How to Earn Over 400,000 Hilton HHonors Points

Posted on February 12, 2012 by wpengine

Don’t Forget to Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter:

When it comes to Hotels you can find a Hilton property almost anywhere.  The Hilton family has hotels all across America and all across the world too.  Their redemption scale isn’t always amazing depending on the property that you’re staying at, but this is a way that you might be able to accumulate tons of HHonors points.

Right now you have 7 different credit cards that are issuing points either directly to Hilton, or can be transferred to Hilton HHonors points.  I’ll outline each of them and show you how to accumulate over 400,000 HHonors points and get Gold Status too!

100,000 from the Virgin Atlantic Bank of America

Daraius from MillionMileSecrets.com showed me that you can transfer these points from Virgin Atlantic to Hilton HHonors points at a 2:1 ratio.   The bonus from this card is 50,000, and if they give you a 2:1 transfer ratio then you are paying $90 for 100,000 HHonors points.

  • Sign on Bonus: 50,000 Virgin Atlantic Points which are transferable 1:2 to Hilton
  • Spending Requirement: $2500 in 3 months
  • Annual Fee $90

60,000 from the Hilton HHonors American Express Surpass

This card is issued by American Express and gives an initial sign on bonus of 40,000 HHonors points.  It will also issue you an additional 20,000 points when you spend $3000 within the first.  It also offers automatic Gold Status for the first year of having the card.  Gold Status isn’t worth too much, but it can give you opportunities for upgrades, free breakfast at certain hotels, and a few other minor amenities.

  • Total Bonus: 60,000 HHonors Points
  • Spending Requirement: $3,000 in 3 months
  • Annual Fee: $75

40,000 from the Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature

This is the weakest offer of all, but it still gives you 40,000 and Citi is good about issuing credit cards to people with good credit.  It also comes without an annual fee, which is nice for those people who are trying to do this on a tight budget.

  • Total Bonus: 40,000
  • Spending Requirement: $1000 in 4 months
  • Annual Fee: None

70,000 from the Bank of Hawaii Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card

Daraius also posted about this deal.  He has actual done the transfer to know that it actually works too!  It is a great option for those people like the FrugalTravelGuy who have been running out of options as they have already gotten all of the best offers from the big banks.  Bank of Hawaii is far from here, and as long as they are willing to dish out the points, they you should take them!

  • Sign on Bonus: 35,000 Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles. Transferable 1:2 to Hilton
  • Spending Requirement: $1000 in 4 months
  • Annual Fee: $79

70,000 from the Bank of America Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card

This offer also came by way of Dariaus’ suggestion.  This is another annual fee card, so you aren’t getting all of the points for free, but you’re paying pennies on the dollar.  They give you HawaiianMiles as well, which are transferrable 1:2 HHonors points.  Great Success!

  • Sign on Bonus: 35,000 Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles. Transferable 1:2 to Hilton
  • Spending Requirement: $1000 in 4 months
  • Annual Fee: $79

Starwood Preferred Guest(R) Credit Card from American Express

I haven’t actually seen this one done, but I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work.  Starwood will allow you to transfer to Virgin Atlantic (as shown above) at a 1:1 ratio.  Once they’ve been transferred to Virgin Atlantic, you’ll be able to turn around and transfer them to Hilton.

  • Sign on Bonus: Starpoints transferable to Virgin Atlantic then to Hilton HHonors

Summary:

You can rack up some serious Hilton HHonors points with a few credit card sign up bonuses.  In total you would accumulate over 400,000 points which can get you some serious Hilton Hotels.  With judicious use of your excellent credit, and a measly $323 in first year fees, you can accumulate thousands of dollars in hotel expense savings.

Hilton Category Costs

There are seven different tiers of Hilton Hotels.  Their search function isn’t my favorite, but you can look at their website to see the hotels on each tier.  You could basically live at a tier 1 hotel for 53 nights.   It would equal 32 nights at a tier 2, 16 nights at a tier 3,  13 nights at a tier 4, 11 nights at a tier 5, 10 nights at a tier 6, and 8 nights at a tier 7.

