What Is Hilton Honors, and How Does it Work?

Ready to start getting rewarded for traveling? With Hilton Honors (HH), it’s as easy as making a Hilton Honors account, booking at Hilton hotels, and heading out! And if you’re already a Hilton Grand Vacations owner, you can use you Hilton points to unlock even more benefits of ownership! In this blog, we’ll cover the ins and outs of this top-tier loyalty program, including the perks, benefits, and different levels of membership. Let’s dive in.

What Is Hilton Honors?

Like many other popular loyalty programs, it’s all about earning points for spending. As a loyalty travel program, Hilton Honors (HH) allows members to gain exclusive benefits and free stays at properties in the Hilton portfolio. What’s more, this points-based rewards program lets users redeem the points they earn for free nights, exclusive experiences, and more. All you have to do is log in to your account and book through the Hilton website to start racking up points toward free stays.

Hilton Worldwide is the parent company of all Hilton brands, including Hilton Grand Vacations Club timeshares. As of 2024, the company’s portfolio includes over 8,000 properties across 118 countries and 24 unique brands. Undoubtedly, Hilton has become a household name. If you already enjoy traveling with Hilton, Hilton Honors may be the perfect addition to your travel lifestyle.

Many savvy travelers find that loyalty programs are a great way to take advantage of saving money while traveling more. With an impressive 118 million members in the club, you’ll find the perks are equally impressive. The benefits of HH add to the many reasons we believe that buying a Hilton timeshare is worth it!

Is Joining HH Free?

Hilton Honors is free for anyone to join at the Blue Member level. Upon signing up, you’ll begin receiving points when you book using your HH account as a Blue Member. In fact, you’ll even receive a welcome bonus of 1,000 bonus points and an additional 2,000 bonus points after two stays. The only initial cost is the money you spend to book your stays, but you do get points back to use toward your next stay.

Hilton Honors Membership Tiers and Benefits

There are four Hilton Honors membership tiers, ranging from Blue Member to Diamond. Upon joining, you will automatically become a Blue Member. As a Blue Member, you will automatically receive free Wi-Fi, digital check-in capabilities, points towards free nights, and lower booking prices. Below is each Hilton Honors membership level and benefits at every tier.

HHonors Benefits	Member 0-10 nights	Silver 10+ nights	Gold 40+ nights	Diamond 60+ nights
Hilton Honors Discount rate	✔	✔	✔	✔
Points toward free nights	✔	✔	✔	✔
No resort fees on reward stays	✔	✔	✔	✔
Digital Check-in	✔	✔	✔	✔
Your room choice	✔	✔	✔	✔
Digital Key	✔	✔	✔	✔
Free Wifi	✔	✔	✔	✔
Exclusive HHonors Experiences	✔	✔	✔	✔
20% points earning bonus on stays		✔	✔	✔
Free bottled water		✔	✔	✔
Fifth nights free		✔	✔	✔
Elite rollover nights		✔	✔	✔
80% points earning bonus on stays			✔	✔
Space-available room upgrades			✔	✔
Daily food & beverage credit or Continental breakfast			✔	✔
Milestone bonuses			✔	✔
100% points earning bonus on stays				✔
Room upgrades				✔
Lounge access				✔
Diamond status extension				✔
Premium Wifi				✔
48-hour room guarantee				✔
Elite status gifting

Hilton Honors Blue Member Benefits

This is the base level of the program, where everyone starts when they sign up. With each dollar spent, including room charges, Hilton Honors Blue Members receive 10 base points. These basic members receive:

• Resort fees on reward stays
• Room choice
• Digital key and digital check-in/out
• Access to exclusive HH experiences
• Guaranteed HH discounts

Hilton Honors Silver Member Benefits

HH members who stay ten nights, have four stays, or earn 25,000 base points are eligible for the Silver status. Since it is a tiered program, you’ll still get all of the Blue level benefits, plus a few more. Silver members also receive 12 points for every dollar spent on their stay. As a Silver Hilton Honors member, you receive:

• 20 percent bonus on all points you earn
• 15 percent off at all-inclusive Hilton spas
• Every fifth night free for standard room reward stays of five nights or more
• Elite rollover nights
• Two complimentary bottles of water each trip

Hilton Honors Gold Member Benefits

Next, Gold Hilton Honors members receive 18 points per dollar spent on Hilton property stays. To reach the Gold status of Hilton Honors levels and benefits, you must stay 40 nights, have 20 stays, or have 75,000 base points. You can also achieve Gold member status by holding the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card or the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card. Once you’re a Gold member, your Blue and Silver benefits remain in addition to:

• 80 percent bonus on all points earned
• Daily food and beverage credit or continental breakfast
• Upgrades/preferred rooms (based on availability)
• Milestone bonuses (earn 10,000 bonus points every 10 nights after you’ve stayed 40 times in a year)

Hilton Honors Diamond Member Benefits

The highest level in the Hilton Honors program is Diamond. In order to reach Diamond status, you’ll need 60 nights, 30 stays, or 120,000 base points. Alternatively, holding the Hilton Honors Aspire Card also garners your Diamond elite status. Diamond Hilton Honors members can also receive 20 points per $1 spent on stays. All previous benefits accumulate. What’s more, if Diamond members don’t meet the requirements to requalify for the next year, they have the option to request their status remains anyway. Additionally, Diamond members get:

• 100 percent point bonuses
• 48-hour room guarantee for late bookings
• Access to executive floor lounges
• 24/7 access to member services
• Elite status gifting

How to Earn HH Points

Anyone can begin earning Hilton Honors points as soon as they sign up. You can earn points by staying at over 7,000 hotels/resorts worldwide. With a Hilton Honors membership, you can earn additional points on dining, Lyft rides, qualifying credit card spends, promotions, and other eligible purchases. What’s more, you can pool your points with up to eleven other members, so you and your loved ones can take even better vacations!

