Hilton HHonors Resort Escapes promotion offers a free night certificate after five consecutive nights at a participating Hilton resort from December 1, 2011 through April 30, 2012. This is one of the best hotel loyalty program offers of the past year.

Hilton resort bookings must be made by January 31 for this promotion. Two free nights may be earned during the promotion period.

Promotion registration is required by Jan 31.

Hilton HHonors Resort Escapes Promotion

• Booking Period: by January 31, 2012
• Hotel Stay Period: December 1, 2011 – April 30, 2012
• HHonors members must complete a minimum stay of five (5) consecutive nights at participating hotel(s) to receive one (1) free night certificate.
• Limit two (2) free night certificates per HHonors member.
• Certificates may be earned by completing two (2) separate minimum five (5) night stays or one (1) minimum ten (10) night stay.
• Free night certificate will be delivered within 6 weeks of completion of stay.
• Free night certificate is valid at participating hotels in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio for six (6) months after the date of issuance, as noted on the certificate.

Hilton HHonors Resort Escapes Dec 1-April 30, 2012 free night promotion.

Loyalty Traveler analysis

Read More…

Hilton’s Any Weekend, Anywhere Sale offers discount rates for weekend stays from January 9-December 30, 2012 when booked by January 31. The discount varies from 20% to 33% on Best Available Rate depending on region and hotel brand. These rates require full prepayment and are nonrefundable, no changes, and no cancellation, so buyer beware.

Must book at least 7 days in advance.

Weekends are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Some hotels may include other days of the week. Thursday arrivals require a two night stay for this offer.

Earn 1,000 Bonus Points with two-night or longer stays as an added incentive.

Europe, Middle East and Africa

• 33% discount on BAR or Bed and Breakfast rate at all brands, except
• Hampton Inn offer is 20% on BAR.

Asia-Pacific

• 25% discount on Best Available Rate, except
• Malaysia and Thailand = 33% on BAR.

North and South America

• 25% discount on BAR for Hilton, DoubleTree, Conrad and Waldorf-Astoria.
• 20% discount on BAR for Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton, Home2 Suites, Homewood Suites, Hilton Grand Vacations.

Hilton Facebook promotion special for up to 10,000 bonus points:

** Earn 2,500 bonus points per booking made between Tuesday, January 17 12:00pm (noon) Eastern Time Zone through Wednesday January 18, 11:59am ET for the Hilton Any Weekend, Anywhere Sale. This bonus may be earned four times, up to 10,000 bonus points with four bookings. The 2,500 bonus points Facebook offer is valid for one night stays.

How do I claim my 2,500 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points?

After you have booked your Any Weekend, Anywhere Sale stay, you will need to re-visit the 24-Hour Bonus Event tab on the Hilton HHonors Facebook page during the Bonus Event period (12:00pm ET on January 17, 2012 to 11:59am ET on January 18, 2012) and enter in your confirmation number and your Hilton HHonors number in order to claim the 2,500 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points. The Hilton HHonors Bonus Points will be posted in your Hilton HHonors account 4 to 6 weeks after your stay has been completed.

Bottom Line: While I typically suggest avoiding prepaid, nonrefundable room rates, the multiple promotion offers combined with the 2012 Q-1 More Points promotion make this one sale worth considering.

Four $100 one-night stays can potentially earn 10,000 bonus points through the Facebook offer and 4,000 bonus points from the 2012 Q-1 More Points promotion if these one-night stays are completed by March 31. Four nights can earn 14,000 bonus points in addition to the regular points for hotel spend.

One two-night stay booked January 17-18 during 24-hour Facebook special can potentially earn:

• 2,500 bonus points Facebook (1 stay)
• 1,000 bonus points Any Weekend, Anywhere Sale for two night weekend stay.
• 7,000 bonus points 2012 Q-1 More Points promotion for two-night weekend stay January 1-March 31, 2012.
• Total promotion bonus = 10,500 bonus points per two-night stay.
• Up to 42,000 bonus points after four two-night stays by March 31.
• It remains to be seen whether all these promotion bonuses will combine. These offers look to me like they will combine.
• Check 2012 Q-1 More Points excluded hotels list to see if hotel is eligible.

