The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
Advertiser disclosure
The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
Guides
How to earn and redeem points with Hilton Honors partners
Katie Genter is a digital nomad who has traveled full time since June 2017. She writes and edits stories about points and miles, and loyalty programs, often letting her personal experiences color these stories.
June 17, 2020 • 21 min read
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don't cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
Related stories
Quick summary
Hilton Honors points can be earned and redeemed through a variety of partners, including rideshare, car rentals, dining, and select loyalty programs.
TPG values Hilton Honors points at 0.6 cents each as of June 2024, and most partner redemptions fall below this value.
Transferring points from transferable currencies or other loyalty programs to Hilton typically results in lower value than using them for hotel stays.
Some partner experiences, such as exclusive events, may offer better value for Hilton Honors points.
What to consider
Most partner redemptions, including rideshare credits, car rentals, and Amazon purchases, yield values significantly below 0.6 cents per point per TPG's valuations as of June 2024.
Transferring Hilton points to airline or rail partners generally results in poor value compared to redeeming for hotel stays.
Hilton Honors points expire after 15 months of inactivity, though expiration was temporarily paused through December 2020.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed breakdown of partner transfer rates, redemption values, and which options to avoid for maximizing Hilton Honors points.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Whether you’re looking to earn more Hilton points or redeem Hilton points you already earned, you may find Hilton’s wide variety of partners useful. When it comes to redeeming or exchanging your Hilton points, it’s important to consider the value you’ll get from each partner.
This guide will focus on earning and redeeming Hilton points with partners. So, now let’s take a closer look at all of the Hilton Honors partners.
Embassy Suites by Hilton Knoxville Downtown (Photo courtesy of Hilton)
Before we dive into the various Hilton Honors partners for earning and redeeming, let’s first consider how much Hilton points are worth. Based on the value that can be obtained by redeeming Hilton points for hotel stays as well as the cost for which TPG would be willing to buy Hilton points, TPG’s valuations peg the value of Hilton Honors points at 0.6 cents each.
So, for the remainder of this guide, I’ll use this valuation when discussing Hilton points. Unless you don’t want to stay at Hilton hotels any more or you have more Hilton points than you can use, you’ll usually want to aim for a redemption value of 0.6 cents per Hilton point or higher.
Hilton has several cobranded credit cards that earn Hilton Honors points and provide perks when staying at Hilton properties:
Hilton Honors American Express Card: Best for no annual fee (see rates and fees)
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: Best for occasional Hilton travelers
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card: Best for small business owners
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Best for frequent Hilton guests
The information for the Hilton Aspire Amex card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
However, these aren’t the only cards that can provide you Hilton points. There are also two transferable currencies that transfer to Hilton Honors: Amex Membership Rewards and Diners Club International.
If you are a Club Rewards member of Diners Club, you can exchange points from your Club Rewards account to your Hilton Honors account. Members in the U.S. can receive 2,000 Hilton Honors points for every 1,250 Club Rewards points.
Transfers must be in increments of 1,250 Club Rewards points for U.S. members. You can expect the transfer to be completed within three weeks. To transfer points, call Club Rewards at +1-800-234-4034 or visit clubrewardsus.com.
TPG valuesDiners Club Rewards at 2.1 cents each, so 1,250 Club Rewards points are worth about $26. Meanwhile, 2,000 Hilton Honors points are worth $12. So, in most cases, you’ll want to save your Diner’s Club Rewards for a higher value redemption.
When traveling in the U.S. and Canada, you can earn and redeem Hilton points with Lyft.
To earn Hilton points on Lyft rides, simply link your Hilton Honors and Lyft accounts. Once your accounts are linked, you’ll earn three Hilton points per dollar spent on Lyft economy, luxury and extra seat rides, and two points per dollar spent on shared Lyft rides. You may earn points on up to $10,000 of eligible Lyft spend per calendar year.
To redeem Hilton points for Lyft credits, go to http://hiltonhonorslyft.com/. Select the amount of Hilton points you’d like to redeem and the credits will appear in your Lyft account. Note that Hilton Honors members can redeem up to 45,000 points per day on Lyft credits.
When redeeming Hilton points for Lyft credits, you are able to redeem for the following credit amounts:
$10 Lyft credit = 4,500 Hilton points
$25 Lyft credit = 11,250 Hilton points
$50 Lyft credit = 22,500 Hilton points
$75 Lyft credit = 33,750 Hilton points
$100 Lyft credit = 45,000 Hilton points
Based on these rates, you’ll get a redemption value of 0.22 cents per point. This is well below TPG’s valuation of Hilton points at 0.6 cents, so we’d generally recommend that you don’t redeem your Hilton points for Lyft credits.
