100% bonus when you buy Hilton HHonors points, and one great way to use them

Hilton HHonors is currently offering their biggest points sale of the year so far, with a 100% bonus on all points purchased till 3 June 2016. You can buy up to 80,000 points (plus a further 80,000 bonus points) at an effective price of US$5 per 1,000 points (or approx Rs 0.35 per point). And while I'd normally not consider buying hotel points or airline miles speculatively, recent discussions with friends who are Formula 1 racing aficionados have led me to looking at one spectacular use of the points you might purchase under this offer. Here's more...


Buying the points 

Firstly, let's look at buying the points. You can access this page, where you can select the number of points you want to purchase. You will need to be logged into your Hilton HHonors account.

Select the number of points you want to buy, and continue through the process to pay for your purchase.

In effect, you'll be buying these points (which normally cost $10 per 1000 points, or about Rs 0.70 per point), at half the price.

Bonus tip: If you use the Citibank Premier Miles credit card for this purchase, you will earn 4 Premier Miles per Rs 100 spent. Those in turn can be converted into Hilton HHonors points at the rate of 1 PM = 1.5 HHonors points. This marginally increases the number of HHonors points you can earn (or reduces the cost per point).

So here's what you'd earn in total.

Using the points

I value Hilton HHonors points at Rs 0.19 per point. However, that valuation is based on purely the perspective of redeeming points for award stays in India. Hotels overseas can cost much more, which increases the value of points you hold, when used towards award stays.

As I said before, I'd normally not consider buying hotel points or airline miles speculatively. However, the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix is scheduled for 16 to 18 September 2016. 

For stays at at Hilton in Singapore during this period, you'll end up paying shockingly high rates such as the ones below:


Under the 100% bonus points offer, you'll end up buying 30,000 Hilton HHonors points for $300, or Rs 21,000, and get 60,000 HHonors points (enough for one night at either the Conrad Singapore or Hilton Singapore). Assuming you'll prefer the Conrad Singapore over Hilton Singapore, that's a saving of about 54% after all foreign exchange conversions, when you consider the SGD900 per night rate (about Rs 45,000). Of course, this is assuming you want to stay at the Conrad Singapore!

Conclusion

Hilton HHonors allows up to 80,000 points to be purchased annually (excluding bonuses). While buying points/miles speculatively is not advisable, it could be a great way to stay cheaper than paying cash, if you have a specific (preferably expensive!) redemption option in mind - think high occupancy periods when cash prices skyrocket, such as local festivals, new year's eve, etc.

Also, you could use Hilton HHonors points more efficiently, by taking advantage of their 5th night free benefit, when you book an award stay of 5 (or multiples of 5) nights. That itself reduces the cost of an award night by 20%.

Readers: Will you be buying HHonors points in this 100% bonus offer? What redemption ideas do yo have in mind? Let us know in the comments below.

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