The Hilton hotel loyalty program gets a lot of grief due to the number of points required for some of their award night stays, but there are a lot of things to love about this program that keep it one of our favorites. The first is that accumulating Hilton points is extremely easy with their co-branded credit cards. You can earn multiple points per dollar with their bonus categories. You also earn a ton of Hilton points on paid stays with Hilton. Another thing to love about Hilton is the ease of earning their top elite status, which grants you some nice perks like free breakfast and room upgrades. So, let’s see how to search for and book an award stay with Hilton:
Searching For Award Space
First you must go to the Hilton website
Once you’re on the homepage, enter in your search criteria. Enter in your destination, the dates of your stay, then click “GO”
Your search results will then be displayed below. You will see the cash prices per night for the hotels available in your destination. To see what those properties will cost you in points, click on “Points” at the top right hand corner.
Here you will see the properties that have available award nights and their price in points.
Once you find a property that you like, click on “Book a Room”
One thing that I like about the Hilton website is that it will show you the cash price and the points price on the same page. This allows you to crunch the numbers to see if this meets your price per point value. If you wish to proceed with booking the room, click on “Select”
If you haven’t already signed in, you will be prompted to do so at this point. Enter in your login credentials, click the CAPTCHA box and click “Sign In”
At this point, you’ll verify your data to proceed with booking your award night. Click “Continue”
This next screen will show you your total price for your stay. Here you have the option to pay your entire stay with points, money or points and money.
By sliding the box in the “Points & Money” section below, you can adjust your payment however you’d like. Once you find the price point that you like, click “Update”
Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click “Book Reservation” to finalize
At this point, your booking is confirmed and you will receive email confirmations for your upcoming stay
Conclusion
The Hilton program is one that should not be overlooked. Do not let the award prices per night scare you away, as it is extremely easy to accumulate Hilton points. Getting elite status is easy just by holding certain credit cards. As you can see by this guide, searching and booking an award stay is quite easy.