Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used...
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With years of experience in corporate marketing and as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Keri is now Editor-in-Chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and r...
& Kellie Jez
Kellie’s professional experience has led her to a deep passion for compliance, data reporting, and process improvement. Kellie’s learned the ins and outs of the points and miles world and leads UP’s c...
29 comments
Stanley
February 20, 2018
Conrad Bora Bora Nui simply cannot use only 80000 points for a night. It shows 290,000 points per night on Oct 1 to Oct 5, 2018. Cash price is only $691 in advance purchase. This is absurd number of points.
Alex Miller
April 25, 2018
The number of points required varies based on the time of year that you’re looking to stay there.
DK
October 23, 2018
After redemption of room via points, will we still be entitled to complimentary room upgrades by virtue of membership status?
Stephen Au
October 24, 2018
Hey DK,
You are not entitled to any upgrades because it is subject to availability. You can request it, but nothing is guaranteed. Hope this helps!
Whyme
April 09, 2019
Can I redeem points to PayPal cash ??
Christine Krzyszton
April 09, 2019
Thanks for your question. Unfortunately, redeeming Hilton Honors points to PayPal cash is not an option.
Joe
July 21, 2019
Cheapest you can currently book Conrad Maldives is 89,000 points. Every instance where the author says ‘maximum’ they really mean minimum.
Stephen Au
July 22, 2019
Joe,
When do you see availability at the Conrad Maldives for 89,000 points?
Josh
March 25, 2020
Stephen – i have to agree with Joe’s comment. There are several instances in this article where the ‘maximum’ is the minimum. Otherwise, it’s a great article.
Sam
January 27, 2021
The maximum is for a standard room reward booking and not for any other type, so Stephen is correct. If you can find a standard room it should not be more than 89,000 points per night.
Stephen Au
January 27, 2021
Hi Sam,
Thanks for chipping in.
To be clear, the price you will see for the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is 95,000 points per night in a standard room. This includes both the Beach Villa and the Water Villa (YMMV with the Water Villa depending on dates). The cheapest standard room price you will see for the Conrad Bora Bora is 89,000 points per night in a standard room (Garden Villa). These are 2 totally different properties. Hopefully that helps!
Adel
May 21, 2020
Can I use my points at Hilton Hotel restaurants?
Jarrod West
May 22, 2020
Hi Adel,
Unfortunately, Hilton does not allow you to redeem your points at Hilton Hotel restaurants. However, the Hilton Honors program does offer experience packages where you can redeem your points for meals at world-class restaurants, concerts, sporting events, etc.
Dave B
June 23, 2020
Can you redeem points for a statement credit? If so, what would the 125,000 bonus miles get you for a credit?
Jarrod West
June 23, 2020
Hi Dave,
No, you are not able to redeem your Hilton points as a statement credit. You can redeem them for Amazon purchases, but you’ll only receive about 0.2 cents in value per point. We value Hilton points at 0.4 cents each, so we don’t recommend redeeming points for anything that will yield you less value than that.
Jennifer
July 20, 2020
I was trying to book a vacation at the Hilton Grand Wailea on Maui using my American Express Hilton Points. There are no rooms for 95,000 points. The rooms all cost over 300,000 points a night. I went from being able to book my entire vacation with reward points to only one room. This sudden hike in points required is making me think I need a different reward credit card. Can you suggest a similar card where we can stay in nice but less expensive hotels frequently and build up rewards for a luxury stay every few years? We like the Hilton Homewood suites and Hampton Inn- but are very discouraged with the extreme point hike for the hotel we were planning on staying at.
Stephen Au
July 21, 2020
Hi Jennifer!
Hilton doesn’t actually charge more points per night in the way you’re thinking. The 95,000 points per night price is for “standard” rooms, while the rooms you’re seeing for 300,000+ points per night are called “premium room rewards”. When this happens, it’s not that it’s more expensive — it’s actually that the standard rooms are simply unavailable. So the “next level” rooms are 300,000 points per night.
Sometimes, this is because people have already booked all the available standard rooms using points. In a given hotel, there are usually only around 1-5 rooms available using points.
If you’re interested in the nicest, least expensive, yet most luxurious properties, you should consider World of Hyatt, which is Hyatt’s loyalty program. You can easily earn points by transferring from Chase Ultimate Rewards or earning points directly from the Hyatt credit card.
Also, if you feel like you’d get value from a service that will optimize your award travel and offer ultra-personalized points wealth management, please feel free to contact me directly at stephen@upgradedpoints.com to inquire about a monthly subscription service.
S. Simons
September 30, 2020
When booking Marriott reward rooms, I know I don’t need to have all the points in my account. What is Hilton’s policy on this?
Jarrod West
September 30, 2020
Hi S.,
Hilton requires you to already have the necessary points in your account prior to booking.
Sam
January 27, 2021
What is the best way to ask for a room upgrade if I hold Hilton Honors Diamond Status?
Thank you.
Stephen Au
January 27, 2021
Hey Sam,
You can send the hotel reservations desk an email or give them a call asking to be prioritized for an upgrade. They’ll put a comment in your reservation, which might hold more weight on your check-in date. Sadly, this is not guaranteed because suite upgrades as a Diamond member are totally at the discretion of the individual property.
Joke De Frenne
February 04, 2021
Sam… Ok, I looked at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi and 800.000 points is the cheapest you can get, not the 95.000 points as mentioned in this article. Did I miss something? This articles was updated on Jan 5th of 2021, prices or number of points cannot have increased that much over the course of a couple weeks…
Stephen Au
February 05, 2021
Hi Joke,
The Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi costs 120,000 points for standard room rewards. The hotel limits the number of standard room rewards, so if you see a price like 800,000, it means that other people have already booked those rooms at the standard room reward price. Therefore, what you’re seeing is the premium room reward price.
I hope this helps!
Harper
March 31, 2021
I just looked through every single month for the next year and the cheapest room is 701,000 points per night – does this mean that the hotel has done away with standard room rewards?
Stephen Au
March 31, 2021
Hi Harper,
No, it doesn’t. It means that all the rooms at these rates and throughout the calendar have been booked! It can also mean that inventory is restricted — but almost all properties must allow standard room rewards.
Kevin
May 01, 2021
Hi!
The standard room at the Conrad Mangali is a Beach Villa, which houses 4 people. Would a single redemption for 95k points cover all 4 people? How would this work in regards to Breakfast, if all people have Hilton Diamond/Gold?
Stephen Au
May 02, 2021
Hi Kevin,
Technically, it’s possible to book 4 guests in a Beach Villa at the standard redemption level, but with 1 king bed and no 2 queen bed options, you’d need to use a rollaway bed. Additionally, the breakfast is complimentary for the Diamond/Gold member and 1 other guest, so it wouldn’t cover everyone.
Bob
August 26, 2021
I am currently looking at the Waldorf Astoria in the Maldives and the rates are at a ridiculous 1,000,000 per night. What happened there?
Jarrod West
August 27, 2021
Hi Bob,
It is probably the case that standard rooms are not available for the dates you are looking at, and Hilton is showing you the award rates for premium suites at the hotel. I would try switching your dates and booking as far out as possible as the award availability at that hotel can be hard to come by.
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