Problems using your Hilton gift cards? Try this trick that worked for me

I'm a big Hilton loyalist. Receiving room upgrades, free breakfast and late checkout with my Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card makes me a big fan of the brand.

I also hold The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, which offers quarterly credits for Hilton purchases.

I and many other savvy points and miles enthusiasts have used these credits to buy Hilton gift cards. However, many travelers have reported issues when trying to pay with them at properties.

I recently had success in Brazil using Hilton gift cards and wanted to share how to do the same if you have a stack of them.

Statement credits for Hilton

The following three American Express cards offer quarterly statement credits for Hilton purchases:

• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: Up to $50
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: Up to $50*
• The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card: Up to $60

*Enrollment is required.

The terms and conditions state that you'll receive the statement credit on a purchase "made directly with a property in the Hilton portfolio." That may lead you to think you must stay with Hilton every quarter and use your eligible card to cover part of the room rate.

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However, data points show that you may also receive this credit for purchases made at a hotel's restaurant, cafe, spa or gift shop — even if you're not staying there. (Note: It is not guaranteed that these purchases code as being billed by the hotel rather than a separate merchant, like the restaurant.)

I have personally used these credits to purchase Hilton gift cards online. Last year, I bought three $50 gift cards using my Hilton Business Card and was waiting for the right opportunity to use them, which came in March.

How do I use my Hilton gift card?

Here are step-by-step instructions to use your Hilton gift card:

• Add your gift card to your mobile wallet: Enter the 15-digit Amex card number, expiration date and four-digit card verification value. It seems to work better for Apple Pay rather than Google Pay.
• Go to reception before your checkout date: The process may take some time, so choose a time when the desk isn't busy and you're not in a rush to check out.

• Ask the staff to split your payment: See if the hotel will let you use multiple cards to pay your bill. Treat your gift cards as if they were credit cards. Then, you can cover the balance with a high-earning credit card, like the Hilton Honors Aspire.
• Convert to local currency: If you're abroad, convert the dollar amount on the gift card to the local currency. You may need to try a few different amounts to find one that works, as exact conversions don’t always work.
• Use contactless payment: Tap your phone on the card terminal to make your purchase. Alternatively, swipe the physical card. And if that doesn't work, ask the hotel employee to manually enter the card information.
• Try at a different property: If none of these methods work, stay at a popular hotel in a large city in the U.S. where the staff members are more likely to have experience using Hilton hotel gift cards.

My success story

I successfully used my gift cards on a recent stay over Carnival at a Hilton property in Rio de Janeiro. Before going to reception, I successfully loaded my three $50 gift cards into the Wallet app on my iPhone.

(Note that I tried to do this a few months ago and it didn't work, so something must've changed on the back end. Frequent Miler reports that cards with a 2033 expiration year have more issues than those with 2031, but mine were from 2033 and worked fine.)

Then, I chose a time when reception wasn't busy and thanked the receptionist in advance for their patience in helping me use my gift cards (which they hadn't done before).

I converted $50 into 283 Brazilian reais and tapped my first gift card using contactless pay — denied. So, we reduced the purchase amount to 280 reais — denied again. Finally, we had success putting in 275 reais for this and the remaining two cards. That showed me that the issue was not the gift card itself but that the conversion rate was too high on the first two attempts.

Can Hilton gift cards be used internationally?

Yes, Hilton gift cards can be used at properties both within the U.S. and abroad — as long as they accept American Express credit cards. Be sure to convert the U.S. dollar amount into the local currency. You may need to use trial and error to decrease the local currency amount to convert to the dollar amount.

Ideal strategy moving forward

Hilton gift cards have not been available for purchase online since the start of the year. Whether that is "due to an unforeseen inventory shortage" or Hilton and American Express receiving negative feedback is speculative.

Nonetheless, my advice — and my approach — moving forward is to avoid purchasing Hilton gift cards to trigger this credit (if and when they become available again).

Instead, I’ll use my Hilton Business credit card to cover up to $60 of the cost of a Hilton stay each quarter and put the rest on my Aspire Card, which earns more points.

If I'm not staying at a Hilton property that quarter, I'll visit one for a drink or meal and use my card to cover the bill (hoping that the purchase codes as being from the hotel).

Bottom line

It's always great to find a way to trigger a credit to help offset a credit card's annual fee, but it's disappointing when you can't actually redeem the credit, as in the case of Hilton gift cards.

Hopefully, you will be able to successfully redeem your Hilton gift cards by following the steps in this guide. Treating it as a regular credit card is key, and loading it into Apple Pay worked for me. Just be sure to pay attention to the conversion amount if redeeming in another currency.

As a last resort, if you've tried multiple times to use your Hilton gift cards to no avail, contact the gift card seller (RBG Global) to request a refund.