Name: American Express® Gold Card
Brand: American Express

Quick summary

Hilton Honors points can be earned through hotel stays, promotions, dining programs, travel partners, and by pooling points with others.
Elite status within Hilton Honors increases point earnings and provides additional benefits at select brands.
Points can also be obtained by transferring from select flexible rewards programs, though this may not always offer optimal value per TPG's July 2025 valuations.
Purchasing points or transferring from airline partners are alternative options, but these should be considered carefully based on current promotions and redemption needs.

What to consider

Earning rates vary by hotel brand, elite status, and participation in promotions, with some brands offering fewer points per dollar spent.
Transferring flexible rewards points to Hilton Honors generally yields less value compared to using those points elsewhere, per TPG's July 2025 valuations.
Certain earning methods, such as car rentals or event bookings, may have caps, exclusions, or require booking through specific portals.

What you'll miss from the article

A detailed breakdown of all earning methods, including step-by-step advice for maximizing Hilton Honors points through both travel and everyday activities.

Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.

Earning Hilton Honors points has become easier over the years. The hotel chain partners with American Express to offer cobranded Hilton credit cards and periodically runs lucrative hotel promotions.

Even though Hilton Honors points aren’t as valuable as some other hotel points, you can still get substantial value if you know how to maximize your Hilton redemptions.

With so many ways to earn these points, it can be hard to remember all your options. We’ll highlight some of the best ways to earn Hilton Honors points as you work toward planning your next award trip.

Earn Hilton points through hotel stays

Hilton Conrad Bengaluru Tiamo bar — KATIE GENTER/THE POINTS GUY

Hilton Honors is a hotel loyalty program. So, as you’d expect, you can earn Hilton Honors points when you stay at Hilton properties worldwide. Your earning rate depends on several factors, including:

The brand of the property
The price of your stay
Your Hilton Honors elite status
Any promotions you’ve registered for

At most Hilton properties, you’ll earn 10 points per dollar spent on room rates and other eligible charges (excluding taxes and fees). However, you’ll only earn 5 points per dollar spent at Home2 Suites by Hilton and Tru by Hilton.

Hilton Honors elite members also earn a points bonus on each stay. The higher your status tier, the more points you’ll earn:

Silver: 20% bonus
Gold: 80% bonus
Diamond: 100% bonus

Hilton Honors MyWay benefits

Gold and Diamond members can earn additional bonuses at certain brands with the program’s MyWay benefits. The MyWay benefit varies by brand, and mid- and upper-level elite members must choose between earning extra points and other welcome amenities when staying with some brands.

The potential bonus earnings are minor for some brands. For example, as a Diamond member, you can choose 100 bonus points per stay or one bottle of water and one snack item at Home2 Suites.

However, the earnings are more significant for other brands. For example, a Diamond member would earn 1,000 bonus points per stay at brands like DoubleTree, Curio Collection and Conrad. At these brands, the bonus points are on top of other MyWay perks like room upgrades and daily food-and-beverage credits at U.S. hotels or continental breakfast at non-U.S. hotels.

If you are a Gold or Diamond member, you can see (and select) your MyWay benefits on Hilton’s website.

photo of lounge chairs and palm trees near a pool, with a hotel and ocean in the background — Hilton Cancun. BENJI STAWSKI/THE POINTS GUY

Earn bonus points through Hilton promotions

Like most hotel programs, Hilton Honors frequently runs promotions that award bonus points to its members. These offers make it even easier to earn points on paid stays.

For example, this 2025 promotion offers members 5,000 bonus Hilton Honors points per stay of three or more nights at select newly opened properties.

Keep an eye on Hilton’s promotions page for an up-to-date list of offers. You can also visit your promotion page on Hilton’s website to see any targeted offers, verify your registration and track your progress. We recommend enrolling in all of them — after all, you never know when you may need a last-minute stay at a Hilton property.

Earn Hilton points with credit cards

American Express currently offers several cobranded Hilton Honors cards: three personal cards and one business card. These cards are excellent ways to earn Hilton Honors points on travel and everyday purchases.

New cardmembers may be eligible to earn a welcome bonus. Here’s a look at the current offers:

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: Earn 130,000 bonus points and a free night reward after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first six months of card membership ($150 annual fee; see ).
Hilton Honors American Express Card: Earn 70,000 bonus points and a free night reward after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first six months of card membership (no annual fee; see ).
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card: Earn 150,000 bonus points and a free night reward after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first six months of card membership ($195 annual fee; see ).
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Earn 200,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first six months of card membership ($550 annual fee; see ).

Transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards

Hilton Playa Del Carmen — The Hilton Playa del Carmen. BENJI STAWSKI/THE POINTS GUY

You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Hilton Honors at a 1:2 ratio. In other words, you can turn 1,000 Membership Rewards points into 2,000 Hilton Honors points. But we don’t necessarily recommend transferring your hard-earned Membership Rewards points to Hilton Honors unless you have a particular high-value redemption in mind.