The bottom line is that there are tens of thousand of Hilton HHonors points out there for the taking.  In the off chance that I needed to stay at a hotel for 53 days, this is exactly how I would do it.  Hahah.

Let us know what you think.  Share our website with your friends.  Tweet about us or make a post about this, just keep wanderlusting.

 

Posted in Citi, Credit Cards, Hilton, Starwood Preferred Guest | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Cruise Activity Preview: Crystal Maiden Cave in Belize

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Brad Christensen


One of the stops we’ll make on our Western Caribbean cruise in March is Belize City.  It will mark my second visit to Belize, and it will be hard to top in ten hours what we did last time in ten days… even so, we’ll try.

Our last trip was an epic trifecta.  We spent roughly 3 days in the San Ignacio area, visiting Tikal (across the border in Guatemala) and partaking in more than my fair share of soy ice cream.  My brother’s father-in-law, an incredibly interesting tour guide, then took us on an excursion deep into the jungle.  If that weren’t enough to make memories for a lifetime, then my wife and I went out to Caye Caulker, where we learned how to scuba dive.  Someday I’ll tell the story in a better format (complete with pictures and the rundown on how I booked the flights for $240 round-trip from SLC (yeah, no typo).

But for now, I’ll try to limit my wanderlusting to the ten hours we’ll have in Belize.  We’ve got a good-sized group going, so I arranged to rent a 12 passenger Hyundai Van from Budget Belize for $105 for the day… not a bad deal for what is essentially a bus.  Our timeframe is tight, so they’re meeting us at the cruise terminal, ready to go.

We’ll drive to Teakettle Village, a little over an hour away, where we’ll meet up with our tourguides, PACZ Tours, for the adventure which I’m sure will be the marquee experience of our trip – the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave tour.  I doubt if I’ll be able to improve much upon the description of the experience they offer in their overview, except to say that it combines all of the elements of travel that keep me thirsting for more and more: cultural/historical significance, awe-inspiring natural beauty, and adventuresome physical exertion.  After a hike through the Belizean jungle, we’ll swim into the darkness of the mouth of a cave system that it will take some three hours to traverse.  The highlight of our journey will be to view the crystallized skeleton of a teenage sacrificial victim – known as The Crystal Maiden.  

I’ve hardly scratched the surface of what the experience will entail, but I can tell you that anticipating it, along with everything else we’ll do, does occupy a good 10% of my subconscious mind at any given point.

I’ve already bragged about how I’m getting to New Orleans for the cruise for $10 and 25k miles which I got from applying for the Continental One Pass card (which we’ve been advertising at the top of our blog for some time, now).  Obviously I’d welcome you to do the same thing.  Or you could also consider using 35,000 miles to get directly to Belize City – a launching point for this and many other unforgettable adventures.

Here’s the rundown on the Continental Card:

Posted in Central America, Continental | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

My First United Airlines Experience

Posted on February 6, 2012 by wpengine

You may also want to read our post on “How to Write an Airline Complaint Letter” – a great synopsis on how to handle the complaint filing process.

Until yesterday I had never flown on United Airlines. I had to take a trip for work to Cincinnati and it just so happened that United had the best flight for my scenario. I booked the ticket and was excited to try out their customer service, their aircraft, and everything else they have to offer.

Let’s be honest, it wasn’t the best experience I’ve ever had when it comes to an airline. First of all my flight was delayed because the plane had mechanical problems the night before.  I missed a connecting flight and was forced to take an additional route on my way to Cincinnati.

To make matters worse, they also lost my bag that I had checked and it did not arrive at Cincinnati with me. Luckily the hotel gave me a toothbrush toothpaste and other things I needed so that I could go to sleep without my bag.

