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

The majority of us earn heaps of miles through sign up bonuses, maximizing category bonuses on credit cards, and flying. And at the end of the day, credit cards are the bread and butter that enable most of us to fly free in First Class.

But there are lots of other ways to earn miles, many of which are passive and all of which require little effort.

The public sign up offer for the Hilton HHonors Surpass Card from American Express is 75,000 Hilton points for spending $3,000 on the card in the first three months that you open it.

But there's a way to get a better offer and help your friend earn a 20k bonus at the same time.
What to Do

Find a friend with a Hilton HHonors Surpass Card from American Express.
Give them this link to log into with their online Amex account info.

Until December 5, 2016, you can buy 10,000-160,000 Hilton HHonors points for 50% off.

Hilton points normally cost 1 cent each. With the 50% discount, the price drops to 0.5 cents per point. This is the cheapest I’ve ever seen them, and is the exact same price as Hilton's more common "100% bonus" sales.

Here is the Hilton award chart.

When to Buy (Math)
Is buying Hilton points for 0.5 cents each a good deal?

I would not buy Hilton points speculatively for 0.5 cents each because I value them at 0.4 cents each.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.