Top Travel on Points

Sharing tips, tricks and strategies for maximizing your travel using points!

Loyalty Programs

How a Flight Change Put 45,000 Miles Back in My United Account

By Leave a Comment

If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.

Thomas H. Palmer

When I booked our award flights to Hawaii last month, I wasn’t very happy with the number of miles needed to book the Chicago to Maui segment. United was charging 45,000 miles per ticket or 90,000 total for Annie and I. In my excitement, I went ahead and booked the trip instead of waiting to see if I could get a better deal. Then last week I decided to check if anything had changed. To my surprise, there were tons of flights from Chicago to Maui for only 22,500 miles per ticket or 45,000 in total.

Flight Change Details

For a change fee of $150, I re-booked the Chicago to Maui segment and was refunded 45,000 United miles! Those miles are worth way more than the $150 it cost me to change the flight. I can use the miles to score a round-trip flight somewhere else in the world for free. If I used them to go back to Hawaii, the miles would be worth more than $1,000!

The new award redemption details are below:

Hawaii Trip Award Itinerary (two tickets)

FlightMiles (originally)Miles (after flight change)
ORD to OGG90,000 (45,000 each)45,000 (22,500 each)
OGG to HNL00
HNL to ORD45,000 (22,500 each)45,000 (22,500 each)
Total135,00090,000

Chicago (ORD) to Kahului (OGG)

Leg 1: Chicago to Honolulu on a Boeing 777-200

Instead of flying to Denver and then Maui for 90,000 miles, we’re now flying to Maui via Honolulu for 45,000 miles. We arrive about 1 hour and 40 minutes later than the original flight, which is fine since all we’re going to do that night is eat dinner and go to sleep. We also like that we go all the way to Honolulu, since that will limit the impact of any possible connection issues. There are so many daily flights between Honolulu and Maui, we’ll be just fine no matter what. If we’d missed our connection in Denver, there’d be a much better chance of getting stuck for a night.

When I re-booked this segment, the money I used to pay for seat upgrades on the original flight was also refunded. Once that is back in my credit card account, I’ll purchase new economy plus seats on this flight.

Leg 2: Honolulu to Kahului on Boeing 717-200

After an hour and 25 minute layover in Honolulu, we’re taking a quick 42 minute flight over to Maui on Hawaiian Airlines.

Bottom Line

With these changes, the airfare now cost me 90,000 miles plus $311 in taxes, change fees and non-reimbursed seat upgrades. The value of the airfare redemption is now 2.76 cents per point ($2,488 / 90,000 miles), up from 1.84 cents per point originally.

The lesson here is not to “set it and forget it”. If you’re not happy with your booking, keep checking periodically to see if things change. You might end up finding flights with better times, cheaper fares or for less miles. I checked every day for one week and noticed that the cheapest flights appeared in searches on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday was long thought to be the best day to book flights but that’s since changed. However, in this case, the day I booked mattered. That’s something to keep in mind next time you’re looking at flights.

Trip Report Index

  1. Introduction and Planning
  2. Using Points and Miles to get to Hawaii
  3. How a Flight Change Put 45,000 Miles Back in My United Account
  4. Postponing Hawaii Due to a Pandemic
  5. Flight from Chicago to Maui
  6. Grand Wailea Maui, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
  7. Activities in Maui
  8. Flight from Kahului to Honolulu
  9. Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort And Spa
  10. Activities in Honolulu
  11. Flight from Honolulu to Chicago

Using Points and Miles to get to Hawaii

By 1 Comment

The anticipation of this moment is what originally lead me to the points and miles game. Now, almost two full years after I started this journey, I’ve finally booked our 5th wedding anniversary trip to Hawaii. As planned, I used points and miles for as much as I possibly could, and saved over $9,600! Annie and I will celebrate the anniversary of our marriage with 6 nights in Maui and another 2 in Honolulu. This post explains how we’ll get there, where we’re staying and how we saved over 97% off the retail price of the trip.