Earn and redeem Hilton points with rental car partners
(Photo by Lou Armor/Getty Images)
You can earn Hilton Honors points when you complete a qualifying rental with Alamo, Enterprise or National. You must provide your Hilton Honors number when you reserve or at the time of rental, and some rates won’t qualify.
But, if you have a qualifying rental, you may earn 500 Hilton Honors base points per day. And, through the end of 2020, you can earn an additional 500 Hilton Honors bonus points per rental day, up to 4,500 bonus points per qualifying rental. Plus, you can get a 5% discount at Alamo and Enterprise, and 10% off at National and a 5% discount at Enterprise through the end of 2020.
You do have the option to redeem Hilton points toward a car rental through https://hilton.loyaltytravelrewards.com/cars-ehi. You can pay for all or part of the rental using points, but the minimum redemption amount is 12,000 points. Based on the points and cash rate for a sample two day rental in Atlanta, GA, the redemption rate appears to be 0.21 cents per point.
(Image courtesy of Hilton)
Using Hilton points for car rentals provides a much lower value than TPG’s valuation of 0.6 cents per point. As such, you’ll generally want to avoid redeeming Hilton points for car rentals.
Hilton Honors Dining allows you to earn Hilton Honors points while dining at select restaurants. To start earning points, enroll at least one credit or debit card in the program. Then, search for participating restaurants and use an enrolled card when paying for your meal.
You’ll likely want to opt-in for weekly emails, as this allows you to boost your earning rate from two Hilton points per dollar spent to five. You’ll earn a higher rate of eight Hilton points per dollar spent once you dine 11 or more times in a calendar year and opt-in for emails.
Based on TPG’s valuation of Hilton points at 0.6 cents each, this means you can earn a return of 1.2%-4.8% on eligible dining through this program. Best of all: this is on top of the rewards you’ll earn from your credit card.
The opportunities available through Hilton Honors Experiences change frequently, so it’s worth periodically checking the Hilton Honors Experiences website. Right now, opportunities in the U.S. are relatively limited, although there are two dining experiences at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, California.
You can also redeem Hilton points through Amazon’s Shop with Points. To use Hilton Honors points to pay for part or all of an Amazon purchase, you must first link your Hilton Honors account to your Amazon account. Once you are ready to complete an Amazon purchase using your points, proceed to checkout and select the number of points you wish to apply under the payment section.
(Image courtesy of Hilton)
It’s worth noting that the redemption rate is 0.2 cents per point – which is well below TPG’s valuation of Hilton points at 0.6 cents. So, you likely won’t want to redeem your Hilton points through Amazon Shop with Points.
Transfer Hilton points to Airline and rail partners
If you want to convert Hilton Honors Points into airline miles or rail points, you can do so by contacting your local Hilton Reservations and Customer Care center or go to the exchange section of your account.
Transfer Hilton points to airlines and Amtrak
Although there are a few exceptions, transfers to airline miles must generally be done in increments of 10,000 points. Transfers can take up to 30 days to process, so keep that in mind if you’re topping off your account for an award.
Here are the current partners you can transfer your Hilton points to:
Based on TPG’s valuations, the value of the Hilton points you’d exchange is far higher than the value of the airline or rail currency that you’d gain. So, in most cases you won’t want to exchange your Hilton points for airline or rail miles.
Transfer airline miles and Amtrak points to Hilton
If you want to convert airline miles or rail points into Hilton Honors points, you’ll need to do so with the participating airline or rail partner. When you call customer service for the airline or rail partner, be sure to have your Hilton Honors member number and the account number for your airline or rail rewards program
Currently, there are three travel partners that offer point transfers to Hilton Honors:
So, although it could make sense to transfer your HawaiianMiles to Hilton, the other exchange partners won’t make sense for most travelers. This is especially true since you can often buy Hilton miles for as low as 0.5 cents each.
You can convert Hilton points into Delta miles through the exchange section of your Hilton online account. However, the exchange rate isn’t great: you’ll only get 1,000 Delta miles for every 10,000 Hilton points that you transfer.
Can you transfer Hilton points to Marriott?
You can not transfer Hilton points to any other hotel brand, including Marriott.
As you can see, there are many opportunities to earn and redeem Hilton Honors points through partners. Although the earning options through credit cards, Lyft, car rentals, and Hilton Honors Dining can provide solid opportunities, most of the redemption options through partners should be avoided due to low redemption rates. One exception is Hilton Honors Experiences, which may provide solid value to some consumers for select experiences.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Amex card, click here.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
