The Complete Guide to Earning Hilton Honors Points

Hilton Honors points get a bad rap because of their deflated value. NerdWallet values them at just 0.5 cent per point. Though the points aren’t worth much, it’s relatively easy to amass them. Hilton hands out plenty of points through hotel stays, credit card welcome bonuses and other promotions.

Here are all the ways to earn Hilton points, starting with hotel stays.

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

To earn Hilton Honors points on your hotel stays with Hilton, you’ll need to be a Hilton Honors member and book your room directly through Hilton.

The number of points you earn will be based on your Hilton status level:

• Members (no elite status): 10 points for every eligible $1 spent.

• Hilton Honors™ Silver members: 12 points for every eligible $1 spent.

• Hilton Honors™ Gold members: 18 points for every eligible $1 spent.

• Hilton Honors™ Diamond members: 20 points for every eligible $1 spent. 

For example, a Hilton Honors member with $800 in eligible spending would earn 8,000 Hilton Honors points for their stay, while a Hilton Honors Silver member would earn 9,600 points, a Hilton Honors Gold member would earn 14,400 points, and a Hilton Honors Diamond member would earn 16,000 points for the same stay.

As a result, obtaining Hilton Honors status is a great way to supercharge the number of Hilton Honors points you’ll earn throughout the year.

Note that eligible spending is defined by Hilton as money spent on room rate, food and beverages, telephone, laundry, pay-per-view movies, entertainment and recreational facilities, and incidental charges to your room during your stay.

Some charges that do not count as eligible to earn Hilton points include:

• Federal, state and local taxes. 

• Dining room and other charges not billed to your room during your stay.

• Incidental charges by non-affiliated entities that are not owned and/or operated by Hilton, like gift shops, food and beverage outlets, and clothing stores (even if located inside a Hilton).

• Charges in connection with banquets or other catering functions unless purchased through the Hilton Honors Event Planner Program.

If you’re a high spender, you’re in luck as there is no limit to the number of points you can earn during your stay.

» Learn more: The guide to Hilton Diamond status benefits

Hilton Honors members can earn Hilton points by making purchases on a Hilton co-branded credit card.

To maximize the number of points you earn during a Hilton hotel stay, we recommend paying for your stay using a Hilton co-branded credit card.

For example, let’s say you’re staying at a Hilton property and you pay for the stay with your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card. Since the card comes with Hilton Honors Gold status, you’ll earn 18 points per eligible $1 spent on your stay, and by paying with your card, you’ll earn an additional 12 points per eligible $1 spent, adding up to 30 points per eligible $1 spent on your stay.

If you paid $1,500 for the room (not including taxes and fees) and paid with your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, you’d earn 45,000 Hilton points just for the room alone.

NerdWallet values Hilton Honors points at 0.5 cent per point, which is a return of roughly $225 (or 15% of the amount you paid for your Hilton room). Terms apply.

» Learn more: The best hotel credit cards right now

Buying points from Hilton directly is another way you can accumulate Hilton Honors points, although we generally recommend buying points only if you have a specific stay in mind and need to top-up your account to reserve it, or if Hilton is offering bonus points for purchasing points.

To buy Hilton points directly through Hilton, you'll need to log in to your Hilton Honors account and select the number of points you want to purchase.

Note that Hilton limits the number of points you can purchase online to 80,000 each year, so you can’t count on being able to purchase points to cover all of your stays. We discourage purchasing points because the cost generally outweighs the benefit, but in select circumstances, it might make sense.

Hilton allows you to pool and transfer points with friends and family, which can help you get to the number of points you need for an upcoming stay.

You can pool Hilton points with up to 10 people who can transfer their points to the pool.

Frankly, this is more complicated than it should be.

In addition to being able to pool your Hilton Honors points, you can transfer points to a friend or family member. Transferring points lets you simply move your points from one account to another. For most situations, including booking a group trip, this is likely the simpler solution.

Note that you’re limited to transferring 500,000 Hilton Honors points per year and receiving 2 million Hilton Honors points per year from transfers, and that you have to wait 30 days after opening your Hilton Honors account to pool, receive or transfer points.

The option above lets you transfer between friends and family, but you can also convert points and miles from other programs into Hilton Honors points. Hilton calls this “exchanging” on its website to avoid confusion.

Below are Hilton Honors’ current transfer partners. A ratio of 1:2 means that for every 1,000 points transferred, you’ll earn 2,000 Hilton Honors points.

• American Express Membership Rewards (1:2).

• Virgin Atlantic Airways (2:3).

American Express will sometimes offer bonus points for transfers to Hilton, so we recommend checking your American Express Membership Rewards account on occasion to see if there are any transfer bonuses available.

In general, the juice ain’t worth the squeeze on these points transfers (you can get better value elsewhere). That said, if you need a few more Hilton points for a redemption, consider dipping into your rewards points from these other programs.

• Hilton bonus points promotions. Hilton regularly offers bonus promotions in which you can get additional Hilton Honors points for Hilton stays. Check on current Hilton bonus promotions.

• Lyft. You can earn up to 3 Hilton Honors points per $1 spent for Lyft rides. To earn Hilton Honors points for Lyft rides, log in to your Lyft app, tap “Rewards” and add your Hilton Honors account as your Lyft loyalty rewards partner.  

• Car rentals. Hilton partners with Alamo, National and Enterprise, so you can earn up to 5,000 Hilton Honors points on your car rental, which you can book directly on the Hilton website.

• Hilton Honors Dining Program. You can earn up to 8 Hilton Honors points for every $1 spent at eligible restaurants by signing up for the Hilton Honors Dining Program and paying for the meal on a registered credit card.

Hilton offers a number of ways to earn Hilton Honors points, including earning points on hotel stays and on credit card purchases made with Hilton co-branded credit cards, by purchasing Hilton Honors points, by pooling and transferring points between friends and family members, by transferring rewards points earned on other programs to Hilton, and through bonus points programs and offers.