Using Points and Miles to get to Hawaii
Photo courtesy of the Grand Wailea Resort

In This Post

Airfare

Prior to booking, I always assumed I’d be flying United because they have so many flight options from Chicago to Hawaii. Plus, United is a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards. So if I needed a few extra miles to book the flights, I could always transfer some Chase points to my United MileagePlus account. Before booking though, it’s always a good idea to check around in case you can get better flights (i.e. flying direct instead of connecting, getting into a better cabin or redeeming less miles) on other airlines. In my case, after reviewing flight options on American and a few other airlines, United was still my best option.

For 135,000 miles and $22 in taxes and fees, I booked two multi-city award tickets from Chicago to Maui, Maui to Honolulu and Honolulu to Chicago.

Hawaii Trip Award Itinerary (two tickets)

FlightMiles
ORD to OGG90,000 (45,000 each)
OGG to HNL0
HNL to ORD45,000 (22,500 each)
Total135,000

When I was ready to book the trip, I only had 131,000 United miles in my account. So I logged onto Chase and transferred the 4,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points needed to United. In less than two minutes, the extra miles were in my account and I was able to book the trip.

Paying for these flights would’ve cost around $2,500 which means the value of my miles redemption is around 1.84 cents per point ($2,488 / 135,000 miles). That’s better than the widely considered value of United miles, which is 1.3 cents per point. What makes me even more excited is that around two thirds of the miles used for this trip came from “freebies”. In other words, many miles I earned were not earned through credit card purchases or paying for United flights.

The top three ways I earned miles for free were: 50,000 miles from the sign-up bonus on the United Explorer card, almost 16,000 miles from United’s shopping portal and their MileagePlus X app, and 12,000 miles from taking online surveys.

Chicago (ORD) to Kahului (OGG)

Leg 1: Chicago to Denver on a Boeing 757-300

All flight options from Chicago to Maui included one stopover. While there were a few flights available for 22,500 miles per ticket, they had long layovers that were not ideal. I had to spend 45,000 miles per ticket instead to reduce the overall travel time and ensure that we’ll land in Maui in the afternoon instead of later in the evening.

According to SeatGuru, these regular economy seats offer extra legroom.

In choosing seats, I referenced SeatGuru.com and found a quirk in the economy cabin that we could take advantage of. Row 22 is considered standard economy and so United doesn’t charge extra for those seats. However due to an exit row in front, the seats have extra legroom. Even better, there are only two seats on each side of the aisle, so Annie and I get the row to ourselves.

Leg 2: Denver to Kahului on Boeing 777-200

For this long flight, it was worth it to me to pay for upgraded seats in economy plus. Of course, sticking with the theme of this trip, I wasn’t going to pay for the seats in full. At the time of booking, I selected random seats in economy for all legs of the journey. I paid the taxes with my United Explorer card so that we’ll get free checked bags. To save money on the economy plus seats, I then went back into the reservation and purchased the seats with my American Express Hilton Honors Aspire card. That card has $250 in annual airline credits which can offset various fees, including paying for seats. I used some of the credit first for our flight home, so I only had $144 left for this flight. In total, the cost to upgrade both our seats to economy plus on this flight was $238, but after the credit, it came to only $139. Now we have economy plus exit row seats.

Kahului (OGG) to Honolulu (HNL)

This flight is on a Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717-200. It cost absolutely nothing (no miles or dollars) because of a perk known as the United Excursionist Perk. This perk lets you add a free one-way segment, beginning and ending in the same region, to travelers on round-trip itineraries between two different regions as defined by the United award chart. The travel must end in the same region where it originates.

In this case, our trip begins and ends in the North America region. In addition, the origin and destination of the one-way segment is within a single region, Hawaii. Hence, we get to see a second island and don’t have to pay for the inter-island flight!

Honolulu (HNL) to Chicago (ORD)

Leg 1: Honolulu to Kahului on a Boeing 717-200

United has a non-stop flight from Honolulu to Chicago, but they wanted 43,000 miles per ticket. Instead, we’re going to fly back to Maui and then on to Chicago for only 22,500 miles a ticket. It was worth saving 41,000 total miles to take a quick flight back to Maui and then fly non-stop from there.

