After a trio of recent devaluations that pushed nightly rates as high as 250,000 points for luxury properties, Hilton Honors points don't go nearly as far as they used to. This transfer bonus from American Express can take the sting out of it … or at least get you the additional points you'll now need.
If you've got a card that earns Membership Rewards points like *amex platinum* or *amex gold*, you can currently get a 25% bonus when transferring to Hilton Honors. Since Amex points usually transfer to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio, this new bonus means every 1,000 Amex points you transfer will get you 2,500 Hilton points.
But act fast! This transfer bonus ends this Tuesday, Sept. 23!
Read our guide on Amex transfer partners and how they work!
Even with this bonus, transferring points to a hotel program like Hilton Honors won't always be the best move – especially after they raised rates at many top properties for the third time in under a year. But from some luxe Conrad and Waldorf Astoria properties around the world to Hilton's portfolio of hundreds of Small Luxury Hotel (SLH) properties, there are plenty of properties where it could still make sense.
This 25% transfer bonus makes those redemptions even better. Or, at the very least, it means you can transfer fewer Amex points to top off your account with the final Hilton points you need to pull off a big redemption.
While you may be tempted to cash in immediately, remember: These transfers are a one-way street – once you send points to Hilton, you can't get them back to your Amex account. That means you shouldn't transfer points to Hilton (or any partner, for that matter) without a pretty good use in mind.
Here's a look at how this bonus works – and what you should consider booking before it disappears.
Read more: A Complete Guide to Hilton Honors: Free Nights, Credit Cards & More
Best Use for Hilton Points
So what can you do with this big transfer bonus? In a word (or two words): a lot.
Like many other hotel programs, Hilton uses a dynamic pricing model … with a twist. While the points rate is typically tied to the cash price, they also have “standard awards” at a set rate for every property. This means award rates can be all over the map at many Hilton properties – sometimes as high as 1 million points a night – but there’s still a lowest-and-best base rate when redeeming Hilton Honors points.
When you can find “standard award” availability at top-notch properties like the Conrad Bora Bora Nui, for example, that's the time to put them to use.
The words Bora Bora and cheap simply don't go together, but instead of shelling out $1,000 (or more) per night, you could instead book an award night for 130,000 points. With the current transfer bonus, you'd need as few as 52,000 Amex points for a free night here.
If high-end boutique hotels are your jam, Hilton's partnership with SLH is just the thing. This has been a massive win for travelers with Hilton Honors points, as it opens the door to book some truly impressive properties around the globe, getting you some serious bang for your buck.
Take the little slice of Caribbean heaven known as the Hermitage Bay Resort in Antigua, for example. After a series of devaluations, this property now goes for a whopping 230,000 Hilton Honors points per night. At first glance, that might not seem like a great deal. But considering that this all-inclusive, adults-only resort in the Caribbean ordinarily costs $3,000 (or more) per night, you can quickly see just how valuable Hilton points can be.
With this transfer bonus, you'd need to transfer as few as 92,000 Amex points to book a free night.
If you've got any level of Hilton status – including the complimentary Hilton Gold status that comes with the Amex Platinum Card – you get the fifth night free on award bookings. That means you could book a five-night stay at this island paradise … that might normally cost $15,000 or more … for as few as 368,000 Amex points.
Admittedly, that's a ton of points, but it's also a pretty solid bang for your buck … err, points. And if you've got a free night award from one of the Hilton Honors American Express credit cards, you could even tack that on for an additional night in paradise.
And then there's my personal favorite Hilton redemption: Calala Island (another victim of Hilton's most-recent devaluations).
Located off the coast of Nicaragua, Calala is a near-private island with just a half-dozen villas, all right on the beach. You can fish, snorkel, paddle board, island hop, and even do private rum tastings to your heart's content – and it's all included.
Standard nights here now cost 240,000 Hilton points – a bargain compared to the $4,000-a-night cash price – but finding availability to book can be tough … unless you're a Thrifty Traveler Premium member, that is. Earlier this year, we sent an alert, tipping members off to some of the best availability we've ever seen to book a free night here.
With the current transfer bonus, you could book a stay here for as little as 96,000 Amex points per night. With the fifth-night-free benefit, that's only 384,000 Amex points for a five-night stay that would otherwise cost north of $20,000.
This isn't something I've booked for myself (yet) – but it's been on my short-list. This big transfer bonus might be just the push I need.
These examples are really just the tip of the iceberg, though. There are a handful of properties that have escaped Hilton's recent award rate increases that are an even better deal, including:
- The historic Waldorf Astoria New York, which reopened earlier this year and is bookable for 150,000 points per night
- The notoriously tough-to-book Hilton Moorea in French Polynesia for just 95,000 Hilton points per night
- The Grand Hotel du Palais Royal – practically in the shadow of the Louvre in Paris – for 120,000 points per night.
Bottom Line
Amex is out with a transfer bonus of 25% when moving Membership Rewards points to Hilton Honors. Since Amex points ordinarily transfer 1:2 to Hilton, every 1,000 Amex points you transfer could get you up to 2,500 Hilton points.
Transferring points to hotel chains like Hilton doesn't always make sense – particularly after a series of painful devaluations that have pushed award rates higher than ever. But with the right redemption, this one could make sense.
Just be sure to put it to use before this bonus expires this Tuesday, Sept. 23!
