Start here: Hilton Honors — join, earn, use points and status

Step 1: What Hilton Honors is and who it suits

You will learn: what Hilton Honors membership is, who may enrol, and which travellers the rules describe.

Hilton Honors membership and benefits are offered at the sole discretion of Hilton Honors, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hilton Domestic Operating Company Inc. [1]. Membership entitles Members to earn Hilton Honors Points, which can be redeemed for Rewards under the programme terms [1]. Only individuals of majority age in their country, territory or state of residence may enrol and become Members; corporations, associations or groups are not permitted to enrol [1]. Membership is void where prohibited by law in the country of the Member's or applicant's domicile [1].

Hilton Honors may add, modify, delete or otherwise change rules, procedures, conditions, benefits or Rewards with or without notice, including changes that affect the value of Points or Rewards already accumulated [1]. The programme has no predetermined termination date and may be terminated at any time; after termination is announced, Members have 12 months to accumulate Points and redeem a Reward [1]. The terms describe a Member as an individual accepted by Hilton Honors, and to earn Points or Elite Tier Status credit the Member must be the registered, paying and staying guest at a Participating Hotel [1]. This course is for individual travellers who can meet that condition and want Points and Elite Tier Status credit [1].

Go deeper: Hilton Honors hotel brands, Hilton Honors vs Marriott Bonvoy, and Start here: hotel points.

Step 2: How to join

You will learn: who can apply, the one-account rule, how contact details work, and how to claim credit from just before enrolment.

Only individuals of majority age in their country, territory or state of residence may enrol, and they become Members once accepted by Hilton Honors [1]. A Member must not maintain membership in or earn Points on multiple accounts; duplicate accounts may be cancelled or merged into a single account with one number, one Elite Tier Status and one Points balance [1]. Members must keep contact information accurate and up to date and notify Hilton Honors of any changes [1].

New Members can receive credit for a Stay that occurred within 30 days before enrolment, and a missing-credit request must be received within six months of the activity with a legible copy of the hotel folio [1]. Monthly programme activity statements are available by email, or account information can be accessed online at the Hilton Honors account page [1].

Go deeper: Using your hotel member number on OTA bookings.

Step 3: How earning works

You will learn: which stays earn Points, the Base Points rates, what Eligible Spend includes, and how missing credit works.

Hilton Honors Points can be earned for Stays only at Participating Hotels, and to earn Points or Elite Tier Status credit a Member must be the registered, paying and staying guest [1]. At most brands Members earn 10 Base Points per U.S. dollar on Eligible Spend; at Homewood Suites by Hilton®, Home2 Suites by Hilton®, Spark by Hilton™, Tru by Hilton™, Apartment Collection by Hilton™ and YOTEL they earn five Base Points per U.S. dollar [1]. At LivSmart Studios by Hilton™ Members earn three Base Points per U.S. dollar on Eligible Spend plus 3,000 Bonus Points for every 10 nights completed within the same Stay, and at Home2 Suites by Hilton® hotels in China they earn 10 Base Points per U.S. dollar [1]. At YOTEL, Base Points are earned on room rate only, not on other non-room-rate Eligible Spend [1].

Eligible Spend means room rate, eligible food and beverage, telephone, laundry, pay-per-view movies, entertainment and recreational facilities, and other incidental charges charged to the Member's room during a qualifying Stay, while taxes are excluded [1]. A Member may earn Base Points for up to four rooms per Stay on one folio, but only one room counts for Stay and night credit toward Elite Tier Status [1]. No Points, Eligible Spend, Stay or night credit is awarded for no-show situations, or on ineligible Stays such as wholesale or tour operator packages, contracted crew rates, travel agency discount rates, third-party website bookings and opaque channel bookings where the brand may or may not be known at purchase [1]. For Stays outside the U.S., Eligible Spend and Base Points are based on local currency converted to U.S. dollars weekly at a published rate [1]. Group master-billing arrangements where multiple rooms are billed to a company or common address are not eligible [1]. Points are considered earned only when the Stay is completed, fully paid and added to the Member's account, and a missing-credit request must be received within six months with a legible folio; keep the documents until the Points appear [1].

Go deeper: Hilton Honors hotel brands, Buying Hilton Honors points, and Using your hotel member number on OTA bookings.

Step 4: How to use points

You will learn: how to qualify for a Reward, how to request it, what happens after issuance, and how Points Pooling and transfers work.

