Hilton HHonors Double Points or Miles March 1 to May 31, 2015

Hilton HHonors Double Points or Miles March 1 to May 31, 2015 is the upcoming global promotion. Hilton announced last month they will only run two global promotions per year and focus on targeted offers for HHonors members in the other months. Welcome to new Hilton HHonors.

Double points is the standby promotion for Hilton HHonors.

Hilton Double Points or Miles registration is required before your hotel stay during the promotion period to qualify as an eligible stay.

Choose carefully because your selection cannot be changed
once you select Double Points or Double Miles and register for the promotion.

HHonors normal earning rate

A member with earning preference of Points & Points normally earns 15 points per dollar. Double points applies only to base points for 10 extra points per dollar.

Earn 10 HHonors Base Points for every eligible US dollar spent on your room
When you stay at a hotel or resort within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio, you earn 10 Base Points for every US dollar spent on your room rate and other eligible room charges, including telephone calls and room service.

Some exceptions apply: At Hampton Inn™ or Homewood Suites by Hilton™ hotels, earn 10 Base Points for every US dollar spent on your room rate only. At Home2 Suites by Hilton™ hotels, earn 5 Base Points for every US dollar spent on your room rate only.

Hilton HHonors Earn Points

Points & Miles earners receive 10 base points and 1 mile per dollar.

POINTS & MILES (HHonors Base Points + airline/rail miles)
Turn stays into free nights and reward flights with this earning style. Earn 10 HHonors Base Points plus 1 mile per eligible US dollar spent on most stays. (For stays at Home2 Suites by Hilton™ hotels, earn 5 HHonors Base Points plus 1 mile per eligible US dollar spent on your room, up to 100 miles per stay.)

Hilton HHonors Earn Miles

Hilton HHonors has 60 airline partners, more than any other hotel chain. The double miles promotion earns 2 miles per dollar in hotel spend. In general, earning miles from hotel stays is the better value than redeeming HHonors points for airline miles at HHonors poor exchange rates.

Double Points or Double Miles?

This question is more relevant to Hilton HHonors members who are not elite members. I assume you know what workd for you if you hold HHonors Diamond elite and accumulate points on Hilton HHonors credit cards.

1. Double points = 25 HHonors points/$1 for Points & Points earners.
2. Double points earns 20 HHonors points/$1 + 1 mile/$1 for Points & Miles earners.
3. Double miles earns 10 HHonors points/$1 + 2 miles/$1 for Points & Miles earners.

$1,000 Analysis

I look at $1,000 in spend during a hotel promotion as a reasonable amount for a person or family traveling for a week on vacation or for several short one and two night stays during three months.

Double points at 25 points per dollar means you can earn 25,000 points on $1,000 in hotel spend, plus elite member bonus points and credit card bonus points, if applicable.

Double points for a Points & Miles earner means 20,000 HHonors points + 1,000 miles.

Double miles for a Points & Miles earner means 10,000 HHonors points + 2,000 miles.

HHonors points to miles exchange at the rate of 10,000 points = 1,000 miles for most airlines. You can earn points and exchange at a later date. You need a minimum of 10,000 HHonors points to make transfers into most airline programs. Air France/KLM require 20,000 points and a couple other airlines require 25,000 points.

I think Points & Points is the best earning option, unless you have a good reason for choosing miles.

All in all, your choice of earning option might be irrelevant if you are planning hotel stays in the USA. More than 750 hotels in the USA opted out of this promotion compared to only 21 hotels for the rest of the world.

Welcome to the current Hilton HHonors!

Is Hilton HHonors your best option?

I’d like to leave you with a hotel loyalty promotion comparison for what I think is the best value currently for hotel stays. Club Carlson Extend Your Stay offer of 30,000 bonus points for 3-nights and longer stays or 15,000 bonus points for two night stays through March 29, 2015 is the best offer currently available for earning sufficient points for free nights.

Park Plaza Vondelpark Amsterdam – 3 night stay for 225 EUR earned 20 points per dollar for $259 + 30,000 bonus points with Extend Your Stay bonus points.

Last month I stayed 3 nights at Country Inn & Suites West Valley City, Utah.

$220 in hotel spend + tax earned nearly 46,000 points with one stay in Utah and $280 in hotel spend earned 37,000 points with one stay in Amsterdam.

My total spend was a little over $500 for six hotel nights that earned 83,000 points. Those points will buy several hotel nights in Europe this summer as a Club Carlson Visa card member with the benefit of one night on reward stays of two or more nights. I’ll primarily plan for 2-night hotel stays on our July trip to Europe.

Hilton HHonors double points would have earned 12,500 points with $500 in spend. Possibly sufficient points for one hotel night at a low category Hampton Inn hotel.