Getting free hotel stays for Canadians has never been easier. The Hilton Honors program can help you save thousands of dollars on travel costs, so you can travel guilt-free.

When looking at collecting points for free redemptions, there are two brands that Canadians should focus on – Marriott & Hilton. 

While there are certainly more hotel chains in Canada (Wyndham, IHG, Choice Hotels), the ability to earn points through Marriott and Hilton has subsidiary benefits to most other Canadian hotel chains. 

The Hilton Honors program is a loyalty program offered by Hilton. It allows members to earn points for stays at Hilton properties. Members can then redeem these points for free nights, upgrades, and other rewards. The program has various tiers, and members can move up to higher tiers by earning more points or staying at Hilton properties more frequently.

For this post, we’ll be focusing on the Hilton Honours Program. 

Hilton Honours is the top hotel program in the country, as you can earn points directly through numerous credit cards, and can redeem these points at one of Hilton’s 6,600 global properties.

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HERE ARE 10 THINGS CANADIANS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HILTON HONORS

Earning Hilton Honors Points

1. You Can Earn Hilton Honors Points by Staying at Hilton

Hilton has a large number of properties under their umbrella. These range from high-end establishments like the Waldorf Astoria to more economical options like the Hilton Garden Inn. 

You earn Hilton Honors points for spending money at Hilton properties, with the majority of hotels offering 10 points per $1 USD spent. As your loyalty status increases (Silver, Gold, Diamond), additional Bonus Points are earned.

We will get to the tiers below.

You can view the brands here

2. You Can Transfer American Express Membership Rewards to Hilton Honors Points

One of how you earn a high amount of Hilton Honors points is by transferring out your American Express Membership Rewards. 

Read>>>: The Complete Gide to Membership Rewards

Membership Rewards is the travel currency earned directly through American Express credit cards. 

One of, if not the best reason for you to start collecting American Express Membership Rewards is that you can transfer your MR to a bevy of transfer partners including: 

• Air Canada/Aeroplan
• British Airways Executive Club 
• KLM/Flying Blue
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles 
• Delta Airways Sky Miles
• Etihad Guest
• Marriott Bonvoy Points
• Hilton Honours Points

You can view the transfer ratios below 

If you intend on staying at a Hilton American Express Membership Rewards can help you get there. The 1:1 transfer ratio provides less value when compared to other transfer partners, but occasionally, American Express will offer “bonus transfers” on certain airlines or hotel partners. 

How to Earn Membership Rewards

You can earn Membership Rewards through several credit cards offered by American Express 

The American Express Platinum Card is a great way to earn Membership Rewards.

The $799 annual fee (which comes with a $150 rebate through GreatCanadianRebates) is offset by the following perks & benefits:

• Sign-up Bonus:
  • 70,000 MR points upon spending $10,000 in the first three months
  • 30,000 MR points upon making a purchase between months 14-17 of cardmembership
• Earn Rate: 
  • 2 MR points per dollar spent on travel, groceries & dining
  • 1 MR point everywhere else
• Insurance:
  • Emergency Medical Travel Insurance – up to $5,000,000
  • Car rental damage insurance 
  • Trip Cancellation Insurance- up to $3,000
  • Hotel Burglary insurance – up to $1,000
  • Baggage delay insurance – up to $1,000
  • Lost or stolen baggage insurance – up to $1,000
• Perks
  • $200 annual travel credit
  • $200 annual dining credit
  • Special discounts for cardholders, which are sent via email
  • $100 Nexus credit
  • Instant Gold status at Marriott Bonvoy
  • Instant Gold status at Hilton Honours
  • Access to Pearson Priority Security Lane during peak operating times
  • Complimentary valet service at the Express Park and Daily Park at Pearson Airport
• Lounge Access
  • Priority Pass (+1 guest)
  • Plaza Premium Lounges (+1 guest)
  • Delta Sky Club
  • Airspace Lounges (+2 guests)
  • Centurion Lounges
  • SwissPort Lounges (+1 guest)

While the $799 annual fee seems daunting initially, the 100,000 Membership Rewards is a great sign-up bonus.

Canadians will have to make a personal decision as to whether or not the $799 (minus the $200 travel credit & $200 annual dining credit) annual fee is worth spending after year one.

Read our full review here

You can also earn Membership Rewards through a number of other personal credit cards including: 

• American Express Gold
• American Express Cobalt 
• American Express Green Card

3. You Can Earn Hilton Honors Points Directly by Signing up for the American Express US Hilton Cards

If you’ve ever used Aeroplan in the past, you’re probably familiar with the process of earning Aeroplan miles through their branded credit cards. Naturally, Hilton has a similar offer, but it is unfortunately just offered for those who can obtain US credit cards.

American Express currently offers 3 American Express Hilton co-branded credit cards

	Hilton Honors American Express Card	Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card	Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Annual fee	$0	$150	$550
Bonus	80,000 Hilton Honors pts	130,000 Hilton Honors pts	150,000 Hilton Honors pts
Earning Rate	Hilton Resorts: 7X Food & Dining: 5x Everything Else: 3x	Hilton Resorts: 12X Food & Dining: 6x Everything Else: 3x	Hilton Resorts: 14X Food & Dining: 7x Everything Else: 3x
Travel credits		$50 Hilton Credit quarterly	$200 Hilton Resort statement semi-annually $100 Waldorf Astria Credit $250 airline incidental credit
Hilton Honors status	Silver	Gold	Diamond
Free nights	None	Free Night Reward upon spending $15,00 on the card	Annual Free Night Reward. Additional Free Night Reward upon spending $60,000 on the card
Other Perks	None	None	$189 Clear Plus membership

If you are looking at ways to Maximize your Hilton Honors earnings, I encourage you to check out this video by YouTuber Ethan Hardy

4. You Can Transfer a Number of US Travel Currencies to Hilton Honors

If you collect travel points in the US, you can transfer your travel currencies to Hilton Honors. The travel programs eligible for transfers are:

• American Express Membership Rewards (at a 1:2 ratio)

5. You Can Purchase Hilton Points Directly Through Hilton.com

Canadians can purchase points directly through Hilton.com. 