Related Posts:

Hilton HHonors More Points 2012 Q-1 Promotion (Dec 28, 2011)

Hilton Resort Escapes Free Night Offer – book 5-night stay by January 31 and stay by April 30, 2012 to earn one free resort night. maximum two free nights may be earned with this offer.

HHonors 30% rebate on Points & Money or Premium Room Rewards booked by January 31 for stays completed by June 30, 2012. Loyalty Traveler post December 8.

Hilton HHonors new promotion offers 1,000 bonus points per night plus 5,000 bonus points for two night weekend stays from January 1, 2012 through March 31, 2012. There is no earning limit for bonus points. Stays with check-in prior to January 1 or checkout after March 31, 2012 will count for this promotion for nights stayed within the promotion period.

Hilton HHonors More Points promotion registration is required before hotel checkout to be eligible for this bonus points offer.

Weekend Stay 5,000 bonus points is Good Value  

Weekend nights include the four nights from Thursday through Sunday, but only one 5,000 point bonus may be earned per weekend. These are combinable bonuses of per night and weekend bonus, so two nights as Thursday-Friday, Friday-Saturday, or Saturday-Sunday stay earns 7,000 bonus points for the two nights and 1,000 bonus points for any additional nights of an extended stay.

Read More…

Book a Points & Money or a Premium Room Reward by January 31, 2012 for a stay by June 30, 2012 and receive a rebate of 30% points. This offer gives members the opportunity for a lower cost hotel stay buying HHonors points and redeeming points for a reward stay rather than pay the published hotel rate.

HHonors new rewards 30% Rebate Promotion offer requires HHonors member registration.

Points & Money Rewards are one of the new reward options Hilton HHonors launched in Q1-2011. The cost of a hotel reward is a fixed cash price and 50% points per night. HHonors category-7 hotels with a standard reward rate of 50,000 points per night are 25,000 points + $85 per night when Points & Money rewards are available. These are capacity controlled rewards and many hotels I checked for places like New York and Paris did not appear to offer any Points & Money rewards during this promotion period through June 30, 2012.

Premium Room Rewards are a great concept for the option to buy any hotel room for HHonors points regardless of the rate. The main disadvantage of this reward is the relatively low value rate of exchange for HHonors points-to-dollars for these rewards. My analysis of dozens of hotels shows a rate around $3 to $6 per 1,000 points is the typical redemption value. This means you will pay 100,000 HHonors points for a room with a published Hilton rate (BAR-Best Available Rate) of $300 to $600. You will typically pay 10,000 points for every $30 in room rate at many hotels using a Premium Room Reward. A good value Premium Room Reward may offer $60 value on every 10,000 points.

Premium Room Rewards do have some good value opportunities at the regular price point. This six month offer for a 30% rebate makes even more Premium Room Reward opportunities – even if you do not have any HHonors points at the moment.

Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort by Hilton, Santa Barbara, California

This is a hotel that caught my eye a decade ago, yet I have not stayed overnight here. Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort is a beachfront resort in Santa Barbara is Hilton HHonors category 7 at 50,000 points per standard reward night.

Santa Barbara is as far south as I care to drive along the California coast from Monterey. Highway Hell of southern California starts about 25 miles south of Santa Barbara with too many cars and that’s a stress I can go without when wanting to enjoy the beach.

Hilton HHonors Points & Money Reward Availability Feb 2012 - DoubleTree Resort, Santa Barbara

A two night stay February 10-12, 2012, the weekend before Valentine’s Day is 25,000 points + $85 per night. The two night rate after tax is $194.57 + 50,000 points for the HHonors Points & Money reward.

AAA rate = $319 + tax or 25,000 points + $85 for Feb 10-12, 2012.

Doubletree Fess Parker Ranch Resort AAA published rate for these two nights after tax = $719.20.

Points & Money Reward rate for this stay after the 30% rebate is 35,000 points + $195.

HHonors Points & Money redemption value:

$719 published room rate – $195 Points & Money cash

= $524 cash saved for 35,000 points.