For Hilton Grand Vacations Club owners, you can even convert your HGV ClubPoints into Hilton Honors points. Instead of banking or borrowing points, some HGVC owners choose to convert their timeshare points into Hilton Honors points to redeem for free nights at qualifying hotels and other rewards. Moreover, you are always able to purchase points (up to 80,000 per year) online. This way, you can stop waiting to take that dream trip and get traveling!

Using Hilton Honors Points

There’s so many benefits to actively earning and spending HH points. In fact, the benefits of the different Hilton Honors membership levels include tons of rewards on travel, shopping, dining, and other exclusive experiences. For starters, you can use points for free nights without any blackout dates. Or if you’re looking for some excitement, spend points on VIP access to concerts or even sporting events. Not to mention, HH points come in handy when you’re traveling and need to book airline tickets or car rentals. This way, you save money on travel by traveling!

Do HH Points Ever Expire?

Unfortunately, Hilton Honors points do expire after twelve months of inactivity on your account. That means you have to actively be spending or redeeming points in order to keep the ones you’ve collected. So, be sure to stay up to date with Hilton, as all Elite levels are subject to change at its discretion.

Are Hilton Honors Points Refundable?

Depending on each individual hotel’s cancellation policy at booking, most Honors points can be refunded as long as you cancel 48 to 72 hours before arrival. But in certain cases, you may not be able to get your points back at all. So, be sure to read the cancellation policy before booking if you’re concerned you may not need your reservation.

Hilton Honors App and Credit Card

If you want even more convenience during your next vacation, take advantage of the Hilton Honors app. This app allows you to book your room whenever you want, wherever you want! You’ll also be able to manage your reservation and see which services are available at your hotel, as well as the best things to do in the area of your chosen destination. Plus, the app allows you to book exclusive offers, track your Honors points, and even access your Hilton Honors card. With everything the app offers, it’s safe to say that it’s worth downloading if you’re part of the program.

What’s more, Honors members may be interested in a Hilton Honors American Express card membership. Leisure travelers may enjoy the personal card, while members that travel mainly for business will prefer the business card. Upon card membership and a qualifying dollar amount of purchases, members can earn up to 175,000 bonus points! Additionally, using your card earns you points. Earn points for Hilton purchases, flights booked directly with airlines, restaurants, gas stations, and more. Moreover, when engaging in international travel, some cards options offer zero foreign transaction fees. However, higher card tiers do charge an annual fee for tier membership, so make sure to fully explore your options.

Hilton Grand Vacations ClubPoints vs. Hilton Honors Points

As a Hilton Grand Vacations Club owner, you automatically have Elite status in the Hilton Honors program. So, when you become an HGVC owner, it’s important you sign up for Hilton Honors, as well, to get the most value out of your vacation ownership. With all of the different ways you can earn points on vacation, you’ll be able to get amazing reward benefits for years to come.

With HGVC ClubPoints, having enough points to make it to your chosen resort is crucial. So, when planning out your vacations for the year, keep in mind when and where you are traveling, how long your stay will be, and if there are other trips you will want to take that year. Moreover, Hilton timeshare owners have the ability to bank and borrow points to maximize their vacation time. So, if this year you want to take one big vacation, you may need to borrow points from the following year and take shorter vacations that year instead.

This is also where converting your HGVC ClubPoints can come in handy. Some owners will decide to use their smaller allotment of ClubPoints by converting them to Hilton Honors points and using them at Hilton Honors hotels. Hotel room accommodations are normally smaller and don’t have all of the same amenities as an HGVC resort but can still be great for quick getaway vacations.

How to Become a Hilton Grand Vacations Club Member

When you combine Hilton Honors membership with Hilton Grand Vacations Club ownership, you unlock countless vacation possibilities and a wealth of savings. But how do you become an owner? Fortunately, the answer is simple! To become a Hilton Grand Vacations Club owner, you need to buy a timeshare at any HGVC resort. From there, you’ll be able to enjoy all the benefits of being an owner, as well as an Elite Hilton Honors member.

Plus, you’ll have access to a great network of resorts through Hilton Grand Vacations. Not to mention, you’ll also be able to trade in your Hilton Grand Vacation points for vacations at resorts around the world through RCI, a vacation exchange program HGVC is affiliated with. So, if you’re interested in ownership, check out our marketplace. We have listings for resorts from Hilton Grand Vacations, Westgate, and more. If you have any questions, call us at or email us at .

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