This process doesn’t provide great value, but there will be opportunities throughout the year where you can buy points at a bonus (sometimes up to 100%).

This should be seen as a last resort, but can be leveraged if there is a certain high-level redemption that you are targeting, or if you’re targeting the “fifth night free” promotion. 

Redeeming Your Hilton Honors Points

6. Hilton Honors Redemptions: Dynamic Pricing

Hilton Honors redemptions are done with a dynamic pricing table, meaning that the amount of points required for a stay will vary over the year.

However, there are some ranges which you can expect:

Low-end hotels: 20,000 points – 40,000 points/night

Mid-tier hotels: 50,000 points – 100,000 points/night

High-end hotels: 100,000+ points/night

Keep in mind that the “tier” your hotel falls into is also highly dependent on the market it’s in, so you can expect the Hilton Garden Inn near Disneyland, California to price at mid-tier levels even though it’s a limited-service brand.

Fortunately, Hilton has a “Points Explorer” tool which allows you to search hotels

Hilton Points Explorer is a tool that allows members to explore and discover the different ways they can earn and use Hilton Honors Points. The tool allows members to search for hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio and see the number of points required for a stay.

There are no blackout dates when redeeming points. 

There is also the ability to purchase your hotel room with a combination of cash + points. This can be used in a situation where you don’t have enough points for the stay. 

On average, 1 Hilton Honors point is worth roughly 0.5 cents. This benchmark can be used when determining whether you’re getting value out of your redemption. 

7. You Can Get Your 5th Night Free When Redeeming with Points

For those booking their vacation stay with points, Hilton offers a “fifth-night free” promotion, which can go a long way in enhancing the value of your vacation. 

4 nights paid for with points = 5th night free.

If your goal is to use Hilton Honors points for the entire duration of your hotel stay, staying 5 nights enhances your redemption by 20%. It’s something you should seriously consider if you’re going the points route. 

Maximizing The Hilton Honors Program

8. Hilton Has 3 Different Loyalty Tiers

As with many hotel chains in North America, Hilton rewards you for staying at Hilton properties.

Hilton has 3 loyalty tiers; Silver, Gold & Diamond. You can see by the chart below that the benefits really kick in when you achieve Diamond status.

Achieving Gold Status

You can achieve Gold status by staying 40 nights at a Hilton property. Alternatively, you can fast-track your gold status by holding the following Canadian credit cards:

• American Express Business Platinum
• American Express Platinum

You also get Gold status by holding the American Express US Platinum card, or by holding the American Express Hilton Surpass card in the US.

Achieving Diamond Status

You can achieve Diamond status by staying 60 nights at a Hilton property. Alternatively, you can fast-track your Diamond status by holding the American Express Hilton Aspire card.

9. You Can Transfer Your Hilton Honors Points

If you collect Hilton Honors as a household, you can benefit from the fact that Hilton allows you to transfer your points from one account to another

This can allow you to quickly earn points through American Express Membership Rewards or through Hilton-branded US credit cards. 

You can transfer your points here

10. You can “Status Match” Your Hotel Elite Status to Hilton Honors

If you hold status at a competing hotel group, Hilton will offer you a 90-day trial period of Hilton Honors Gold status

If you stay 8 nights with Hilton during those 90 days, you’ll keep your status until the end of the following year. Should you stay 14 nights, you will be elevated to Diamond status at the end of the subsequent year.

Submit your program and stay proof of another competitor loyalty program through this page:  https://www.hiltonhonors.com/en_US/status-match/landing/

You can status-match these programs:

• Accor ALL: Gold, Platinum
• Best Western Rewards: Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Diamond Select
• Choice Privileges: Gold, Platinum, Diamond
•  IHG One Rewards: Gold, Platinum, Diamond
• Marriott Bonvoy: Gold, Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador
• Radisson Rewards: Gold, Platinum
• World of Hyatt: Explorist, Globalist and Lifetime Globalist

Conclusion

If you regularly stay at hotels or intend on taking a trip over the next 12 months, the Hilton Honors program can help reduce your travel costs by thousands of dollars. 

The ability to transfer American Express Membership Rewards to Hilton Honors points and the ability to earn points directly through the Hilton American Express credit card will allow you to earn a large amount of points quickly, and help you save hundreds and thousands of dollars on hotel costs. 

4 Tips to Help You on Your Travels

1. Register for the Hilton Honors program since it’s free to do so.
2. If you’re someone who likes to earn travel rewards for hotel stays, the American Express Hilton Cards or American Express platinum cards provide great value. 
3. Read through the programs and the benefits that come with certain tiers so you can maximize the program. The American Express US Hilton Aspire card provides you instant Diamond status.
4. Sign up for Hilton’s promotional emails. You can create a “deals” section within your inbox if you’d prefer to compartmentalize your incoming emails.