Leg 2: Kahului to Chicago on a Boeing 777-200

This is a long red-eye flight, so getting seats in economy plus was my top priority. Hopefully we can get at least a little sleep so we’re not completely wrecked when we land at 5:00 a.m the next day. For these seats, I was able to get them reimbursed entirely by using the annual airline credit perk on two different credit cards. I paid for one seat using my American Express Hilton Honors Aspire card and the other seat using my American Express Gold card. With these card benefits, the cost of upgrading to economy plus was $0 instead of $203. Our seats, once again, are in an economy plus exit row to take advantage of the extra leg room.

The cost of the tickets prior to buying economy plus seats would’ve cost almost $2,500.

All in all, our flights cost 135,000 miles plus $161 in taxes, fees and non-reimbursed seat upgrades. That’s a savings of $2,813!

Note: Since I wrote this article, I changed our Chicago to Maui segment in order to get back 45,000 United miles. United charged me $150 to do this and it dropped the total miles used for airfare to 90,000 (from 135,000). The value of the redemption is now 2.76 cents per point ($2,488 / 90,000 miles), up from 1.84. For more details on what I did and why, see how a flight change put 45,000 miles back in my United account.

Hotel

Grand Wailea Maui

When I first had the idea to celebrate our anniversary in Hawaii, I knew that we’d stay at the Grand Wailea Maui, a Waldorf Astoria resort. It’s a beautiful hotel and even though I had no Hilton Honors points at the time, they are notoriously easy to earn. Within a mere nine months, I already had enough points for a 5-night stay, mostly from the welcome bonuses on two new Hilton Honors credit cards (one for me, one for Annie). However, earning Hilton Honors points isn’t just about credit card bonuses and everyday spending. Over the past two years, I’ve earned over 160,000 points from online surveys, 60,000 points from Hilton promotions and 54,000 from hotel stays.

Grand Wailea
Photo courtesy of the Grand Wailea Resort

The Grand Wailea is a 5-star resort and prices can range from $600 to over $1,000 per night. For award night redemptions, they charge 95,000 Hilton Honors points a night. As a cardholder of the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire card, I get automatic Hilton Honors Diamond status. One of the perks of having Diamond status is getting the 5th night free when redeeming points for four nights. So for 380,000 points (95,000 x 4), we get a 5 night stay. In addition, another perk of the being a cardholder is an annual free weekend night certificate to use at any Hilton property. Using the award certificate allowed me to add a 6th night to our stay. If I had paid for a standard room for 6 nights, it would’ve cost $5,426. Instead we get it for absolutely nothing!

From a valuation standpoint, this redemption, excluding the free night, is worth 1.18 cents per Hilton Honors point ($4,516 / 380,000 points). This is about two times the commonly held value of a Hilton Honors point, which is 0.5 to 0.6 cents per point.

Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach

In Honolulu, we decided to stay at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa because the Hilton Waikiki Beach was sold out. The Hyatt Regency is actually closer to the beach anyways and still right in the heart of the city. Normally, it would go for $856 for the two nights, but I used points to get it for free. Hyatt is a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards, so I transferred 35,000 Chase points to Hyatt to bring my Hyatt balance to 40,000 points. I then booked the hotel for 40,000 Hyatt points. In total, I saved $855!

The value of this redemption is 2.14 cents per Hyatt point ($855 / 40,000 Hyatt points). The commonly held value of Hyatt points is 1.7 cents per point, so I did well again.

Rental Car

A car is pretty much a necessity on Maui if you want to be able to get around to various parts of the island. From the very beginning, I planned to rent a car from Hertz because one can earn Hertz points by taking surveys on E-rewards.com. When you take enough surveys, you can transfer the survey points earned to various partners, including Hertz. There are no similar programs available for the other major rental car companies, so it was Hertz or bust! I was able to amass enough points for a free weekly rental. Those points were earned entirely through survey taking which means I didn’t spend anything to earn the free rental.

