Have a bunch of Hilton Honors points? Here are a few tips on maximizing your hilton honors points to land a stay at some of the best hotels and vacation spots. A vacation is born out of an idea, and we’ve got a few to put in your head if you want to have the best value while seeing some amazing sites, let’s put those Hilton Honors points to work:
Step 1: Take advantage of promotions and advantageous point exchange rates
Instead of simply trading in your Honors points and getting anywhere between .06 cents and 1.7 cents for your points, you should always search for promotions. Hilton is notorious for giving customers ways to make their points stretch further. For example right now the current promotion gives you 30% off the number of points you need to book a stay through June of this year. You can find information on current promotions at the Hilton Honors Promotion site.
If you lack Hilton Honors points but have other rewards points accumulated, you can still exchange other points for Hilton Honors points. Exchanging other points for Hilton Honors points usually comes with an advantageous exchange rate. Amex Membership rewards points can be exchanged at a 1:1.5 exchange rate. American Airlines Miles and Hawaillan Air Points exchange for 2 Hilton Honors points. These are great ways to take advantage of the Hilton Honors promotions with whichever points you've got saved up.
Keep in mind that exchanging points the other way usually doesn't make sense. Hilton Honors points usually only trade 1:1 for airline miles.
Keep your eye out for airline miles promotions as well. When booking your airfare with points as well look for frequent flyer miles promotions on the particular airline you're booking with to stretch those frequent flyer miles as well (for example Singapore Airlines will require 15% fewer miles when booking online)
Step 2: Plan Redeeming Points Around Your Vacation Budget
Sure you may have a lot of Honors points to cash in, but keep in mind that locations vary considerably when it comes to your total vacation budget. Dining and entertainment in Paris might break your budget wide open, but on vacation in Bangladesh or the Philippines, and you can live like a king for $10 - $20 a day.
Another factor to keep in mind that International trips can be a mixed bag for the budget-consciious traveler. The dirty secret that you won't usually find explicitly spelled out in promotional materials or other rewards point information and articles on the web, is that redeeming points for international travel often comes with some hefty surcharges and fees. So be prepared to stomach them. (This is across the board, but came as a nasty surprise to some who signed up for the 100,000 British Airways Miles offer this summer.)
Step 3: Add it Up and Compare Destinations
Doing the math makes it easy for me to see what I'm really going to spend on my next getaway. Doing a bit of research I came up with an example of being strategic when picking destinations. I looked at a trip to Bali and compared it to a trip to Florida. Obviously Bali is more exotic, but airfare to Florida comes without the international surcharges and fees. Let's see how they add up:
Bali
Conrad Bali
- Five Star Beachfront Luxury Hotel
- 35,000 Hilton Honors Points or $189/night (March) $240/night (April) $207/night (June) $216/night (July)
Meals
- Restaurants: Upscale meals under $10 at local restaruants (Hotel restaurants are much more and equate to US prices)
Getting There
- NYC From $1500
- SFO From $1647
- SEA From $1784
- LAX From $1667
- FF Miles: 50,000 to 75,000 on most programs (Singapore Airlines 60,000 + $691 in Taxes/Fees)
- Travel Time: ~24 Hours
Total for 5 day, 4 night stay:
- Hotel: 140,000 Hilton Honors points (Value: 0.5 to 0.7 cents per HH point)
- Meals: Estimated at $100-$150 per person (Great value)
- Flight: ~60,000 FF miles + $700 (Value: 1.5 cents per FF point)
Conclusion
Expect to use about 200,000 total rewards points and about $800 per person for travel, lodging and meals for a getaway to Bali. The airfare surcharges and fees are offset by the low cost of food and entertainment.
Clearwater Beach, Florida
Clearwater Beach Hilton
- Upscale Beachfront Hotel
- 40,000 Hilton Honors Points or $255/night (March) $227/night (April) $215/night (June) $215/night (July)
Meals
- Restaurants: Upscale meals around $40 at local restaruants (Typical US prices)
Getting There
- NYC From $243
- SFO From $327
- SEA From $321
- LAX From $364
- FF Miles: 20,000 to 35,000 on most programs (Delta Airlines 32,500 + $7 in Taxes/Fees)
- Travel Time: ~3-6 Hours
Total for 5 day, 4 night stay:
- Hotel: 160,000 Hilton Honors points (Value: 0.6 to 0.7 cents per HH point)
- Meals: Estimated at $300-$400 per person (assuming upscale dining)
- Flight: ~30,000 FF miles + $7 (Value: 1 cent per FF point)
Conclusion
Expend to use about 190,000 total rewards points and about $400 per person for travel, lodging and meals for this Florida beach vacation. Your flight will actually be free of any significant fees or surcharges and will feel like a free flight, but you'll still be in the United States and will have to pay regular prices for a nice dinner.
Summary
Surprisingly in our example you're only saving about $400 per person compared to a more exotic vacation to Bali. The favorable currency exchange rate helps out considerably and offsets fees and surcharges. Perhaps the biggest cost difference between our domestic and exotic beach vacation examples is time. To get to Bali you'll be spending a good 20-24 hours traveling each way. That aside, by picking your international destication strategically, it becomes nearly as affordable as a domestic vacation.
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