Converting AA Miles into Hilton Points
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
I'm betting that after yesterday's post about getting 150,000 AA miles for free, many of you will be up to your ears in airline miles. With the British Airways Visa 100,000 mile card earlier this year and huge Amex transfer bonuses to Delta and British Airways, it's literally raining airline miles!
But what happens if you need hotel points? Sure there's the Hyatt Visa which gives 2 free nights at any Hyatt in the world, the Starwood Preferred Guest Amex with 25,000 points and the Chase Sapphire Preferred with 50,000 points that transfer to Hyatt, Marriott and Priority Club - but what if that's not enough?
Hotels, especially in Europe with the strong Euro, can put throw a huge budgetary wrench into your vacation plans. Generally, I think we all focus too much on accruing zillions of airline miles and we fall short on hotel points. I know I'm personally airline miles rich and barely scraping by with hotel balances (well that may be a bit dramatic, but you get the point).
Luckily, American allows you to transfer your AA miles into Hilton points at a somewhat favorable ratio. It used to be 1 AA mile = 2 Hilton, but now its 1 AA = 1.67 Hilton. Still, not bad since Hilton free nights start at 7,500 points and go up to 50,000 for their top hotels (specialty resorts can be higher). This means those 150,000 AA miles gained practically for free from the two Citi cards can get you 250,000 Hilton points!
Hilton recently launched direct hotel and car rental booking so it is rumored that this transfer option to Hilton may go away soon. So if you think this ratio could work in your favor, I'd recommend transferring sooner than later. In fact, there's no easy way to get to this transfer page from the AA website, so I really think its days are numbered. Once again the link to transfer is here.
Hat tip to TPG reader Carol!
[card card-name='Citi® Hilton HHonorsTM Visa Signature® Card' card-id='22145753' type='javascript' bullet-id='1']
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at Capital One's secure site
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| 5X miles | Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel |
| 2X miles | Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day |
Pros
- Stellar welcome offer of 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
- You'll earn 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, which means you won't have to worry about memorizing bonus categories
- Rewards are versatile and can be redeemed for a statement credit or transferred to Capital One’s transfer partners
Cons
- Highest bonus-earning categories only on travel booked via Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Top rated mobile app