To rent a convertible for a week would normally cost $680. Instead I used 7,500 Hertz points to get a free weekly rental. This made it so the only money I would pay would be to cover certain taxes and fees. This came to $89 for a total savings of $591.

Maui Redemption Table

Retail CostOur CostMiles/Points UsedPoints Source
2 one way tickets from Chicago (ORD) to Maui (OGG)$1,244 per person ($2,488 total)$11 taxes and fees ($22 total)131,000 United miles and 4,000 Chase UR points- United Explorer Card
- Miles from flying, dining and shopping portals
- Opinion Miles Club surveys
- Points from Chase credit cards
Flight change to lower mileage cost flight (ORD to OGG)$150$150(45,000) United miles refundedN/A
Economy Plus seat selection ORD to OGG$283$139N/A- Amex Hilton Aspire card
6 nights at the Grand Wailea Maui$904 per night ($5,426 total)$0380,000 Hilton Honors points and 1 free weekend night certificate- Hilton Honors Aspire Card
- Hilton Honors Card
- E-rewards surveys
- Guest Opinion Rewards surveys
- Hilton hotel stays
2 one way tickets from Maui (OGG) to Honolulu (HNL)Included in flight information aboveIncluded in flight information aboveUnited Excursionist perkIncluded in flight information above
2 one way tickets from Honolulu (HNL) to Chicago (ORD)Included in flight information aboveIncluded in flight information aboveIncluded in flight information aboveIncluded in flight information above
Economy Plus seat selection HNL to ORD$203$0N/A- Amex Hilton Aspire card
- Amex Gold card
2 nights at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa$428 per night ($856 total)$035,000 Chase UR points and 5,000 Hyatt points- Chase credit cards
1 week car rental$680$897,500 Hertz Gold Plus points- E-rewards surveys
Total$10,086$400- 86,000 United miles
- 39,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points
- 380,000 Hilton Honors points night
- 5,000 Hyatt points
- 7,500 Hertz Gold Plus points		- $9,686 in total savings
- 96% off retail cost

Bottom Line

Using points and miles allowed us to take a dream vacation celebrating our wedding anniversary for pennies on the dollar. A trip that would’ve cost just under $10,000 will only cost me $250! Annie and I are so excited to go on this trip and I’ll have lots more once we get back. Look for flight and hotel reviews, as well as posts about things to do in Maui and Oahu. Aloha!

Trip Report Index

  1. Introduction and Planning
  2. Using Points and Miles to get to Hawaii
  3. How a Flight Change Put 45,000 Miles Back in My United Account
  4. Postponing Hawaii Due to a Pandemic
  5. Flight from Chicago to Maui
  6. Grand Wailea Maui, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
  7. Activities in Maui
  8. Flight from Kahului to Honolulu
  9. Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort And Spa
  10. Activities in Honolulu
  11. Flight from Honolulu to Chicago

Earn At Least 5,000 American AAdvantage® Miles with Bask Bank

By Leave a Comment

A few months ago SoFi made headlines by offering free money to people who open new checking accounts. Now, Bask Bank has a new and unique offer of their own. For a limited time (until February 29, 2020), you can earn 5,000 bonus American Airlines AAdvantage® miles when you open a new savings account with Bask Bank!

Account Details

A Bask Savings Account is a different type of savings account. Unlike traditional savings accounts where annual interest gives you pennies on the dollar, this account earns airline miles instead of interest. For every dollar deposited, you earn one American Airlines AAdvantage® mile annually, paid in monthly installments into your AAdvantage® account. Some other highlights of Bask Bank are that it’s FDIC insured, there are absolutely no account fees and you can earn an unlimited number of miles.

In addition to earning miles based on your account balance, Bask Bank is currently offering a one-time account opening bonus, a feedback bonus and a tiered balance bonus.