This reward stay achieves $15 per 1,000 points in redemption value. That is a really high redemption value for HHonors points which typically fall in the range of $4 to $8 per 1,000 points.

Buy Points at $10 per 1,000 points if you need them for a high value reward stay

Hilton allows a member to buy 40,000 points in a calendar year. This means you can buy 40,000 points in December 2011 if you have not made purchases this year and you can buy another 40,000 points in January 2012.

You pay $400 for 40,000 points.

The DoubleTree Resort Points & Money reward example shows a redemption value of $15 per 1,000 points. You can buy points for $10 per 1,000 points from HHonors.

Another rule of Hilton HHonors is a member can buy the points needed for a reward at the time of booking the reward with no limit. Two nights at Santa Barbara DoubleTree Resort takes $195 and 50,000 points using a Points & Money Reward. You can book this entire stay for $695 buying 50,000 points and the rate is still $24 less than paying the AAA rate for the same room.

And you will get back 15,000 points with the 30% Points & Money Reward rebate in 4 to 6 weeks after the reward stay.

HHonors Premium Room Reward 30% Rebate Analysis

The same DoubleTree Resort Santa Barbara shows the value of a Premium Room reward with the 30% rebate offer.

Premium Room Reward is 63,000 for $360 BAR ocean view room category.

Room rate for a flexible cancellation rate is $406 after tax.

The redemption value for this hotel night is $6.44 per 1,000 points before the 30% rebate. The rebate of 18,900 points makes the net redemption value 44,100 points to save $406.    [update Dec 8 10:05am: the original post incorrectly stated rebate of 13,900 points and $8.27 rebate value.]

HHonors points final redemption value = $9.21 per 1,000 points which is a decent deal for Hilton HHonors points on this Premium Room Reward for the DoubleTree Santa Barbara.

This is a good value for your HHonors points if you already have them, but this redemption rules out the use of buying points at $10 per 1,000 points to redeem for $9.21 value. You might as well pay the published room rate.

There are certainly many hotels with good value redemption opportunities with this HHonors Points & Money and Premium Room Rewards rebate offer. You need to search for them though.

Related posts: Do HHonors Premium Room Rewards Prevent AXON/GLON Rewards at some Hilton Resorts? (Oct 13, 2011)

HHonors Premium Room Reward Analysis and Flexible Dates Search Tool (Oct 10, 2011) – this post shows how to search flexible dates for reward cost and availability.

HHonors Points & Money Rewards Analysis (Oct 3, 2011)

Hilton HHonors Resort Escapes promotion offers a free night certificate after five consecutive nights at a participating Hilton resort from December 1, 2011 through April 30, 2012. Promotion registration is required. Hilton resort bookings must be made by January 31 for this promotion. Two free nights may be earned during the promotion period.

Hilton HHonors Resort Escapes Promotion

• Registration Period: December 1, 2011 – January 31, 2012
• Hotel Stay Period: December 1, 2011 – April 30, 2012
• HHonors members must complete a minimum stay of five (5) consecutive nights at participating hotel(s) to receive one (1) free night certificate.
• Limit two (2) free night certificates per HHonors member.
• Certificates may be earned by completing two (2) separate minimum five (5) night stays or one (1) minimum ten (10) night stay.
• Free night certificate will be delivered within 6 weeks of completion of stay.
• Free night certificate is valid at participating hotels in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio for six (6) months after the date of issuance, as noted on the certificate.

Hilton HHonors Resort Escapes Dec 1-April 30, 2012 free night promotion.

Loyalty Traveler analysis

Five consecutive nights at a participating resort can be an expensive stay.. or not so expensive when the value of a free Hilton Hotel night is calculated into the resort stay cost.

This is a good value opportunity that bears keeping Hilton in mind when you are planning a vacation getaway to one of the locations where about 100 Hilton properties worldwide participate for this Resort Escapes offer.

Participating Hilton Resorts for Resort Escapes Promotion

In my quest for a low priced Hilton Resort I found that I don’t need to travel to Egypt for a low 5-night rate.

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Spa Napa Valley – American Canyon is about a two hour drive from my home and the winter months are off-season for this location.

