Earn 23 Free Nights at Hiltons After $5k in Spending

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The Hilton Honors Card from American Express is offering 80,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 in the first three months. It has no annual fee.

The Hilton Honors Surpass Credit Card from American Express is offering 100,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first three months. It has a $75 annual fee.

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You can turn $5k or less of every day spending on the two cards into 48 free hotel nights in Category 1 Hiltons, or 23 free hotel nights in Category 2 Hiltons.

The Deal

If you spend $2,000 on the Hilton Honors Card from American Express in the first three months, you’ll have at least 6,000 points from that spending plus you’ll unlock the 80,000 point sign up bonus for at least 86,000 points total. Category bonuses are:

• 7 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on hotel stays within the Hilton Portfolio
• 5 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations
• 3 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on all other purchases

If you spend $3,000 on the Hilton Honors Surpass Credit Card from American Express in the first three months, you’ll have at least 9,000 points from that spending plus you’ll unlock the 100,000 point sign up bonus for at least 109,000 points total. Category bonuses are:

• 12 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on hotel stays within the Hilton Portfolio
• 6 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations
• 3 HHonors Points for every $1 spent on all other purchases

109,000 Hilton points + 86,000 Hilton points = 195,000 Hilton points

Changes to Hilton Program

There have been some changes to the Hilton Honors program. They no longer, technically, have hotel categories nor a published award chart–you can read more about that here. The main takeaway though is that no Hilton’s award price per night will exceed the top price of it’s previous category…

So what used to be called Category 2 Hiltons will remain 10,000 points (or possibly be less if the cash price of the room is cheap). At 10,000 points a night, 195,000 Hilton points are enough for four 5-night stays (plus three extra nights) at Hilton Category 2 hotels. That’s because you get the fifth night free on award bookings as a cardholder of the Hilton Honors Card from American Express and/or the Hilton HHonors Surpass Credit Card from American Express).

Below are some of the best Hiltons for a five night stay.

Cool Locations, Nice Hotels, But Too Cheap

There were a lot of hotels that are in amazing cities and have great reviews, but they aren’t quite as expensive as some other Category 2s, but even with these hotels you are getting 1 cent or more of value per Hilton point, which is amazing. These include:

• Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Kazan City Center, Russia ($334 for five nights in June)
• Hilton Garden Inn Ankara Gimat, Turkey ($357 for five nights in November)
• Hampton by Hilton Bogotá – Usaquén, Colombia ($433 for five nights in July)
• DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bratislava, Slovakia ($459 for five nights in July)
• Hampton by Hilton Cluj-Napoca, Romania ($444 for five nights in July)
• Hilton Garden Inn Guatemala City, Guatemala (under $500 for five nights year-round)
• Hilton Garden Inn Hanoi, Vietnam (under $500 for five nights year-round)
• DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Agra, Indian ($511 for five nights in November)
• DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where I had an awesome stay ($488 for five nights in February)
• Hilton Sharm El Sheikh Fayrouz Resort, Egypt (under $500 for five nights in November)
• Hampton by Hilton Newcastle, England ($520 for five nights in June)
• Ramses Hilton, Cairo, Egypt ($580 for five nights in November)
• Hilton Garden Inn Tanger City Center, Morocco ($373 for five nights in November)
• Hilton Garden Inn Vienna South, Austria ($563 for five nights in August)
• DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sheffield Park, England ($533 for five nights in July)

My Top Picks

HILTON PYRAMIDS GOLF RESORT

5 nights free with max 40,000 Hilton points 
Retail cost: $1,082.25 for five nights

You can stay less than 10 miles from the Pyramids of Giza at a beautiful, modern golf resort.

Guests praise the pool, the location, and the golf course.You can stay five nights at this hotel for 40,000 Hilton points leaving you 40,000 points for five more nights at any other hotel in this post.

With cash, five nights in the high season go for $1,082. That’s 2.7 cents per point of value.

Hampton Inn & Suites Mexico City – Centro Historico

5 nights free with max 40,000 Hilton points
Retail cost: $910.10 for five nights

This hotel is located in the heart of Mexico city’s gorgeous historic district–just blocks from the main square, Zocalo.

The reviews rave about the staff, and that terrace looks like a lovely place to unwind with a margarita after a day strolling the streets of Mexico city, stuffing yourself with tacos.

You can stay five nights at the Hampton Inn & Suites Mexico City to sample the food and culture of one of the Americas’ biggest cities for 40,000 Hilton points, leaving you enough points for five more nights at anywhere else in this post.

That’s a great deal since five nights in late February/early March go for $910, which is about 2.2 cents of value per point.

Other Expensive Properties

Here are some other expensive hotels in interesting cities that are Category 2 Hiltons you can book for 40,000 points for five nights:

• Hilton Urumqi, China ($696 for five nights in August)
• Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Beylikduzu, Turkey ($769 for five nights in October)
• DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Penang, Malaysia opens September 1, 2016 ($874 for five nights in January)

Bottom Line

I think Category 1–where 195k points is 48 free nights–and Category 2 Hiltons–where 188k points is 23 free nights–offer the best value for the sign up bonuses on the Hilton Honors Card from American Express and the Hilton HHonors Surpass Credit Card from American Express.

There are (what used to be called) Category 2 hotels that are around $1,000 for five nights in the high season, meaning 195,000 points could be worth around $4,600 in hotel stays.

Did I miss any of your favorite 10k a night Hiltons?