Below are the details on these three bonus offers:

New Account Bonus Offer

To take advantage of this offer, open a new savings account with Bask Bank. Hold a minimum balance of $1,000 in the account for 30 days within 60 days of opening the account. The 5,000 bonus AAdvantage® miles will be awarded within 10 business days after meeting the offer qualifications.

  • This offer is for customers that have not previously opened a Bask Savings Account
  • You must provide Bask Bank with an AAdvantage® number in the same name as the savings account
  • You must open the account by February 29, 2020

Feedback Bonus Offer

Bask Bank is also offering 1,000 bonus AAdvantage® miles for giving feedback about their program.

  • You must provide feedback through their online banking website or mobile app
  • You must provide Bask Bank with an AAdvantage® number in the same name as the savings account
  • This offer is valid through June 30, 2020

Tiered Balance Bonus Offer

This offer kicks in if you maintain a minimum balance of $25,000 and gets increasingly more lucrative if the balance is at least $50,000 or $100,000.

  • If you maintain a minimum balance of $25,000 for 12 months, you’ll earn 10,000 bonus miles
  • Maintain a minimum balance of $50,000 for 12 months and you’ll earn 20,000 bonus miles
  • Finally, if you maintain a minimum balance of $100,000 miles for 12 months, you’ll earn 40,000 bonus miles

After earning the bonus, should I keep the account?

For many people, including myself, this is all about the easy 6,000 bonus miles. I’m not real interested in stashing any more than the $1,000 minimum in the account. As such, I won’t earn any miles from the tiered balance bonus offer. Once the new account bonus and feedback bonus miles are credited to my AAdvantage® account, I’ll transfer the money back to my primary bank. But for those who are considering going for the tiered balance bonus, let’s crunch some numbers to see how someone could maximize this account over the long term.

So how many miles could you actually earn with Bask Bank?

Standard Savings Account

First let’s set an assumption about the average savings account. For this exercise, I’ll assume a standard savings account earns 1% interest and you have $50,000 in the account. In one year, you would earn $500 in interest.

Bask Bank Savings Account

Instead, let’s put that same $50,000 is in a new Bask Savings Account. If the account average balance for January is $50,000, you would earn 4,246 miles ($10k / 365 x 31) that month. If that same balance is maintained in February, you would earn another 3,972 miles the next month. After one year of maintaining an average balance of $50,000 each month, you will have earned a total of 50,000 miles.

So the total number of miles earned after one year would be 76,000 miles:

  • 50,000 miles earned
  • + 5,000 new account bonus
  • + 1,000 feedback bonus
  • + 20,000 balance bonus (tier 2)
  • = 76,000 miles

So the question becomes, would you rather have $500 cash or 76,000 miles? Unfortunately it’s impossible to quantify the exact worth of 76,000 miles because it can vary depending on how the miles are used. But it’s very possible to get substantially more value than $500. Below is an example.

Redemption Example

You can fly round-trip from Chicago to Paris in economy for only 34,000 miles, plus $85.05 in taxes and fees. That means you’d have enough miles leftover to bring a friend as well. For 68,000 miles, you can spend a week in Paris!

The cash equivalent of this trip for two is $1,422, which is much higher than the $500 you would’ve received in interest from a regular savings account.

Is There a Catch?

With no account fees, there’s really no catch or downside. However, there is one other item to remember — as with any savings account, earnings are subject to taxes. Bask Bank will send you a 1099 form at the end of the year based on the miles earned in your account. According to their terms and conditions, miles are valued at 0.42 cents per mile, which is the equivalent of a 0.42% annual percentage yield. In our example (76,000 miles earned), the taxable value would be $319.20. You would owe taxes on that amount based on your marginal tax rate. Of course, if you had earned $500 in a regular savings account instead, you would owe taxes on that money as well.

Bottom Line

While many people may only open an account to earn the easy 6,000 miles, there’s a lot more value that can be earned. This unique savings account can be a wonderful tool to help earn valuable AAdvantage® miles. The most common way to earn miles has always been via credit card spending, flying, shopping portals, dining programs and surveys. Now there’s a new option.

