Okay, I admit that the title was a bit click-baity. But, as you will see below, this is indeed the average discount I have managed to achieve in the past 3 years. There are some constraints and caveats, but let's start from the beginning.

Quishui Villa, an SLH Hotel (Source: Hilton)

1. Hilton Honors Points - The Starting Point

Hilton Honors points are one of my favorite currencies to reliably get big discounts on hotel stays. While some of the hotel brands might not be as flashy, and the selection of properties is a bit lacking in certain parts of the world, I do appreciate the simplicity of the Hilton Honors program and the benefits of using points.

Over the last years I have dilligently tracked my redemptions to see what kind of discounts I have achieved, and I would like to share these with you.

Now before we get into this topic, I would like to state that of course a hotel stay should not be booked solely for the puprpose of it being a great useage of points! I once had a booking at the Hilton Amingiri because it is on paper a fantastic offer - at the time, the booked stay of 5 nights would have cost around $10,650 for just the hotel rate. Instead, the 440,000 Hilton Honor points allowed me to achieve a rate of 2.00 cents per point. This means that, had I bought all the 440,000 points during one of Hilton's regular points sales promotions at half a cent per point, I would have paid only $2,200 for the stay - a staggering ~75% discount on the cash rate (assuming the points you'd get from paying cash are worth 0.80 cents per point and you have Gold status).

Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resorts & Spa (Source: Hilton)

Despite the incredible savings, I ended up canceling this booking as both my wife and I feel that we are more suited for properties where we can do some hiking and exploring. The small private islands of the Maldives hotels would have felt a bit too small for us.

My point is, don't let yourself be guided just by CPP (cent-per-point) rates. Use CPP rankings, such as the one I have written recently, as a starting point of inspiration. To find some properties that you might not have had on your radar just yet (especially with the recent addition of so many SLH hotels). But do consider whether the hotel(s) you have in mind are right for you.

2. How I Decide on When to Use Points or Cash:

I see this question being raised quite often in forums and Facebook groups and I thought I would share my approach here. Assuming that you already have a specific hotel and timeline in mind, here is how I calculate the CPP and decide:

1. Get the cash rate for your stay (it is important that you click all the way through to the room selection, go to "more rates", go to "Honors Discount" flexible rate and click on "Rate Details". Only here you will see any additional fees and taxes that Hilton tags onto the final room price. Note down the total amount for your entire stay duration.

Often, properties apply taxes or fees only once you click all the way through to the room type (Source: Hilton)

Note: If you just check the hotel cash price by the rate per night shown on Hilton's overview of hotels in an area, you will NOT be able to see this. While some markets don't add any additional fees and taxes onto the rate or already include it in the rate per night shown, some do not. In the case of the Maldives, for example, In the case of the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, for example, an initial rate of 3,051 USD/night for a King Overwater Villa increases to 3,551 USD/night when taxes are finally included.

Only after selecting the room and rate can you select “Rate Details” and see the final price (Source: Hilton)

2. Get the points rate for your stay by searching for your chosen hotel and dates and checking the "Search with Points" option. It is almost never a good redemption if you see "Premium Room Rewards", as those rates often are extremely inflated. Instead, if you see "Standard Room Reward" you know that you will pay the lowest available points rate. Note down the entire points amount.

If you see “Standard Room Reward” as a point rate option, you know that you are getting the lowest possible point rate. Do note that sometimes, this points rate is only available for parts of your stay, as can be seen by this “Points for first night” message (Source: Hilton)

3. Now here is where there is no standard approach but I want to make the case for mine. What we often forget when comparing the cash and points rate is that by staying at a hotel on a cash rate, we earn Hilton Honors points. These have of course a value and should be taken into account.

The difficulty stems from a) the assumed value of a Hilton Honors point and b) the different point earning rates depending on your status.

a) What should the value of a single point be? It depends on which value you think you can achieve with it. My average CPP for Hilton redemptions is 1.42 cents per point. However, those are possibly outliers/redemptions that are difficult to get and thus I would propose to calculate with 0.80 cents per point. This is still ambitious but will offset point b)

b) The different earning rates stem from which Hilton Honors status you have. All members earn 10 points per 1 Dollar spent. On top of that, there are bonus points that can be earned:

1. Silver - 20% bonus points

2. Gold - 80% bonus points

3. Diamond - 100% bonus points

Most avid travelers who are involved more strongly into the points game seem to have a hotel status with their preferred chain. As it is quite easy to gain the Hilton Gold status through a plethora of credit cards, I am assuming an earning rate of 10 points + 8 bonus points on any Dollar spent.

Side note: It is also good to have the Gold status or higher when you book these redemptions as only then is your breakfast included. Some properties charge significant amounts for their breakfasts which can otherwise quickly rack up and offset any points redemption savings.

