The Complete Guide to Hilton Honors

Hilton Honors is the loyalty program of Hilton hotels, which covers more than 8,000 properties across 139 countries. Join Hilton Honors to earn points, which you can redeem for free hotel stays.

Earning Hilton Honors points is relatively easy, as it can be done by spending money at Hilton hotels, with partners or with a Hilton Honors credit card.

The Hilton Honors loyalty program stands out for a few reasons. Those include the ease of earning elite status (assuming you're willing to apply for a Hilton credit card), the high-value benefits that come from elite status such as daily food and beverage credits, and the many avenues for getting free hotel night stays.

What are Hilton points worth?

Based on our latest analysis, NerdWallet values Hilton Honors points at 0.4 cent each. In other words, you should aim for award bookings that offer 0.4 cent or more in value from your Hilton Honors points.

This is a relatively low value compared to many other hotel loyalty programs — but Hilton Honors points are relatively easy to come by. You can earn multiple points per dollar spent at participating hotels, depending on your elite status and which credit card you use.

Plus, there are many other ways to stay at Hilton hotels for free besides spending points, such as using a free night certificate, which can be relatively easy to come by through many Hilton-branded credit cards.

Use this calculator to better understand the value of your Hilton points:

How to sign up for Hilton Honors

Before you can start earning points with Hilton, you’ll need to sign up for a Hilton Honors account. It’s free to join, and you can register here.

To log in to your Hilton account, visit Hilton.com and select “sign in” from the menu at the top.

» Learn more: How to become a Hilton Honors member

How to earn Hilton Honors points

You can earn two types of points through Hilton Honors: base points and bonus points. You'll earn 10 base points per $1 spent at most Hilton portfolio hotels, regardless of your Honors status.

At Home2 Suites by Hilton and Tru by Hilton hotels, you'll earn 5 base points per $1, while you’ll earn just 3 base points per $1 spent at LivSmart Studios.

The only difference between base points and bonus points is in qualifying for elite status and lifetime status: You can qualify for Hilton Honors™ Silver Status, Hilton Honors™ Gold Status and Hilton Honors™ Diamond Status with base points, but not with bonus points.

All points can be redeemed for free stays. The number of bonus points you earn is determined by your elite status, any bonus promotions you used when you booked and whether you used a Hilton credit card.

But even when you're not booking stays, there are many other ways to earn Hilton Honors points.

Do Hilton points expire?

Honors points expire after 24 months of account inactivity. To keep your account active, you must earn or redeem points at some point in that period. That said, you don’t necessarily need to stay at a Hilton hotel to have account activity.

Hilton credit cards

The easiest way to earn more Hilton bonus points is by getting a co-branded card. American Express offers four Hilton Honors credit cards: three consumer cards and one business card, each with various benefits and bonus earnings. Here are the credit cards to earn Hilton points.

» Learn more: Hilton credit cards — which one should you get?

Good and bad redemptions

Good Hilton points redemption options

• Hotel room nights: The best way to use Hilton Honors points is toward reward nights at its properties around the world. Because award prices are based on several factors including booking dates and season, it may require some searching to find the right price for your stay.

• Points & Money nights: If you don’t have enough points for a free night, Hilton also offers Points & Money rates. But instead of a fixed number of points and hotel price, travelers can decide how many points to use toward a free night, starting at 5,000 points and increasing in 1,000-point increments. Depending on where you plan on staying, using a Points & Money award may be cheaper than buying points toward an award night.

» Learn more: Hilton Honors points — sweet spots for redemptions

Bad Hilton points redemption options

• Shopping on Amazon: Generally speaking, using points for shopping is a bad redemption option regardless of the type of points or miles you have. Shopping on Amazon with Hilton Honors points is no exception. When you use your points toward items on Amazon, your points are worth 0.14 cent each — less than half of the value when used for hotels. Unless you have an abundance of points you can’t use, shopping with Honors points isn't a great choice.

• Transfer to airline partners: Like other hotel programs, Hilton Honors points can be transferred to airline partners. But generally, this option offers a poor value. At a transfer rate of 10 Hilton Honors points for one frequent flyer mile in most programs, you trade a decent amount of value here. Unless you have no other way to earn frequent flyer miles, or it is a very large valued award redemption, transferring to airline partners may not be a good use of points.

Hilton elite status

Hilton Honors offers four elite status levels, ranging from Member (which you automatically get just for signing up) to Diamond, which is the highest Hilton elite status tier. There's technically a fifth tier, too: Lifetime Diamond Elite Status.

You can qualify for these statuses by staying frequently at Hilton brands, holding a Hilton-branded card or applying for Hilton elite status match if you have elite status in a different qualifying program.

The higher your status, the more benefits you'll get when staying at Hilton properties. Silver members get measly perks like free water bottles. Diamond members get the silver platter (or at least, all-you-can-eat food at the executive lounges, and daily food and beverage credits).

What is the Hilton Honors phone number?

Hilton offers a variety of different contact methods, which can vary depending on what country you're in. To call Hilton, dial 800-446-6677 if you’re in the U.S. and Canada.

» Learn more: How to use the Hilton Points Explorer Tool