This account could be especially attractive if you’ve earned a new Citi AAdvantage credit card welcome bonus in the past 48 months. Citi will only award a welcome bonus to new cardholders who have not earned a welcome bonus on the same card in the past 48 months. So now while you wait for the 48-month restriction to expire, you could use a Bask Savings Account to supplement your miles earning strategy.

Hilton Garden Inn Sioux Falls Downtown

By Leave a Comment

The Hilton Garden Inn Sioux Falls Downtown is a 136-room upscale hotel which opened in 2013. The site of a former lumberyard, the hotel sits along the Big Sioux River. Rooms on the river side have a beautiful view of the water, walking paths and green space. Being only six years old, I liked that the hotel was decorated with modern tastes and still feels new today. The hotel restaurant is even newer, having been built in 2016, while construction on a new Starbucks is ongoing. All of that is wonderful, but I felt the hotel was a little too pricey for its location. Being in downtown Sioux Falls is not the same as being in downtown New York or Chicago and shouldn’t be priced that way.

The Hilton Garden Inn Sioux Falls Downtown

In This Post

Location

The hotel is located in downtown Sioux Falls overlooking the Big Sioux River. It’s only about a 10 minute drive from the Joe Ross Field Airport and just minutes from Falls Park, which is a public park surrounding the city’s falls.

I came into town from the East and found the blocks leading up to the hotel to be rather run down and sketchy looking. Between the hotel and Falls Park is more of the same. The area is a combination of industrial buildings and dilapidated commercial and residential buildings as well. It has the feel and look of a town hit by economic hardship.

On the other hand, just about two blocks to the south and west of the hotel is the heart of downtown Sioux Falls. This area, which is anchored by Phillips Avenue, is much nicer with lots of restaurants and shopping. Unfortunately I was there on a Sunday night and it was raining. Most places were closed and the weather meant I couldn’t walk around at all. I did drive down Phillips Avenue, just to check it out quickly, and it was a cute looking couple of blocks.

Lobby

The hotel lobby is clean and contemporary. It’s a big space with the restaurant off to the left, check-in to the right and a seating area towards the back. On nice days, the patio along the river would make a nice spot to sip on a coffee or read the morning paper.

Checking-In

The check-in process was very quick. As a Hilton Honors Diamond member, I received a room on the river side of the hotel and a free hot breakfast voucher.

The Room

Since the hotel is just a few years old, the carpet and wallpaper are in great shape. The hallways are bright and modern.

The bedroom was clean and had a king bed, desk and television.

It also had a small kitchenette equipped with a microwave, fridge, and coffee machine.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was clean but overall pretty average.

Dining

Inside the hotel is the CRAVE American Kitchen and Sushi Bar. It’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. One of twelve CRAVE locations in the country, it’s only one of two located outside the state of Minnesota.

The vibe inside the restaurant was actually pretty cool, which fits in with the modern hotel’s atmosphere. The restaurant’s menu is huge, with American staples like sandwiches, burgers, salads, and flatbreads. They also have more unique and Asian-inspired options like rice or quinoa bowls, poke bowls and lots of different sushi.

Free Hot Breakfast

As part of my Hilton Honors Diamond status and MyWay selection, I received a voucher for a free hot breakfast. MyWay is a feature of the Hilton Honors program that allows Gold and Diamond members to choose extra benefits based on personal preferences. I took advantage of the free voucher the morning I checked out of the hotel.

After sitting down at an available table, a waitress came by to see if I wanted to order anything from the chef. I placed my order and then walked over to their self-service station to see what they were offering. There they had a waffle maker and toaster as well as various breakfast condiments. Oatmeal was also available at the chef’s counter.

While I waited for my order, I could watch the chef working in the kitchen.

When my food was ready, the waitress brought it to my table. The eggs, sausage and breakfast potatoes were really tasty and a great way to start the day!