A Hilton Honors gold status will yield 18 points per Dollar spent (Source: Hilton)

4. Calculate the CPP: Now that we have everything together, let's calculate the CPP. It might be easiest to have a blank Excel or Google Sheets document open, but that might just be the numbers nerd in me speaking ;)

Let's fill in the following variables:
Total cash amount (c) = x Dollars
Total points amount (p) = x Points
Points value (v) = 0.80 Cents
Bonus points: (b) = 80% (Gold status)

CPP = [(total cash amount * 100) - (total cash amount * (10 + 8) * 0.80)] / total points amount

- (Cash amount * 100) converts the Dollar amount into a Cent amount, since we want to compare Cents per point, not Dollars per point

- (Cash amount * (10 + 8) * points value) calculates the value of the points you would receive from a stay using cash instead of points. This amount is being subtracted from the cash rate (technically, it is not that you are paying less cash but rather you will have points that you can use for your next redemption. But that would make calculating the CPP too complicated)

The output should be a number, such as 1.23 or 0.75. This is the value each point is worth for this specific booking. As you can buy points at Hilton's regular sales promotions for 0.50 cents per point, the CPP you want to achieve should AT LEAST be above that amount. The only reason I see to use points at a worse rate is that you have a ton of points that you need to use before they expire or if you are strapped for cash and thus using points is the only option for you.

5. Calculating the discount: If you are interested in seeing the percentage discount that you would save by using points over a cash rate, you can calculate it the following way:
Total cash amount (c) = x Dollars
Total points amount (p) = x Points
Points value (v) = 0.80 Cents
Bonus points: (b) = 80% (Gold status)

Discount (%) = 1 - [(total points amount * 0.50) / (total cash amount - total cash amount ((10 + 8) * 0.80))]

These formulas look complicated but once you write it down on paper or in an Excel file, it will be quite logical.

Let's look at an example to see how these calculations work.

Conrad Maldies Rangali Island (Source: Hilton)

You are considering booking a stay at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, a pretty popular property, for 5 nights. At first glance, you see that the points redemption rate is stated as 120,000 points per night and the cash rate as 692 USD per night.

Next, you click through to select a room you have in mind (for standard room redemptions, you are usually restricted to the lowest room category) and see that the total amount is 480,000 points (4 x 120,000 points + 1 x 0 points).

You have two room options at the same points price here (Source: Hilton)

You unselect the "Search with Points" checkmark, select the same hotel room and look at the Honors Discount flexible rate (in this case it allows change or cancellation up to 14 days before arrival) and click on "Rate Details".

The “Rate Details” overview shows the total amount inclusive of all taxes and fees (Source: Hilton)

You see the total amount stated as 4,707.82 USD (the rate is usually shown in the currency that the hotel is using. Use Google to quickly exchange different currencies into US Dollars). We can now calculate the CPP:

CPP = [(4,707.82 * 100) - (4.707.82 * (10 + 8) * 0.80)] / 480.000 = 0.84 cents per point

This means that if you were to use points instead of paying in cash, each of your points would be worth 0.84 cents per point. Given that you can buy points at 0.50 cents per point, this looks like a good deal.

Let's have a look at what our discount is:

Discount (%) = 1 - [(480,000 * 0.50) / (4,707.82 - 4,707.82 ((10 + 8) * 0.80))] = 41%

Using points over cash would yield you a 41% discount, which is around 1,656 USD in this example. Neat!

Before I share more about my own point redemptions, I want to state one other thing: There are limits on how many points you can buy per year. This changes from time to time and specifically during the point promotion sales that Hilton regularly runs. By default, the maximum points you can buy within a year before any bonuses is 80,000. However, during the latest promotion (Oct 9 - Nov 27, 2024) Hilton has tripled the maximum amount to 240,000 before any bonuses, allowing you to buy up to 480,000 points in total in one go! That is enough for the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island example from above.

Hilton Points Promotion*

*affiliate link

Buy up to 240,000 base points before any bonuses with this promotion (Source: Hilton)

3. My Hilton Honors Points Redemptions:

Okay, let's get into the numbers.Here are my point redemptions of Hilton properties over the last 2 years. This should give you an idea of what is on average possible to achieve if you use points, especially during in-demand long weekends and public holidays:

(Note: The discount assumes a hypothetical where all points where bought through Hilton's 0.50 CPP sales promotion and the points earned from cash rates have a value of 0.80 cent. Points are earned at a 100% + 80% Gold bonus rate, meaning every Dollar spent nets you 18 Hilton Honors points)

Conrad Osaka
Osaka, JAPAN

The Conrad Osaka has the most stunning lobby (Source: Hilton)