The current Hilton December Sale offers low rates for a five night stay at DoubleTree Napa Valley.

Strategy: My wife and I can both earn two free nights for under $1,600. That is four free nights for a location like Maldives, Bora Bora, Paris…

Hilton HHonors has a social treasure hunt happening in Washington D.C. today. You need to be in D.C., take a photo of yourself by a monument, tweet the photo and go to the Hilton Garden Inn in D.C.

Use Twitter hashtags #HHfreenight and #WashingtonDC to follow the action today.

TO ENTER: The Promotion begins 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) on October 17, 2011 and ends 6:30 p.m. or when all 100 Free night stay certificates have been given away (“Promotion Period”). On or about October 17, 2011, Sponsor will post a tweet to @HiltonHHonors that announces this Promotion and the opportunity to obtain one free night stay certificate.  To be eligible you must, during the Promotion Period: (1) take a photo of yourself outside any Washington D.C. monument where the monument is clearly visible (2) Tweet the photo mentioning @HiltonHHonors and using the hashtag #HHfreenight (3) arrive at the Hilton Garden Inn at 815 14th Street Northwest Washington, DC, USA 20005 (4) check-in with a HHonors staff member and show proof of a qualifying photo tweeted (either hard copy or on mobile phone) (“Entry” or “Entries”). The first 100 contestants to complete all of these steps will win a Free night stay certificate.

Here is a link to the complete Rules Page on Facebook.

Apparently this is Day One of a five day contest in five different cities giving away 100 free night certificates in each city.

Hat tip: The Points Guy

#HHfreenight Treasure Hunt on Twitter

Hilton Worldwide has a three day sale for 50,000 rooms beginning today for select hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa for weekend stays from October 14 to December 16, 2011. These rates qualify for Hilton’s Q4 promotion of a free night after four stays. Bookings must be made by Wednesday October 12.

Both room only rates and Bed & Breakfast discount rates are offered. FlyerTalk members report finding some good rate discounts with these prepaid, nonrefundable rates.

• Weekend = Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Europe.
• Weekend = Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Middle East and Africa as defined by local law.
• Rates are prepaid and nonrefundable. No changes allowed.
• Book by October 12 (UK time?)
• Terms & Conditions link.

5,000 HHonors bonus points new member enrollment bonus for two night stay by Dec 31, 2011.

• New HHonors members who enroll with this link and complete a two night stay by December 31, 2011 will receive 5,000 bonus HHonors points.

Non-participating hotels

• Hilton Frankfurt Airport,
• Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport,
• Hilton Garden Inn Perm,
• Doubletree by Hilton Milton Keynes,
• Hilton Doha,
• Hilton Garden Inn Lecce,
• Hilton Bursa,
• Hilton Glasgow Grosvenor,
• Hilton Garden Inn Mardin,
• Hilton Dalaman Resort & Spa,
• Hilton Bodrum Turkbuku Resort & Spa,
• Hilton Coylumbridge, Aviemore,
• Hilton Brighton Metropole,
• Doubletree by Hilton Cambridge,
• Hilton London Kensington,
• Hilton London Olympia,
• Hilton Blackpool,
• Hilton York.

Hilton HHonors has a promotion for Delta SkyMiles offering double miles and 250 Medallion elite status qualifying miles (MQM) for every stay of two nights or longer from October 1 to December 11, 2011. There is no list of nonparticipating hotels so this appears to be a worldwide offer across the Hilton Worldwide chain.

HHonors-Delta Skymiles Registration is required here.

The best part is this offer may be combined with probably the most lucrative hotel loyalty promotion for this quarter with a free night at any Hilton Worldwide hotel after four stays or ten nights at any participating Hilton Worldwide hotel brand. There are over 200 hotels in the U.S. not participating so be sure to check the non-participating hotels list for the free night offer.

Hilton also has a promotion with United Mileage Plus for 1,000 bonus miles for two-night stays in same period (UA promo is redeemable miles only and not elite qualifying miles) that I posted yesterday. And this offer is combinable with HHonors Free Nights offer. You can only earn frequent flyer miles with one airline per hotel stay, so no UA bonus and DL bonus for same hotel stays.

