We've got a special treat for you today, MileValue readers! Meet Mike Hammari, who will be writing a series of guest posts about a cross-country trip he is currently in the middle of. Who needs miles when you've got feet? Those weary feet still need a decent place to rest. Mike is covering some of his hotel stays with points and is excited to have an audience listening that cares more about rewards than what brand of shoe he's wearing. Really though, Mike, tell us what shoes you chose...

Anything below in italics is a comment from me.

The Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Card comes with Two Free Weekend Nights worldwide at top tier Hiltons after spending $2,500 on the card in the first four months.

As a loyalty bonus, the Citi Hilton Honor Reserve Card offers an additional free weekend night certificate after spending $10,000 within a cardmember year.

Since any new cardholder will spend $2,500 on the card to get the first two free night certificates, that means that spending $7,500 more on the card during the first 12 months will entitle you to a third free night certificate, in addition to

The Citi Hilton Honor Reserve Card offers two free weekend nights (Fri, Sat, Sun) at almost any Hilton worldwide after spending $2,500 in the first four months.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

“Almost any Hilton” basically excludes only all inclusive properties and time shares.

In 2013, Hilton gutted its award chart for its top tier properties by adding several categories and moving the most expensive properties from 50,000 points per night to 95,000.

But during the gutting of the top end, the bottom tiers actually got less expensive! Categories 1 and 2 both got 2,500 points per night cheaper.

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.

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.

Your current situation: You heard that there are some cards with lucrative limited time welcome offers. Pretty awesome.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

But you haven't redeemed many hotel rewards before and are a little intimidated about where to begin.

On Wednesday of this week, Hilton introduced a new pricing scheme along with a few other changes to their loyalty program.

This is the old Hilton chart that will no longer, technically, apply.

Rooms now have variable rates that will fluctuate with supply/demand and the price of the room. Hilton has promised though that the point price of a room won't rise higher than what its category was priced on this old chart.

Seems pretty similar to what was already happening considering the variance in price of many hotel categories.

Last week the Hilton no annual fee credit card increased its sign up bonus to 75,000 points and the Starwood Preferred Guest personal and business cards increased their sign up bonuses to 35,000 points.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

So which offer is better?

I use Hilton points for free hotel nights at not-fancy hotels--categories 1, 2, and 3 (out of 10.) I use SPG points for free hotel nights, to transfer to airline