Stay duration: 2 nights
Regular Hilton flex rate: 1,470 USD
Points used: 190,000
CPP: 0.66 cents/point
Discount: 25%
Cash saved: $308

Hilton Amingiri Maldives (cancelled booking)
Atoll, MALDIVES

Enjoy the most stunning sunset views (Source: Hilton)

Stay duration: 5 nights
Regular Hilton flex rate: 10,650 USD
Points used: 440,000
CPP: 2.07 cents/point
Discount: 76%
Cash saved: $6,915

Hilton Yala Resort Sri Lanka
Yala National Park, SRI LANKA

The Hilton Yala Resort has been one of my favorite property so far (Source: Hilton)

Stay duration: 5 nights
Regular Hilton flex rate: 5,190 USD
Points used: 320,000
CPP: 1.39 cents/point
Discount: 64%
Cash saved: $2,840

Umana Bali, LXR Hotels & Resorts
Bali, INDONESIA

The Umana Bali, LXR Hotels & Resorts has amazing pool views (Source: Hilton)

Stay duration: 5 nights
Regular Hilton flex rate: 4,160 USD
Points used: 360,000
CPP: 0.99 cents/point
Discount: 49%
Cash saved: $1,760

Conrad Dubai
Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Experience classic elegance at the Conrad Dubai (Source: Hilton)

Stay duration: 5 nights
Regular Hilton flex rate: 2,475 USD
Points used: 280,000
CPP: 0.76 cents/point
Discount: 34%
Cash saved: $720

ROKU KYOTO, LXR Hotels & Resorts
Kyoto, JAPAN

I can’t wait for my stay at the gorgeous looking ROKU KYOTO, LXR Hotels & Resorts (Source: Hilton)

Stay duration: 5 nights
Regular Hilton flex rate: 6,280 USD
Points used: 440,000
CPP: 1.22 cents/point
Discount: 59%
Cash saved: $3,175

4. Takeaways From This Exercise:

On average, the discounts hover around 50 %. That means that going with points redemptions over cash rates has saved me around 15,750 USD in money that I would have otherwise had to spend on cash rates. To be fair, I would not stay at some of these properties at the stated cash rates, but I hope it gets my point across that the strategic use of Hilton Honor points can enable you to stay at amazing properties at more digestable cash expenses.

One thing that probably shows quite clearly from my redemptions is that using the 5th-night-free offer is a tremendous help to get a greater discount. It fortunately coincides with my own preferences of not staying too long at a property, and being the perfect time to fill a week of vacation at a more remote location.

Keemala, an SLH Hotel, is a beautiful property on Phuket, Thailand (Source: Hilton)

Our trip to the Hilton Yala Resort included traveling from Japan (our homebase) to Sri Lanka, staying at a night in Colombo to acclimatize, driving down to the Hilton Yala Resort for a 5-night stay (it's a phenomenal property, by the way!), driving back up for another night in Colombo, and then flying home.

Another point I'd like to highlight is that I especially like to use points redemptions when my stay is during public holidays or long weekends. The stay at the Conrad Dubai is during New Year's which is a very popular time for this destinations and cash rates increase significantly.

Likewise, my stay at the ROKU KYOTO, LXR Hotels & Resorts is during Japan's Obon holiday week, during which a large portion of the Japanese society takes off the week to travel. Unsurprisingly, here the cash rates are also very high.

Our stay at the ROKU KYOTO would cost us around $6,000 in cash (Source: Hilton)

Lastly, I want to bring up a point that I raised in my article about the best use of Hilton Honor points: On average, the best use case is for properties that have a per-night cash rate of above $400/night. This is partly due to the way luxury properties are priced within the Hilton group. As there is a natural ceiling to standard points rates (currently sits at 150,000 points per night), the more luxurious properties simply have a more attractive scaling of their points rates.

Make sure to check out my article about the best uses of Hilton Honors points (Source: Hilton)

Accordingly, you don't find more "normal" or ordinary Hilton group properties in my redemption list, as I prefer to pay those in cash. Recent stays at the Hilton Colombo, Hilton Tokyo Narita Airport, Hilton Stockholm, Hilton Malta, and others are all paid in cash because the points rate is not very interesting and I rather keep my points for the aspirational stays like the ones above.

5. Conclusion

Hilton Honor points are a great way to stay at luxurious properties that you would otherwise not want to or be able to pay for. To get the best value with your points, make sure that you save them for the more aspirational high-end properties where points redemptions can net you a significant discount.

Use Hilton's 5th-night-free offer to get the most out of your redemption and always double-check whether a stay should be paid for with points or cash.

Check our website to get informed whenever a Hilton Honors point sales promotion is running, or click on the button below to bring you to Hilton's points purchase storefront.

Hilton's points purchase storefront*

*affiliate link