Please leave a comment on this post if you see other Hilton HHonors airline partners offering a bonus during this same promotion period and I will share the information in a blog post.

HHonors Delta SkyMiles 250 MQM and Double miles Oct 1-Dec 11, 2011

What does Double SkyMiles mean with Hilton HHonors?

Hilton HHonors has a complicated system for miles earning that factors in hotel brand and HHonors member earning preference of Fixed Miles or Variable Miles.

Fixed Miles Earning (Regular earning rate = 500 miles per stay; double Skymiles = 1,000 miles per stay)

• Hilton
• DoubleTree
• Hilton Garden Inn
• Hilton Grand Vacations
• Embassy Suites
• Conrad
• Waldorf Astoria Collection

Fixed Miles Earning (Regular earning rate = 250 miles per stay; double Skymiles = 500 miles per stay)

• Hampton Inn
• Homewood Suites
• Note: Home2 Suites only allows HHonors Points & Variable Miles earning.

Variable Miles Earning (1 mile per U.S. Dollar; Double Skymiles = 2 miles per dollar.)

• All Hilton Worldwide brands earn 1 mile per U.S. Dollar.
• Home2 Suites  has 100 miles per stay maximum limit; double Skymiles = 200 miles max.

Double SkyMiles MQM

• a two-night or longer stay at any Hilton brand from October 1 and December 11, 2011 after promotion registration earns 250 Medallion Qualifying Miles.

Bonus Skymiles and Medallion Qualifying Miles will be added after the end of the promotion. I assume these MQM will post and apply to 2011 MQM total for 2012 Medallion qualification.

Hilton’s Come Dream with Us Sweepstakes gives U.S. HHonors members the chance to win a four night stay at the Waldorf Hilton London, airfare and two tickets to select sporting events at the London 2012 Olympics August 4-8, 2012. First prizes are tickets, airfare and hotel for the Olympic U.S. trials for swimming in Omaha Nebraska (June 29-July 1, 2012) or gymnastics in San Jose, California (June 29-July 2, 2012).

One sweepstakes entry is free for HHonors members who register using links provided at end of post. Hotel stays in Hilton brands from July 25 through October 31, 2011 provides one additional entry for each hotel night.

You can also send in postcards for additional entries. Maximum 90 entries per HHonors member for sweepstakes regardless of entry method.

Hilton gives the ARV of Grand Prize as $74,000. Those Olympics tickets must be some astronomical rate and the hotel room value is obviously assessed at rack rate. Good news is prize also covers up to $20,000 in income tax charges for the prizewinner.

Hilton Olympics Sweepstakes Homepage

Hilton Olympics Sweepstakes Entry Page

Hilton Olympics Sweepstakes Prizes

Hilton Olympics Sweepstakes Rules

Hilton HHonors 'Come Dream With Us' London 2012 Olympics Sweepstakes

40 Embassy Suites hotels have a gas card offer for summer travel. Gas card value ranges from $10 per night to $50 per stay.

The only reason I am writing about this offer is due to an email I received from a PR person representing Embassy Suites after my post on Four Points, Aloft, Element offering a $40 gas card for a two night stay. She provided a list of 40 participating Embassy Suites hotels offering the gas card promotion; approximately 20% of the chain.

After an hour analyzing this offer at numerous hotels, I have to say that this is basically a 1-key offer. Most hotels will charge a higher rate over Best Available. Most hotels I checked required a higher rate that completely negates the value of the gas card.

Why pay $25 more per night for a $25 gas card? After hotel taxes, the higher rate ends up being more than the value of the gas card for most hotels I checked.

Value-added package rates are hotel rates I find most annoying. Generally the value-added component for meals, spa credit, or a tour offer is negated by the higher rate code. Aside from extended parking rates, I rarely find a good value offer with value-added packages, unless you were already planning to have a spa treatment or golf or dine during your hotel stay.

I read a Cornell Hospitality Research report a couple of years ago that encouraged hotel revenue managers to create bundled packages as a method for getting higher rates out of travelers who would be unlikely to compare the cost of the package components.

The Embassy Suites gas card seems to be one of these offers designed to steer guests into paying a higher room rate.