Our reasoning is simple: TPG values Membership Rewards points at 2 cents each in our July 2025 valuations, while Hilton Honors points are worth just 0.5 cents each. This means that you’re effectively losing 1 cent per point in value, not to mention missing out on some terrific sweet spots with the Membership Rewards program.

If you book an expensive hotel with Hilton Honors points, you might want to take advantage of a Membership Rewards transfer bonus.

That’s why TPG contributor Sarah Hostetler transferred 225,000 American Express Membership Rewards points to Hilton Honors to top off her account to book the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi. By doing so, Sarah booked a $2,200 overwater bungalow on points, getting a value of 3.8 cents per Amex point. That’s 90% higher than TPG’s July 2025 valuation of 2 cents per point.

Pool Hilton points

Hilton Honors allows you to freely share points with up to 10 people. This is useful if you combine points for a family vacation and want the balance in one place.

Your spouse might have enough points for a two-night award stay, while you may only have enough for one night. Combining balances to book stays under a single reservation is very useful.

Earn Hilton points with Hilton Honors Dining

Personal perspective view of couple sharing Tortilla chips while eating takeaway food together at the dining table. — OSCAR WONG/GETTY IMAGES

With Hilton Honors Dining, you can earn extra points at participating restaurants.

Sign up for a Hilton Honors Dining account and link your favorite credit cards for restaurant purchases to earn points. Then, when you swipe one of those cards at a participating restaurant, you’ll automatically earn extra Hilton Honors points. These points are in addition to the regular points or miles you’d earn with your credit card, so make sure you link a card that earns bonuses on dining purchases for the highest points earned on eating out.

After signing up for Hilton Honors Dining, opt in to email notifications. Doing so will give you “select member” status and let you earn 5 Hilton points per dollar spent at participating restaurants. If you opt out of receiving emails, your earning rate will drop to 2 points per dollar spent. While your privacy is important, giving your email address is a small price for earning an extra 3 points per dollar spent, especially if you dine out a lot.

Hilton Honors Dining also lets you order online and earn bonus points for takeout or delivery.

Finally, if you dine with Hilton Honors Dining 11 times a year, you’ll be upgraded to the service’s VIP status tier. This boosts your earning rate to 8 points per dollar spent at participating restaurants. You can keep VIP status indefinitely by dining with the program 11 or more times yearly.

Earn Hilton points through travel partners

Like most loyalty programs, Hilton Honors has a suite of partners that you can use to earn even more points. You can use these partners to boost your Hilton account balance on everyday activities. Here’s a look at some additional ways to earn Hilton points.

Earn Hilton points with Hilton Events

Planning a wedding, corporate function or other event at a Hilton hotel? Add your Hilton Honors number to your event, and you’ll earn 2 Hilton points per dollar spent on events, on up to $100,000. Not all hotels participate.

This may not sound like much, but it can give you huge returns if you plan an expensive multiday corporate event.

Earn bonus points with Lyft

A person holds a phone while ordering from a rideshare app — D3SIGN/GETTY IMAGES

You can earn 3 Hilton points per dollar spent whenever you hail a Lyft in the United States and Canada.

These earnings are capped at $10,000 in total Lyft spending every year, and they’re in addition to the points you’d earn with a credit card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see ) or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see ), which offer extra points on Lyft purchases through September 2027.

You can link your Hilton and Lyft accounts on hiltonhonorslyft.com.

Book a rental car

You can also earn Hilton Honors points when renting a car through Alamo, Enterprise or National. When you book your rental through the Hilton portal, you’ll receive 500 Hilton Honors base points per rental plus 500 bonus points daily, up to 5,000 points in total — not bad if you’re already renting a car.

You may not earn car rental rewards when booking through the Hilton Honors portal. Further, you can’t use corporate codes when renting cars through Hilton. So shop around to ensure you find the best deal.

Transfer Virgin Atlantic points to Hilton

By contacting the Flying Club loyalty program, you can transfer Virgin Atlantic points to Hilton Honors at a 2:3 ratio. You can only transfer in increments of 10,000 Virgin Atlantic points.

This means you can convert 10,000 Virgin Atlantic points into 15,000 Hilton points.

Buy Hilton points

Hilton Resorts World Vegas Pool — The Las Vegas Hilton at Resorts World. BENJI STAWSKI/THE POINTS GUY

Another way to boost your Hilton Honors balance is by purchasing points. Generally speaking, buying points or miles is often a poor value proposition, as you usually need to pay an excessive amount. However, it could make sense with certain programs and circumstances.

For example, Hilton has previously run a promotion with a 100% bonus on purchased points, which lowered the price to 0.5 cents apiece, right at TPG’s July 2025 valuation. At a rate like that, it may make sense to purchase the points outright for a specific redemption, especially if the cash rate is sky-high.

