This Little Known Benefit of the Hilton Reserve Makes Using the Card Worthwhile

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

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.

Since any new cardholder will spend $2,500 on the card to get the first two free

Hilton Points & Money Awards

Hilton offers the chance to combine points and money to book hotel rooms, which can be a way to stretch both your points and money further. But are these Points and Money awards a better value than free night awards?

I'm digging deep into the Hilton program because right now, not only is the Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Visa Signature® Card offering 75,000 bonus Hilton points after spending $2,000 in three months, but the Hilton HHonors Surpass Credit Card from American Express is also offering 100,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in three months.

54 Hilton Hotels Changed Category (Award Price) Earlier This Month

Hilton has increased the category of 21 hotels and decreased the category of 33 hotels for bookings effective October 12, 2016. There are also a number of new Hiltons, mostly in the United States, that were built between last June and this October-- check out the list here.

These are the hotels getting cheaper. They're almost all in Turkey except for a few in Miami Beach.

Buy Hilton Points for 0.5 Cents Each This Month. Should You?

Until October 21, 2016, you can buy Hilton HHonors points and get a 100% bonus on the points purchased.

Hilton points normally cost 1 cent each. With the 100% bonus, the price drops to 0.5 cents per point. This is the cheapest I've ever seen them.

The bonus only kicks in on purchases of 20,000 (+ 20,000 bonus.) Purchases of 10,000 to 19,000 points have an 80% bonus, bringing the price to 0.555 cents per point.

Buy Hilton Points with 100% Bonus. Good Deal?

Until June 3, 2016, you can buy Hilton HHonors points and get a 100% bonus on the points purchased.

Hilton points normally cost 1 cent each. With the 100% bonus, the price drops to 0.5 cents per point.

If you buy 80,000 Hilton points before June 3, you’ll receive 160,000 points for $800.

39 Hilton Hotels Changing Category (Award Price) Tomorrow

Hilton is increasing the category of 24 hotels and decreasing the category of 15 hotels for bookings effective March 30, 2016.

If the hotel you want is going up in category tomorrow, book the hotel now to lock in the lower, current rate.

Get 8x ThankYou Points at Hilton Hotels

If you have a Citi ThankYou® Premier Card, check your email for the subject line "Earn 5 additional ThankYou® Points on stays within the Hilton Portfolio | Enroll in one click!"

The Citi ThankYou® Premier Card already earns 3x points on gas and travel, including of course hotel stays, so once enrolled you will earn 8 total ThankYou Points per dollar on Hilton stays, the normal 3 plus the bonus 5.

The 8x is valid through May 31, 2016 on your first $1,000 spent at Hilton hotels, including all these brands.

I value ThankYou Points at 1.9 cents

152k Hilton Points from Two No Fee Hilton Cards

The Hilton HHonors Signature Card's sign up bonus has expired. Click here for the top current sign up bonuses.

Hilton has two no annual fee credit cards--one issued by American Express and one by Citi. Both have limited time increased sign up bonuses.

Buy Hilton Points for 0.56 Cents This Week. Good Deal?

Through February 8, 2016, you can buy Hilton HHonors points with an 80% bonus.

 

Hilton points normally cost 1 cent each. With the 80% bonus, the price drops to 0.56 cents per point.

If you buy the maximum 80,000 Hilton points today, you’ll receive 144,000 points for $800. With the bonus, you can buy any amount of points from 1,800 to 144,000 in 1,800 point increments.

This is not the best promotion we've seen to buy Hilton points.

AMEX Platinum Card Holders Get Free Hilton Gold Status

Hilton Gold Status is now a standard benefit of the American Express Platinum Card, Platinum Business Card, and (I assume) Mercedes-Benz and Ameriprise Platinum cards. That's great news for me, since I just got the"regular" Platinum Card with a 100,000 point sign up bonus two months ago.

Hilton Gold Status is not automatic just by holding one of these cards.