Hilton Brand Hotels: How to Maximize Your Points

On most of our vacation trips, we have stayed at Hilton brand hotels. This is largely because of their generous credit card intro offers, but for a few other reasons, too.

Hilton’s webpage is incredibly user-friendly, which allows you to compare different rate options and see different hotel locations easily. The best part of using Hilton Honors points on vacations is their 5th night free policy.

When using solely Hilton Points to book your stay, the 5th consecutive night is free. This means that you redeem points for the first 4 nights, and the 5th is absolutely free- FREE. There have been many trips where we have combined either Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) timeshare promotions for the first 3 nights, then switched to another Hilton branded hotel for 5 consecutive nights to make an 8 night Orlando vacation for about $200, or we have used Hilton Points for 2 5-night stays at different hotels to maximize our points.

We have stayed at the following Hilton hotels in the Disney “bubble:”

Homewood Suites by Hilton Orlando Theme Parks

Homewood Suites by Hilton Orlando-Nearest to Univ Studios

Hampton Inn & Suites Orlando-South Lake Buena Vista

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando - Disney Springs™ Area

Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace Disney Springs Area

Hampton Inn Orlando/Lake Buena Vista

Hilton Grand Vacations Club Tuscany Village Orlando

Home2 Suites by Hilton Orlando / International Drive South

We can write a post about each individual hotel and compare the pros and cons another time, but this list shows that Hilton consistently has value and quality. If it hadn’t, we wouldn’t have kept returning.

Now, let’s dive in and discuss the best ways to earn points with Hilton!

We paired a 5-night standard night redemption stay with a HGV timeshare promotion for an 8-night stay in Orlando. This considered 2 separate stays, which also contributes to some Hilton perks, such as a 2k point bonus on each stay. These promotions are ever changing, so stay up to date on the current promotions to maximize your stay.

Hilton Honors: Maximize Your Points on Your Stay

Hilton has some of the most aggressive point promotions with their credit cards compared to other hotel brands in the industry.

If you use our referral link, you can earn Hilton's current promotion for their Hilton Surpass card. Earn 170,000 points when you open and spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 6 months. When we initially opened this card, we could pay rent through an online portal. However, if this isn’t an option for you, use this card for your everyday expenses to reach your $3,000 minimum.

In addition the points promotions, Hilton just re-vamped their Hilton Surpass card to include more benefits. Each quarter (January through March, April through June, July through September, and October through December), you can earn a $50 statement credit to your card on eligible Hilton hotel purchases. These purchases must be made directly with Hilton and cannot be made with third-party sites. The annual fee just increased from $95 to $150, however.

See the terms here

If you are looking for a Hilton Honors card with no annual fee, use our referral link for the Hilton Honors credit card to qualify for a great promotion! Currently, Hilton is running a promotion where you can earn 100,000 points when you open and spend $2,000 in 6 months.

Hilton Credit Card Promotions

For a hypothetical scenario, for Jan 15-20, 2024 at Hampton Inn Orlando Near Universal Blv/International Dr, it would cost 116,000 Hilton points. The 5th night is free when using Hilton Honors points to book it. With the Surpass intro offer, this still leaves 54,000 points leftover, which can be used to extend your stay, too.

5-Night Hilton Stays: Get That Free Night!

Buy Hilton Points

Firstly, solely buying points is not the best way to go. Typically, I only purchase Hilton points if I am close to the amount I need to earn my 5th night free. In the Hilton Honors credit card example above, I’d have 100,000 points but would need 116,000 points to qualify for my free night. This is where I would purchase points to meet that threshold instead of using points and cash to make my reservation. Without additional promotions on the points, purchasing 16,000 points would cost $160. With 100% bonus promotion (which runs every few months), it would cost $80.

Purchase Hilton Points here

When you use points and cash to book, you are no longer eligible for the 5th free night.

Purchasing in small amounts can help maximize the points you already have, but purchasing in large sums should not be your first choice.

Pool Hilton Points with Friends and Family

Traveling with a group? You can pool your Hilton points together from multiple accounts and apply them to a reservation. This is great for groups that would like to stay in a 2, or 3 bedroom suite at a Hilton resort because everyone can share the common space (typically with a full kitchen) while also having their own space as well.

Go to the Hilton Honors website to pool points. Enter in each person’s email and name, then click “Create Pool and Send Invitations.” This will send an email that looks like this to each person