Bottom line

Hilton Honors points are some of the easiest hotel points to earn. Not only can you rack up a nice stash of points from hotel stays and promotions, but the extensive suite of cobranded credit cards provides valuable earning opportunities.

Use a combination of the methods above to rack up points for your next hotel stay at any of over 7,000 worldwide properties across all Hilton brands.

For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, click .
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Card, click .
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card, click .
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, click .

TPG featured card

American Express® Gold Card

TPG editor's rating

Pros + cons

Pros

Valuable dining and food-related credits
Flexible rewards with airline and hotel transfer partners
Multiple travel and purchase protections
No foreign transaction fees
Access to Amex Offers for additional savings (enrollment required)

Cons

Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits

More details

You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotel stays booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™.
Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked through AmexTravel.com, the Amex Travel App™, or purchased directly from airlines.
Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid car rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™ and cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com.
Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
Pay It® lets you tap in the American Express® App to quickly pay for small purchase amounts throughout the month and still earn rewards the way you usually do. Plan It® gives you the option to split up big purchases into equal monthly payments with a fixed fee. You’ll know upfront exactly how much you’ll pay.
$120 Dining Credit: Earn up to a total of $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the Gold Card at Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory, and Wonder. This can be an annual savings of up to $120. Enrollment required.
$100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year at over 10,000 qualifying U.S. Resy restaurants after you pay for eligible purchases with the American Express® Gold Card. That’s up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
$84 Dunkin' Credit: Earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin’ locations. Enrollment required.
$120 Uber Cash on Gold: Enjoy up to $120 in Uber Cash annually with your Gold Card. Just add your Card to your Uber account and you'll get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction.
Enjoy complimentary Hertz Five Star® Status benefits like skipping the counter at select locations, adding an additional driver at no additional cost*, and vehicle upgrades**. Benefit enrollment and Hertz Gold+ registration are required. *Additional drivers must meet standard rental qualifications and must be a spouse or domestic partner to qualify as complimentary. Other additional drivers subject to fees. **Benefits are subject to availability and vary by location. Additional Hertz program Terms and Conditions including age restrictions apply.
Book two nights or more with The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™ and receive a $100* credit towards eligible charges at over 1,400 upscale hotels worldwide. *Eligible charges vary by property.
Book your travel through the Amex Travel App™ with added peace of mind – backed by American Express® service and support. Only for American Express® Card Members.
Whenever you need us, we're here. Our Member Services team will ensure you are taken care of. From lost Card replacement to statement questions, we are available to help 24/7.
No Foreign Transaction Fees.
Annual Fee is $325.
Terms Apply.

Pros

Valuable dining and food-related credits
Flexible rewards with airline and hotel transfer partners
Multiple travel and purchase protections
No foreign transaction fees
Access to Amex Offers for additional savings (enrollment required)

Cons

Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits

You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotel stays booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™.
Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked through AmexTravel.com, the Amex Travel App™, or purchased directly from airlines.
Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid car rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™ and cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com.
Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
Pay It® lets you tap in the American Express® App to quickly pay for small purchase amounts throughout the month and still earn rewards the way you usually do. Plan It® gives you the option to split up big purchases into equal monthly payments with a fixed fee. You’ll know upfront exactly how much you’ll pay.
$120 Dining Credit: Earn up to a total of $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the Gold Card at Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory, and Wonder. This can be an annual savings of up to $120. Enrollment required.
$100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year at over 10,000 qualifying U.S. Resy restaurants after you pay for eligible purchases with the American Express® Gold Card. That’s up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
$84 Dunkin' Credit: Earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin’ locations. Enrollment required.
$120 Uber Cash on Gold: Enjoy up to $120 in Uber Cash annually with your Gold Card. Just add your Card to your Uber account and you'll get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction.
Enjoy complimentary Hertz Five Star® Status benefits like skipping the counter at select locations, adding an additional driver at no additional cost*, and vehicle upgrades**. Benefit enrollment and Hertz Gold+ registration are required. *Additional drivers must meet standard rental qualifications and must be a spouse or domestic partner to qualify as complimentary. Other additional drivers subject to fees. **Benefits are subject to availability and vary by location. Additional Hertz program Terms and Conditions including age restrictions apply.
Book two nights or more with The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™ and receive a $100* credit towards eligible charges at over 1,400 upscale hotels worldwide. *Eligible charges vary by property.
Book your travel through the Amex Travel App™ with added peace of mind – backed by American Express® service and support. Only for American Express® Card Members.
Whenever you need us, we're here. Our Member Services team will ensure you are taken care of. From lost Card replacement to statement questions, we are available to help 24/7.
No Foreign Transaction Fees.
Annual Fee is $325.
Terms Apply.

Earning Hilton Honors points has become easier over the years. The hotel chain partners with American Express to offer cobranded Hilton credit cards and periodically runs lucrative hotel promotions.

Even though Hilton Honors points aren’t as valuable as some other hotel points, you can still get substantial value if you know how to maximize your Hilton redemptions.