To redeem a Reward, a Member must have sufficient Hilton Honors Points in their account, except that at redemption a Member may purchase Hilton Honors Bonus Points to reach the required level, up to 160,000 Points per calendar year [1]. Pricing of Reward nights may change based on factors such as the hotel, daily demand and current room rate, and prices may change in real time [1]. Rewards must be requested online, by Hilton global phone numbers or through the Hilton Honors App, and telephone requests require account verification [1]. The corresponding Points are deducted automatically when the Member completes the redemption transaction [1]. Reward stays may be issued to the requesting Member or to another Hilton Honors Member as directed by the Member, after which the Reward is non-transferable and may be used only by the named individual [1]. Rewards may not be sold, auctioned, bartered, brokered, purchased or otherwise transferred without express written consent, and cannot be redeemed for cash [1]. Rewards are normally valid for one year from issuance, though Hilton Honors may offer shorter periods [1]. On an all-Points Reward stay at a hotel with resort fees, the Member does not pay resort fees, but tax liability and incidental charges are the Member's responsibility [1].

Points are subject to forfeiture if the Member has no eligible activity in any 24 consecutive months; qualifying activity includes a Stay at a Participating Hotel, earning Points through Hilton or a third-party source including a Hilton co-branded credit card, purchasing Points, or donating Points through the Hilton Honors Giving Back Program [1]. Forfeited Points cannot be retrieved, but Rewards redeemed before forfeiture remain valid [1]. Members can combine Points through Points Pooling or a 1-to-1 transfer in increments of 1,000 Points and up to 500,000 Points [1]. Each Member may send no more than 500,000 Points and receive 2,000,000 Points via pooling or transfers combined per calendar year, and may make six transfers and six pooling transactions per calendar year [1]. A new Member can pool, transfer or receive Points 30 days after enrolment with account activity, or after 90 days regardless of activity [1].

Go deeper: Booking Hilton Honors awards, Hilton Honors points and money, Hilton Honors points pooling, and Hilton Honors airline transfer partners.

Step 5: How status works

You will learn: how Elite Tier Status is measured, the thresholds, and how Milestone Bonuses work.

Members qualify for Elite Tier Status based on Stays, nights or Eligible Spend in any calendar year, must re-qualify each calendar year, and Hilton Honors Points earned do not count toward qualification [1]. Once achieved, status is kept for the remainder of the calendar year in which it was earned and the subsequent calendar year [1]. Silver Elite Tier Status requires 4 Stays, 10 nights or $2,500 U.S. dollars in Eligible Spend; Gold requires 15 Stays, 25 nights or $6,000; Diamond requires 25 Stays, 50 nights or $11,500 [1]. Diamond Reserve requires 40 Stays and $18,000 in Eligible Spend, or 80 nights and $18,000 in Eligible Spend, in a calendar year [1].

Reward Stays count toward overall Stays and nights for Elite Tier Status qualification and milestone bonuses [1]. Milestone Bonuses are 10,000 Bonus Points at 40 eligible nights and 10,000 for every 10 additional eligible nights up to 180 nights in a calendar year; Members also earn an additional 30,000 at 60 nights, and at 120 nights may choose a Confirmable Upgrade Reward or 30,000 Bonus Points [1]. For Elite Tier Status, a Member receives Stay and night credit for one room only [1].

Go deeper: Hilton Honors status, Hilton Honors milestone bonuses, Hilton Honors Lifetime Diamond status, and the status progress tracker.

Step 6: Your first concrete action

You will learn: the account and stay checks to complete before your next Hilton stay.

1. Enrol only if you are an individual of majority age, then maintain one account, with the single Hilton Honors account number and accurate contact details [1].
2. For your next stay, be the registered, paying and staying guest, and avoid booking types the terms list as ineligible, including third-party website bookings and opaque channel bookings, if you want Points [1].
3. If a Stay occurred within 30 days before enrolment, or a recent Stay is missing, submit a request within six months of the activity with a legible copy of the hotel folio, and keep the documents until the Points appear [1].
4. Check account information online at the Hilton Honors account page, confirm that there is eligible activity within every 24 consecutive months, and keep contact details up to date [1].
5. Before pooling or transferring Points, note that a new Member can pool, transfer or receive Points 30 days after enrolment with account activity, or after 90 days regardless of activity [1].

Next: read Booking Hilton Honors awards and First hotel award stay step by step, then use Tools to track progress.