Miscellaneous

I wasn’t at the hotel for more than 12 hours total, so I didn’t get to explore or take advantage of many amenities. While I’m told they have a pool, a note on the hotel’s website says that the pool and whirlpool spa are permanently closed. If a pool is important to your stay, I would call ahead and make sure the information on the website is indeed correct.

If you want to workout during your stay, they do offer a small fitness center. And for business travelers, they have a 24-hour business center and over 7,000 square feet of meeting space.

Bottom Line

If you want to stay downtown, there are only a few hotel options to choose from. The Hotel on Phillips is closest to the action, followed by the Hilton Garden Inn and then Holiday Inn. The Hilton Garden Inn is a solid choice for those wanting clean and modern decor. However it’s also the priciest hotel downtown. The nearby Holiday Inn is about half the price, while the newly refurbished Hotel on Phillips is priced in between the two. The Hotel on Phillips is an upscale boutique hotel that’s been built inside the 100-year old Sioux Falls National Bank building.

If I wasn’t staying exclusively at Hilton Hotels on this trip, I would’ve seriously considered the Hotel on Phillips. It looks just as nice, if not nicer, and is definitely newer. In the end, you can’t go wrong with any of these three hotels. And if being downtown isn’t a necessity, there are tons of other options along I-29 at very reasonable rates.

Trip Report Index

  1. Introduction and Planning
  2. Hilton Garden Inn Sioux Falls Downtown
  3. Hampton Inn Deadwood at Tin Lizzie Gaming Resort
  4. Hotel Alex Johnson Rapid City
  5. Top Things to Do in the Black Hills
  6. How I Earned Almost 30,000 Hilton Points on my Short Road Trip

How I Earned Almost 30,000 Hilton Points on my Short Road Trip

By Leave a Comment

The Hilton Honors program is a favorite of mine because of how easy it is to earn points. Most commonly, points can be earned via hotel stays, credit card spending and regular quarterly promotions. When it comes to hotel stays, Hilton Honors members earn 10 base points for every eligible dollar spent. But you can really amplify your points earning capabilities through Hilton branded credit cards and taking advantage of Hilton promotions.

On my recent road trip to South Dakota, I stayed four nights in total at Hilton properties and spent $664 ($590 before taxes and fees). Those stays earned me 5,908 base points. However, because I paid with my Hilton Aspire credit card and signed up for Hilton’s promotion, I earned an additional 23,112 bonus points! In this post, I’ll show you how stacking a Hilton promotion with a Hilton-branded credit card can supercharge your points earning potential.

How To Earn Hilton Points

All Hilton Honors members earn base points for staying at Hilton properties. In addition, there are three main ways to earn bonus points for those same hotel stays. Bonus points can be earned via promotions, credit card ownership and elite status.

Base Points

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

Bonus Points

Promotions

You can earn extra points on every stay if you sign-up for Hilton’s year-round bonus promotions. I took advantage of the below promotion on my road trip.

Registering only takes a minute and you won’t miss out on any future bonus points.

Whenever a new hotel promotion is announced, I’ve made it a habit to always register, even if I have no plans to stay with that hotel chain. It only takes a minute and could end up being very rewarding if you end up with an unplanned stay. If you register every time, you’ll never miss out on bonus points, especially for last-minute hotel stays.

Credit Card Ownership

If you own one of Hilton’s co-branded American Express credit cards, you also earn bonus points on every dollar spent on hotel stays:

  • Earn 7x points with the no-fee Hilton Honors Card
  • The $95 per year Hilton Honors Surpass Card earns 12x points
  • The Hilton Honors Aspire Card ($450 annual fee) earns 14x points
  • And, the Hilton Honors Business Card ($95 annual fee) earns 12x points

Elite Status

Another benefit of owning a Hilton credit card is elite status, which gets you even more bonus points on hotel stays.