There are some hotels where this gas card rate might work out to be a $5 to $10 gas card value per hotel night. But my general advice is not to waste too much time on this offer.

I did.

Loyalty Traveler 1-key offer.

Arizona 

• Phoenix-Scottsdale, AZ: $50 Gas Gift Card per stay (applies even if stay is just one night) 
• Tucson-Paloma, AZ: $50 Gas Gift Card for two-night stay for any weekend
• Phoenix North, AZ: $25 Gas Gift Card per night
• Flagstaff, AZ: $20 Gas Gift Card per night 

California

• Walnut Creek, CA : $20 Gas Gift Card per night
• Temecula, CA: $15 Gas Gift Card per two-night stay
• Lompoc, CA: $10 Gas Gift Card per night (Limit, up to three nights)
• San Luis Obispo, CA: $10 Gas Gift Card per night (Limit, up to three nights)

 SoCal Cluster (18 hotels): $10 Gas Gift Card per night (Limit, up to three nights)

• Embassy Suites Valencia
• Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Hotel & Resort
• Embassy Suites Los Angeles – Glendale
• Embassy Suites Los Angeles Airport/North
• Embassy Suites Arcadia – Pasadena
• Embassy Suites Los Angeles – Downey
• Embassy Suites Anaheim – South
• Embassy Suites Anaheim – North
• Embassy Suites Irvine – Orange County Airport
• Embassy Suites Santa Ana – Orange County Airport
• Embassy Suites Brea – North
• Embassy Suites Palm Desert
• Embassy Suites La Quinta Hotel & Spa
• Embassy Suites Temecula
• Embassy Suites San Diego – La Jolla
• Embassy Suites San Diego Bay – Downtown
• Embassy Suites LAX South
• Embassy Suites Ontario Airport

Colorado 

• Denver International Airport, CO: $15 per night (Limit, up to three nights)
• Denver Tech Center, CO: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay

Georgia 

• Alpharetta, GA: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay 

Massachusetts 

• Boston Logan Airport, MA: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay 

Nevada 

• Las Vegas Convention Center, NV: $25 Gas Gift Card per night
• Las Vegas, NV: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay 

North Carolina

• Charlotte: $25 Gas Gift Card per night (max: 2)  

Ohio 

• Cleveland Rockside, OH: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay
• Columbus Dublin, OH: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay 

Texas

• Dallas Park Central, TX: $50 Gas Gift Card per two-night stay
• Dallas Galleria, TX: $20 Gas Gift Card per night
• Houston – Energy Corridor, TX: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay
• San Antonio Downtown Riverwalk, TX: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay 

Washington 

• Seattle – Bellevue, WA: $25 Gas Gift Card per night 
• Seattle-North Lynnwood, WA: $20 Gas Gift Card per night

Embassy Suites $10 Gas Card Rate at Valencia is $62.45 more than AAA

Hilton HHonors Q3 promotion offers double points or double miles for hotel stays from July 1 to September 30, 2011. There are about 250 hotels excluded for this promotion, with almost all the non-participating hotels located in the USA, so check the participating hotels link carefully.

• Register for “Double Your HHonors” promotion before your first stay.
• Choose earning preference of Points & Points to earn Double Points. Only 10 base points per $1 count for double points. Elite bonuses are not doubled.
• Choose either Points & Fixed Miles or Points & Variable Miles to earn Double Miles.
• Reservations may be booked before promotion registration.
• Promotion registration during an eligible stay will make the entire stay eligible for double points/miles if registered before checkout and entire stay is within promotion dates.
• Offer applies for up to two rooms per stay.
• Reward stays are only eligible for Double Points for incidental spend, except at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites. No double miles will be earned on reward stays.

Hilton HHonors Double Points or Double Miles Promotion July 1-Sep 30, 2011.

Earning with Hilton HHonors

HHonors Points & Points

Usually I favor HHonors Points & Points where a general non-elite HHonors member will earn 25 points per $1 with this double points promotion and a Diamond elite member can earn 30 points/$1.

Reward stays are eligible for double points on incidental spend which might be a consideration for choosing Double Points this summer if you are planning a high spend reward stay.