I’m willing to give United Airlines the opportunity to try again. However I’m still going to ask them if they will compensate me for the difficulties that I had on my first flight with them. I’ll include a copy of the letter that I sent and I will let you know as soon as I hear from their customer service representative.

On a good note, I am staying at a Springhill Suites by Marriott. Their fitness center is excellent, the breakfast was delicious, and the room is clean. It is my first time staying in one of these hotels but I really like it. It is nice to start accruing Marriott rewards points as they are very valuable for small-town locations.

Here’s my letter:

I’m always leery of trying new companies.  Sticking with the status quo is generally just easier. Since I normally fly Delta or American, I went out on a limb booking my ticket with United for my this trip. I felt somewhat excited as I would be trying something new, and hoped for a good experience.  Unfortunately, so far I’ve been let down.

The first incident was that my plane took off two hours late from IDA because of a mechanical problem.  I obviously missed my connecting flight. Missing the connecting flight meant that I needed to take an additional leg of the flight and made me reach my destination almost five hours after I was originally scheduled to arrive. The time that I had planned to spend catching up with friends and watching the Super Bowl was drastically reduced.

On top of arriving late to my destination I also had a problem with a lost piece of luggage. I had checked it in Denver and they promised that it would be checked to my final destination. I took their word for it and to my dismay the bag never arrived on the carousel. Disappointed, I approached the lost bag desk.

The gentleman at the desk located my bag and discovered that it had been left in Chicago (my unnecessary stop). He explained that there were two additional flights coming to CVG and it would probably arrive on the first flight, which would be arriving at 9:30 PM. Realizing that mistakes can be made I explained that I understood, and he mentioned that I would probably have my bag by 11:00 or so. It never showed up until 6:00am.

Needless to say, I wish that my first experience with your company would have been a good one, but unfortunately it was disappointing. I understand that there are issues from time to time, but I feel like I got a triple-whammy. I wouldn’t be so bold as to say that I’d never fly United again, but I can’t help but feel like I’d hesitate.  Perhaps I’m out of line, but I do feel like I’m due some sort of compensation. Would you please review my case and see if I’m entitled to a voucher or some other form of acknowledgement?

Posted in Marriott Rewards, United | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Travel Photo Quiz

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Brad Christensen

This may be a softball for many of our visitors, but where was this photo taken?  Leave a comment with your answer.  Wanderlust with us!

Posted in Travel Quiz | Leave a comment

Use Ultimate Rewards Points or Transfer to United/Continental?

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Brad Christensen

Not to be outdone by Sheldon’s booking frenzy, I did a little booking of my own last weekend.  I’ve mentioned that we’re planning a Western Carribbean cruise, which we got a screaming deal on at www.vacationstogo.com. I’ve been prowling flight fares from SLC to MSY (New Orleans) with some help from www.kayak.com fare alerts, but, like a lion ready to pounce, I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment.  I hoped to find a Delta flight for less than $400, so I could book them with my US Bank Flexpoints and take advantage of a possible first class upgrade thanks to my Delta Gold Status, but these are spring break dates and it just wasn’t happening.

I’ve also been checking reward fares in hopes of finding some 25k flights that work with my dates, but I haven’t been able to find them on AA, Delta, or United.  I was resigned to use my Ultimate Rewards points (courtesy of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card), which would save me roughly $700 off from two $485 flights. Not optimal, but I’m still working on the spending requirement to get my 50k Ultimate Rewards Points from the Chase Ink Bold Business Card.

I thought I’d try a last ditch effort and see what Continental had out there, though I fully expected it to be no different from United (since they’ve merged).  Yet, to my surprise, like shiny gold coins, there were some perfect 25k flights just waiting to be picked up.  I didn’t have to transfer 50k Ulitmate Reward points to United because I happened to have 50k miles from the United Mileage Plus card (offering a maximum of 40k at the moment) which I could use on Continental as well.

