pinch, you’ve got that option.

🍽️ Hilton Honors Dining

If you want to score a few extra points just from eating… you’ve come to the right place:

• Simply sign up for the program

• Link any card to your Hilton Honors Dining account

• Search for participating restaurants in your area (quite a few came up in Seattle for me)

• Earn between 2x to 8x points per dollar spent

These bonus points will be in addition to the rewards points you would already earn on whatever card you linked — like the American Express® Gold Card, which earns 4x points at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 per year, then 1x after).

It’s also important to know that if you link a card that is already enrolled in a dining program elsewhere (say Marriott’s, for example), that card will automatically be removed from Marriott’s program if you choose to enroll it with Hilton’s.

You can’t double-dip on this one. 🤷🏻‍♀️

💵 Buy Hilton Points

You can always buy Hilton points to boost your stash. I wouldn’t recommend doing this regularly, but if you have a redemption in mind and will come out ahead, then it’s always here as an option.

What are Hilton Points Worth?

Hilton Honors points are typically worth around 0.5 cents each when redeemed for hotel stays, though the value can vary depending on property and timing. At that valuation, 50,000 points could save you around $250.

How to Redeem Hilton Points

General Award Nights

Hilton doesn’t have a standard, fixed award chart, but they do offer this cool Points Explorer tool. It allows you to search for properties based on location and the amount of points you’d like to spend per night.

I personally love the sliding bar feature, which makes it super customizable. 👇

You can always do a standard search using their calendar feature as well.

Fifth-Night Free

One of the best ways to redeem your Hilton points is by staying in five-night increments, if possible! That’s because if you have Silver status or higher, you’ll get access to Hilton’s fifth-night free perk. This means you’ll get every fifth night free when redeeming points for a stay of five nights or longer.

Free Night Certificates

Hilton’s Free Night Certificates are a flexible option to book award nights for free at most Hilton properties. They’re typically earned from having certain Hilton cards, received as an anniversary benefit, or by reaching specific spending thresholds in a calendar year.

Things to consider:

• Certificates are only valid for standard award rooms

• They expire 12 months after being issued and can’t be combined with the fifth-night free perk

• They can be used for any night of the week

Pool Your Points

Hilton allows its members to pool their points with up to ten people — free of charge. This comes in handy if you don’t have enough individual points to book a stay. Chances are that if you combined your points with friends or family, you probably would!

Hilton Honors Elite Status: Tiers and Perks

Hilton Honors has four membership levels:

• Hilton Honors Member (free to join)

• Hilton Honors Silver (10 nights, 4 stays, or 25,000 points)

• Hilton Honors Gold (40 nights, 20 stays, or 75,000 points)

• Hilton Honors Diamond (60 nights, 30 stays, or 120,000 points)

Hilton Honors Member (Free to Join)

You’ll become a Hilton Honors Member just by signing up for a free account. This base level comes with a few benefits:

• Access to Hilton Honors member discount rates

• Waived resort fees for award stays

• Ability to choose your room (from available rooms) up to 24 hours before check-in

Hilton Honors Silver

Now the elite statuses build from here. You’ll earn Hilton Honors Silver status after staying ten nights, completing four stays, or earning 25,000 Base Points in a calendar year.

You’ll receive these benefits with your status:

• 20% bonus points on top of base points earned for stays

• Two complimentary bottles of water at select brands

• Access to Hilton’s fifth-night free on standard award bookings of five consecutive nights or more (up to four free nights per stay)

Additionally, you’ll receive Silver status if you hold the Hilton Honors American Express Card. You can also earn Gold status with this card if you spend $20,000 within a calendar year.

Hilton Honors Gold

You’ll reach Hilton Honors Gold status after completing 40 nights, 20 stays, or by earning 75,000 Base Points in a calendar year. In addition to the Silver elite perks, you’ll also receive:

• 80% bonus points on top of base points earned for stays

• Space-available upgrades to preferred rooms, including executive floors

• Choice of a My Way on-property benefit for each stay (i.e. free breakfast or food and beverage credit, etc.)

• Access to Milestone Bonuses

You can also obtain Gold status by holding one of these cards:

• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card

• The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card 

• The Platinum Card® from American Express (enrollment required)

• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (enrollment required)

Plus, both the Hilton Honors Surpass and the Hilton Honors Business Card allow cardmembers to spend their way to Diamond status — that requires $40,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year.

Hilton Honors Diamond

You’ll be shining bright like a diamond (cue that Rihanna song 😎) with Hilton’s top-tier status. To reach it, you’ll need 30 stays, 60 nights, or 120,000 Base Points earned in a calendar year.

On top of the perks you’re already getting, Diamond elites will also receive:

• 100% bonus points on top of base points earned for stays

• Premium Wi-Fi access 💁🏻‍♀️

• Space-available room upgrades to preferred rooms (including junior, standard, or one-bedroom suites)

Hilton also offers Diamond status to cardmembers who hold the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.

Additional Perks and Benefits

Milestone Bonuses

Hilton Honors Milestone Bonuses allow Gold and Diamond members to earn additional bonus points after staying a certain number of qualifying nights in a calendar year:

• 40 qualifying nights = 10,000 bonus points

• 60 qualifying nights = 30,000 bonus points (and the ability to gift Gold status to another member)

• 100 qualifying nights = Ability to gift Diamond status to another member

Elite Status Gifting

As mentioned above, you’ll be able to gift either Gold or Diamond status to another Hilton Honors member after reaching certain milestones.

If you earn the ability to gift status, you’ll need to select that member by January 31 of the following calendar year — their status will last 365 days from the day you nominate them.

Bottom Line

Hilton Honors offers one of the easiest paths to elite status, thanks to its co-branded cards, plus valuable perks like Fifth-Night Free and uncapped Free Night Certificates. And with such a large, global footprint, it’s hard not to find a Hilton wherever you’re headed — just know elite perks can be hit or miss when everyone has status.