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Hilton Honors Points Value: How to Use Them Correctly

There are several ways to use Hilton Honors Points, but you’ll likely find the most value from redeeming free nights at participating hotels.

By Christy Rakoczy
and Harrison Pierce

Edited by Alicia Hahn

Updated Dec. 19, 2024

Hilton operates more than 8,000 properties worldwide under 24 distinct hotel brands. As a Hilton Honors member, you’ll earn at least 10 points per dollar on your next hotel booking. If you have elite status or a co-branded credit card, you’ll earn even more. Since you can accumulate points so quickly, you need to figure out the best ways to redeem them.

The points you earn in the Hilton Honors loyalty program can easily be redeemed for free nights at participating hotels — but they can also be redeemed for experiences, Lyft rides, shopping, and rental cars. Although Hilton Honors points have a slightly lower value than other popular hotel brands, you shouldn’t count them out. Here’s everything you need to know about redeeming Hilton Honors points for maximum value.

How much are Hilton Honors points worth?

The value of your Hilton Honors points can vary based on how you redeem them. Even if you only use points for hotel stays, the valuation can range based on the property, dates, cash price of the stay, and more.

On average, though, Hilton Honors points are worth 0.5 cents apiece when used for free hotel stays. This value is crowdsourced from various travel experts who have compiled a mountain of data from Hilton bookings. They typically look at various properties in several cities across the world and look for the average points value across the board.

To determine the value of a specific redemption, you divide the cash price of the booking by how many points are required for an award stay. For example, if you find a room that costs $1,000 for three nights or 150,000 points. You’d divide $1,000 by 150,000 to get 0.67 cents per point. This is considered above-average for the Hilton Honors program, which would make it a valuable redemption.

In comparison, here’s what to expect from other top hotel loyalty programs and general credit card rewards programs:

Loyalty program	Value per point
World of Hyatt	1.7 cents
Chase Ultimate Rewards	1-2 cents, depending on the card
American Express Membership Rewards	Up to 2 cents
Wyndham Rewards	1.1 cents
Marriott Bonvoy	0.8 cents
IHG Rewards	0.5 cents
Radisson	0.4 cents

Compared with other programs, Hilton Honors points are among the least valuable. This is because of how the Hilton Honors program is set up — it generally requires more points to earn a free night’s stay than it does with many other hotel rewards programs.

How to earn Hilton Honors points

Earning Hilton Honors points is easy. Once you’ve enrolled in the program, you’ll earn points when you stay at one of more than 8,000 Hilton properties worldwide, on Lyft rides, car rentals, and select dining purchases. Hilton has 24 distinct hotel brands, ranging from the luxury Waldorf Astoria to the budget Hilton Garden Inn. As a Hilton Honors member, you’ll earn 10 points per dollar on Hilton bookings.

Hilton credit cards

If you’re a regular Hilton guest and want to maximize the Hilton Honors points you can earn, it’s a good idea to check out Hilton’s selection of co-branded credit cards. These credit cards allow you to earn Hilton Honors points for your everyday spending, including bonus points for stays at Hilton hotels and resorts and purchases at restaurants and gas stations. Hilton offers three co-branded cards in partnership with American Express.

The Hilton Honors American Express Card is a solid $0 annual-fee option that allows you to earn bonus points on stays and receive complimentary Hilton Honors Silver status (and a path to Gold status).

The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card has a $150 annual fee, but you can help offset this with complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status, a fantastic earning potential, a free night award after spending $15,000 on your card in a calendar year, and up to $200 in statement credits each year for Hilton purchases.

For ultimate Hilton loyalists, the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has a $550 annual fee, but comes loaded with perks and opportunities to earn rewards. Cardholders receive up to $400 in annual statement credits at participating Hilton Resorts and up to $200 back per year on eligible flight purchases. You can earn up to three free night awards per year, and you receive automatic Hilton Honors Diamond status and a $199 annual CLEAR Plus credit. If you can maximize the benefits, it’s easy to justify the annual fee.

You can also transfer points from American Express cards to Hilton Honors at a 1:2 ratio. So, 1,000 Membership Rewards converts to 2,000 Hilton Honors points. Even so, your Membership Rewards can be used in more lucrative ways with other transfer partners.

How to redeem Honors points

Free nights at hotels and resorts

The best way to use your points is by redeeming a free night at a Hilton property. The amount of points you’ll need for a free night depends on the resort you choose to book, with nights costing anywhere from 5,000 to 95,000 points. You might even see redemptions over 100,000 points per night for select luxury properties.

Since Hilton uses a dynamic pricing model, the number of points you’ll need for a redemption can vary significantly. Although this might make things a bit more tricky, it allows you to potentially get outsized value from your points. Other redemption methods will have a fixed point value that is likely below the 0.5 cents per point goal. Plus, a free night at a hotel is probably why you’re working on earning points in the first place.