  • Silver status (earned with the Hilton Honors Card) offers a 20% points bonus
  • Gold status (earned with the Hilton Honors Surpass and Business cards) offers an 80% points bonus
  • Diamond status (earned with the Hilton Honors Aspire Card) offers a 100% points bonus

How I Earned My Bonus Points

I own the American Express Hilton Aspire Card which earns the most bonus points (14 points per dollar spent) on purchases charged directly with a property within the Hilton portfolio (including bookings and incidental charges). With this card, I also have automatic Diamond status, which gets me a 100% bonus on base points earned.

Additionally, I registered for the Hilton “go more, get more” promotion, which ran from May 6, 2019 through September 8, 2019. Registered Hilton Honors members earned double bonus points beginning on their second stay during the Promotion Period. I had stayed at a Hilton property in late May for work, so I earned bonus points for all three stays on my road trip.

So here’s how my points earning broke down:

  • Base Points – For simply being a Hilton Honors member, I earned 5,908 base points (10x points per dollar).
  • MyWay Bonus – MyWay is a feature of the Hilton Honors program that allows Gold and Diamond status members to choose extra benefits based on personal preferences. One option is to earn additional bonus points at hotels in the Hilton portfolio which got me 2,000 bonus points.
  • Promotion Bonus – By registering for the “go more, get more” promotion, I netted another 5,908 bonus points.
  • Elite Status Bonus – My Diamond status got me a 100% point bonus, which equaled 5,908 bonus points.
  • Credit Card Bonus – With my 14x points per dollar for using my Hilton Honors Aspire Card, I earned another 9,296 bonus points.

The grand total for everything came to 29,020 Hilton Honors points.

For some reason my stay at the Hampton Inn Deadwood did not earn the correct bonus points but after speaking with an Amex representative, those 3,135 missing points will be credited on an upcoming statement.

With my nearly 30,000 new Hilton points, I have enough for a free night at moderate Hilton brands like Hampton Inn, Home2 Suites and Homewood Suites.

Or I can save them for my big anniversary trip to Hawaii in 2020!

How I Earned Almost 30,000 Hilton Points on my 2019 Road Trip
I can put the extra points earned from my road trip to my 5th wedding anniversary stay at the Grand Wailea in Maui!

Hilton Honors Credit Cards

As I’ve mentioned, I own the Hilton Aspire Card which earns the most bonus points per dollar spent on hotel stays. However, the $450 annual fee is not for everyone, even though the card delivers outstanding value. The good news is there are two other personal cards and a business card to consider.

Besides the Hilton Honors Aspire Card, you can choose from:

  • Hilton Honors Card (no annual fee) – currently offering a sign-up bonus of 75,000 points after you spend $1,000 in the first three months of account opening
  • Hilton Honors Surpass Card ($95 annual fee) – currently offering a sign-up bonus of 125,000 points after you spend $2,000 in the first three months of account opening
  • The Hilton Honors Business Card ($95 annual fee) – currently offering a sign-up bonus of 125,000 points after you spend $3,000 in the first three months of account opening

So which Hilton card is right for you? See a side by side comparison of all three personal cards.

Bottom Line

Earning a crazy amount of extra Hilton points is pretty easy to do if you stack Hilton promotions with earning points from Hilton credit cards. This fall I earned 29,020 Hilton points from only four nights of hotel stays. I spent $664 in total, which means I earned 43.7 points for every dollar spent on my road trip.

Owning a Hilton credit card is the easiest way to boost your earning potential. For me, the Hilton Aspire Card and the Diamond status I receive from it, earned me just over 17,000 of those extra points. In addition, stacking the available Hilton promotion on top of that got me another 5,908 points. All of it really adds up! So always remember to pay for your Hilton hotel charges with a Hilton credit card and sign up for all available promotions. If you do this, you’ll earn extra points and quickly boost your Hilton Honors points balance!

Trip Report Index

  1. Introduction and Planning
  2. Hilton Garden Inn Sioux Falls Downtown
  3. Hampton Inn Deadwood at Tin Lizzie Gaming Resort
  4. Hotel Alex Johnson Rapid City
  5. Top Things to Do in the Black Hills
  6. How I Earned Almost 30,000 Hilton Points on my Short Road Trip