• Double Points = 25 points/$1 at most hotels (10 base points + 10 double points + 5 Points & Points preference).
• $200 hotel stay = 5,000 HHonors points.

HHonors Points & Miles

Points & Miles is a good value offer that may exceed the value of collecting only HHonors points if stays put you close to a frequent flyer award ticket or upgrade.

Double Miles with Points & Fixed Miles spending $200 at a Hilton Garden Inn and earning American Airlines:

• Points & Double Miles = 10 base points/$1 + 1,000 miles (double fixed miles).
• $200 hotel stay = 2,000 HHonors points + 1,000 AAdvantage miles.

Double Miles with Points & Variable Miles spending $200 at Hampton Inn and earning United Mileage Plus miles:

• Points & Double Miles = 10 base points/$1 + 400 miles (double variable miles = 2 miles/$1).
• $200 hotel stay = 2,000 HHonors points + 400 United Mileage Plus miles.

HHonors offers a comparatively low exchange rate for HHonors points-to-miles transfers compared with other hotel loyalty programs at 10,000 points = 1,000 miles for most airlines or 10,000 points = 1,500 miles for American and a select few airline partners.

1,000 miles is generally a $15 to $20 rebate value on a frequent flyer award ticket. 10,000 points will generally have more value when used for hotel stays.

Fixed or Variable Miles?

Choosing Points & Fixed Miles is generally the best option for low spend stays.

7 of the 10 Hilton hotel brands earn 500 miles per stay with most airline partners. Double miles are 1,000 frequent flyer miles per stay. Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites offer only 20% miles with most airline partners.

Points & Variable Miles earns more miles when spending more than $500 during a single hotel stay or more than $100 at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites where most airlines limit fixed earn miles to 100 miles per stay.

Highest HHonors Earning Airline Partners

The most favorable airlines for Points & Fixed Miles when staying at a Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites are bmi, FinnAir, Olympic and Southwest where there is no reduction in earning for these hotel brands.

Virgin Atlantic = 1,000 miles per stay is normal earn rate with 2,000 miles per stay for double fixed miles for all brands except Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites.

British Midland International (bmi) = 1,000 miles per night (up to 3 nights) at any brand, except Home2 Suites is 1,000 miles per stay. Double miles mean 2,000 miles per night or up to 6,000 miles per 3-night stay at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites when earning bmi miles.

FinnAir = 500 points per night regularly (up to 5 nights) at any brand, except Home2Suites earns 500 points per stay. Double miles mean 1000 points per night, up to 5,000 points per stay at all brands except Home2 Suites.

Southwest Airlines is one of the best airlines for HHonors miles earning since Rapid Rewards points are earned at the same rate regardless of Hilton hotel brand, except for Home2 Suites stays are not eligible for Rapid Rewards points. It is hard to be a Hilton HHonors frequent guest and avoid Hampton Inn. Either HHonors points or Southwest Rapid Rewards points are good earner options for Hampton Inn stays for the person who prefers to collect airline miles since 100 miles per stay (200 miles during double miles) for Points & Fixed Miles earners is a low value rebate when collecting miles in another program.

Loyalty Traveler Note: It is disappointing to see Hilton HHonors launch its new 10^th hotel brand Home2 Suites in 2011 with diminished Hilton HHonors benefits for the HHonors member.

Changing Your HHonors Earning Preference:

You can change your preferred HHonors airline partner for earning airline miles between HHonors hotel stays to maximize the best airline earning option for each hotel stay.

The FAQ state you can’t register for both double miles and double points.

The option you choose during promotion registration is set for the duration of this promotion, so choosing miles mean all your hotel stays will be for double miles and you will not be able to earn double points, even if your earning preference is changed to points over the summer.

Personally I advise going for the high value free night offers this summer from Starwood Preferred Guest (to July 31: 3 stays = 1 resort night), Marriott Rewards (to August 31: 2 stays = 1 free night) and Best Western Rewards (to Aug 14: 3 stays = 1 free night) for the best value hotel stay rebates. This is a decent offer from Hilton HHonors, but there are better promotions available.