Hilton Honors Experiences

Hilton allows you to redeem your points for once-in-a-lifetime experiences like music, sporting, cultural, or food events. The specific value of points will vary depending on the experience. You also have the option to participate in auctions, which means you could enter bids for unique experiences you couldn’t buy tickets to elsewhere.

Lyft rides

In the same way you can earn points on your Lyft rides, you can use points to cover the cost of your next Lyft purchase. Once your accounts are linked, you can redeem your points for Lyft credits and use them to pay for your ride.

Shopping

Hilton Honors points can also be used to make purchases at Amazon.com or through Hilton’s online mall. Simply link your Hilton Honors account with Amazon and choose rewards points to pay for your purchase.

When shopping at Amazon with Hilton points, 500 Hilton Honors points will get you $1 on Amazon.com. This makes points worth 0.2 cents when used to buy items from Amazon — a below-average redemption.

Rental Cars

Redeem your points for car rentals with Alamo, National, and Enterprise. Like the other redemption methods, you’ll need to link your accounts and the cost of a redemption in points will depend on your vehicle.

Transfer to travel partners

Hilton Honors points can be exchanged for points or miles with a large variety of travel partners. However, this is not a recommended way to use your points, as the transfer ratios significantly devalue the points. For example, 10,000 Hilton Honors points would get you only 1,000 miles with Delta, United, and most other airlines.

3 examples of getting great value for Hilton Honors points

As discussed earlier, the average value of a Hilton Honors point is 0.5 cents each, but we’ve found a few redemption opportunities that can give you better than that.

3-night stay at the Conrad London St. James

A quick stay at this five-star luxury hotel shouldn’t cost you more than 80,000 points per night for a standard room. The property is located within walking distance of Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben.

We found one three-day stay for 240,000 points or roughly $1,206. This gives you about an average value of 0.5 cents per point. To get that value, just divide $1,206 by 240,000 points.

3-night stay at Boulders Resort & Spa Scottsdale, Curio Collection by Hilton

A nice fall getaway in October to this luxurious golf and spa resort in Arizona could run you about $1,600 for a three-night stay. Or you could pay 80,000 points per night for a total of 240,000 points.

That’s a lot of points, but you get a decent return on your rewards. For this redemption, you’re looking at about a value of 0.67 cents per point. This is above the average value for Hilton points, which makes it a quality redemption.

5-night stay at the Conrad Tokyo

If you’re planning a dream vacation to Tokyo, Japan, the Conrad Tokyo can be your luxurious base of operations for exploring the Japanese capital. For five nights in a King Room City, you could pay around $2,500.

Or you can pay 95,000 points per night for a total of 475,000 points. But there’s a big opportunity for savings here. If you have at least Silver status with Hilton, which you can get with the Hilton Honors American Express Card (which has an annual fee of $0), you’ll get the fifth night free on any stay of five or more nights booked with points.

So instead of paying 475,000 points, you’d only have to pay 380,000, which ends up being about a 0.66 above-average redemption rate.

Keep in mind that the fifth-night-free benefit can be used in Hilton hotels worldwide. So if you have an inkling to stay in a paradise setting like the Maldives and relax in an overwater bungalow at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, don’t forget about the option to book with points and get your fifth night free. The same applies for visiting the beaches of Bali while staying at the Conrad Bali.

FAQs

How many Hilton points are needed for a free night?

You need at least 5,000 Hilton points for an award night at a Hilton property. The number of points needed for Hilton properties ranges from 5,000 points to 95,000 points per night, though it could go higher depending on the season and what kind of room you want to book.

Do my Hilton Honors points expire?

Hilton Honors points expire after 24 consecutive months of no eligible rewards activity on your Hilton Honors account. Eligible activities can include stays at Hilton properties, earning Hilton Honors points with a Hilton co-branded credit card, purchasing points, or donating points through the Hilton Honors Giving Back Program.

Can Hilton Honors points be used for flights?

Hilton Honors points can’t be directly used for flights, but you can transfer your hotel points to a number of airline partners. This includes many major airlines, such as Delta, United, Emirates, and British Airways.

How much is 50,000 Hilton points worth?

According to travel experts, Hilton points are worth 0.5 cents per point. This would make 50,000 Hilton points worth $250. However, you may get more or less value than this, depending on how you redeem your points.

Bottom line

Hilton points may not be as valuable as certain other rewards from different loyalty programs, but that doesn’t matter if you’re loyal to the brand. For the biggest Hilton fans, a co-branded credit card can allow you to quickly accrue points to use on a free night and enjoy the perks of having elite status. If you don’t exclusively stay at Hilton properties or want a more flexible rewards program, consider a credit card with a transferable point currency.

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