Mike FriedmanI used to have a hard and fast rule when it came to buying points directly from a travel provider: If they’re selling, I don’t want to be buying. After all, why would they sell points if they weren’t making a hefty profit? But, is it possible to buy Hilton Points to SAVE on your hotel stay?
Apparently, I wasn’t the only person with this rule, since the buy Hilton Points promotions have gotten much better over time. Now, I’m happy to take advantage of. them when I find ways to get more value than they probably wanted to give me. Here’s a start:
Buy Hilton Points for 0.5 Cents Each. Waldorf, Anyone?*
Hilton is offering you the opportunity to buy up to 320,000 points for a half-cent each (You’ll need to sign in.). It consists of buying up 160,000 points and getting a bonus of 100%. This promotion is unusual for two reasons:
- The value is outstanding. I value Hilton Honors points at a minimum of 0.4 cents each. Thus, you should be able to get much better value than either than number or the sale price of a half-cent each.
- You don’t have to buy the maximum number of points to get the full bonus. Normally, the best percentage bonus is reserved for those who buy the maximum number of points. In this promotion, virtually any purchase will get you a 100% match. That makes it an excellent opportunity to spend for a couple of nights, or to round up your balance to the next award level.
The Foolproof Plan To Purchase And SAVE On Your Hotel Stay
Once you know where you’re going (or where you’d like to go), check the cash price of your stay. Today, I’d like to book some time in New York City over Christmas.
Warning: Don’t forget, the list price of the page is NOT what you will end up paying per room. It doesn’t include taxes, resort fees, urban destination fees, because-we-feel-like-it fees, etc. And those fees add up.
Five Nights of “Christmas in New York” BEFORE (taxes and fees)
Five Nights of “Christmas in New York” AFTER (taxes and fees)
INSTEAD – Buy Hilton Points AND SAVE On Your Hotel Stay
On the other hand, let’s say that you are going to use points. You fork over $1,600 and buy the maximum 320,000. Since this property costs 80,000 points per night, here’s what you’ll see:
Three Big Benefits – Buying Hilton Points
There are three big benefits here, which help you SAVE on your hotel stay:
- Hilton does not charge resort fees on award nights.
- If you book five or more consecutive nights, you get every fifth night free.
- Points are refundable. Frequently, the cheapest cash room nights aren’t.
Overall, this strategy saved me more than $600 on the trip. And even if I didn’t count the fifth night free, it would still be more than $200 in savings which, in New York, should be enough to buy you a burger at the Hard Rock Cafe.
BUY Hilton Honors Points
Also, find out more:
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card
Luxury in Las Vegas
As far as Las Vegas goes, I consider October and April to be the nicest times of the year to visit. Since my wife’s birthday is in October, let’s see about spending a couple of nights then. But mid-week nights are a pain, so let’s go for a weekend, when rooms tend to be at a premium. And she’s had to deal with me all of these years, so I’m taking her someplace nice. We’re going to spend a couple of nights at the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas.
We want to arrive on Friday, October 25 and leave two days later. First, the cash price. The room is just over $400 per night, but then we have taxes and the inevitable resort fee. Here’s what my bill looks like:
But what happens if I buy the points and then instantly use them to reserve the room? I’ll pay $800 for the points and that’s it. True, you don’t earn points on stays when you pay for them with points, but the 8,000 or so points that you would have earned are only worth about $40.
It Works Internationally, Also. How about $1,200?
My LVA-Travel associate Michael Trager gets upset when I get US-focused, so I’ll do him a solid and, instead of going to Las Vegas, I’ll go visit him in London. But we’re not going all the way to London for just two days. Instead, we’ll go for a week.
My wife’s favorite hotel in London is the Park Lane, so that’s where we’re going to stay. But there’s a problem, and that’s the price. At current exchange rates, my week in London is going to run me almost $3,600. Now, I like Trager, but not that much. He’s worth, I dunno, maybe about 2/3 of that.
And hey, take a look: A room is 80,000 points per night and, with the fifth night free, it will cost me exactly 480,000 Hilton Honors points. If I buy 320,000 (the annual maximum) and my wife buys 160,000, it will cost us a total of $2,400.
We’ll be sure to say hello to the queen for you, and save on your hotel stay.
What Else Should I Know?
There are a couple of things that you need to keep in mind when you make your purchase to buy Hilton Points:
- You don’t earn points when you pay with points. At Hilton, you earn 10 base points per dollar that you spend on a hotel room so, if we value the points at 1/2 cent each (the purchase price), it’s a 5% rebate. In most cases, the savings discussed above are well over 5%.
- Know when you want to go. You’ll want to use your points once you buy them to lock in your savings.
- Good news: Award redemptions count toward elite status. You won’t earn points, but they will count toward your elite night count.
And Finally, If You Would Rather Pay For Your Room, At Least Get A Cash Rebate
If you’re paying for travel, you should be getting a rebate (in addition to your credit card rewards). We’ve discussed cash back shopping portals before, but here’s the 30-second version: You go to the site and then use their link to Hilton.com (or whatever merchant you are shopping). Hilton gives them a commission, which they share with you. In every other respect, it’s as if you’re accessing Hilton.com directly, so you get your points, elite benefits, the same prices, etc. You just get a kickback.
While there are tons of portals available (including my four favorites through the link above), my go-to, for its combination of consistency and decent rewards, is Mr. Rebates. What I like about them: I never have to chase them down for credit. You can really clean up with hotel and car rental companies, which pay 3-5% rebates to you (Hilton is 3%.).
Of course, you’ll get rebates for just about any store online. For example, Macy’s will give you 4%, Target.com and Walmart.com are 2% each, Amazon electronics are 6%, etc. If you know of a store, they probably do business with Mr. Rebates.
*I know that a lot of people are more familiar with frequent flyer miles than hotel points, but they work the same way. You accumulate points based on how much you spend and then redeem them for free hotel rooms.