The way I see it, my 50k United miles were worth a total of $950 to me ($485 x 2. less a $20 booking fee) – Not bad for assets I had amassed with no expense.

That’s what’s nice about the flexibility of Chase’s Ultimate Reward Points – you can use them like cash or transfer them to United – either way they equate to free travel, something I just cannot get enough of.

If you’re new to WorldWanderlusting and Travel Hacking, you’re spellbound right now.  If you’re starting to get the hang of things, you’re realizing why we are so damned excited about all of this.  If you’re better at this than we are, you’re already planning your next trip.

Posted in Chase Ultimate Reward Points, United | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Booking Frenzy

Posted on January 29, 2012 by wpengine

I heard the story once of a lady who was the happiest lady on Earth.  She smiled at everyone and was polite as well.  One gentleman asked her what it was that made her so happy.  She explained to him that she had taken a vacation ever six months of her life.  Not all of the vacations were extravagant, but they were always planned.  After a week of being back from a recent vacation she would already begin planning her next vacation.  At 70 years of age she had taken many vacations.  Giving herself something to look forward to has brought her extreme happiness in her life.

The itch to travel has gone too long without being scratched. Last year was pretty sad as I didn’t even get the chance to visit a new country. My only two trips out of the country were to Costa Rica and Canada. Both of which I’ve already visited in my life. Let’s be honest…both of the trips were awesome, but I’m feeling like I need to get my travel on.

 

Tripping to Tennessee

With loads of AA miles in my pocket we decided to send my wife to visit her aunt in Tennessee.  With the Citicard Reduced Mileage Awards it is so hard to resist.  They only charged us 17,500 miles for the trip.  Luckily we were able to get a flight out of Jackson, Wyoming, which is only 2 hours from home instead of the 3 hours that Salt Lake is from home.  The drive is much more scenic, but hopefully we don’t get caught in a snowstorm on the way there.

New Allegiant Flight to San Francisco

Allegiant Airlines is a LCC, or a low cost carrier.  They don’t offer many services, but their flights are cheap.  You can hit weekend deals to Vegas for $60 sometimes if you time it right.  Almost all of their flights are direct, so you don’t have to hassle with nasty layovers in airports.

They just recently announced a new flight from my hometown of Idaho Falls to Oakland California.  I noticed that the prices were awesome $100 (each) round trip, and I couldn’t resist. My wife and I booked a summer getaway to the Bay area.  We are going to be using our points from the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express to stay in the San Francisco South Four Points by Sheraton.  They only use 3000 points per night on the weekends!!  The SPG card offers a bonus of 25,000 miles after spending $5000 in the first six months.  That would give you 10 weekend nights at this hotel.  Since my wife and I both got this card we have oodles of Starpoints.

We’re excited to see the Napa Valley, the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, and all the rest that comes with the Bay area.  This flight is short and we will be taking our little boy with us.  After all, he only has two years that he flies for free, then we will either have to leave him or pay for an extra seat.

Europe

With the fear looming that American is going to devalue their AAdvantage miles as a result of their bankruptcy we are interested in putting these miles to use.  We’ve debated for months now about the trip that we are going to take.  American doesn’t have too many European gateways: London, Manchester, Paris, Brussels, Madrid, Barcelona, Frankfort, Zurich, Rome, and Milan.  My wife keeps drooling over the Neushwanstein Castle that is located in Southern Germany.  I think that our trip to the Biltmore Mansion has only worsened her condition of wanderlusting castles.

Brad and I discovered a great way to use the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express to travel in many hotels across Alpine Europe.  Read our post about the whole loop and some of the stops along the way.

Gelato, Crepes, Brats, and Beer await us in the distant land.  Our desires to travel are insatiable, but at least we are working toward visiting new places all the time.   The famous Mark Twain once said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

 

There is much more to come on my European itinerary.

Posted in Allegiant, American Airlines, Starwood Preferred Guest, Travel Itineraries | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment