One of the best ways to use your hotel points in 2019 is not to book hotels at all. Hotels are expanding into lifestyle brand which happen to also have rooms where you want to go, and in the process they’re leveraging their reach to bring loyalty members extraordinary experiences, all for the price of points. Marriott lead the pack, but Hilton is now relaunching their revamped points auctions, and they’re absolutely worth a look.
New Hilton Honors Points Auctions
Hilton Honors has revamped their points auctions for the better. The site now displays easy to sort options based on the number of points you want to spend or the kind of experiences you actually want. The offers are much improved too, and could actually be a great way to Valentines Day without breaking the bank.
From a secluded break in Myanmar to a luxury stay in Beijing with dinner and tickets a Kong Fu performance and the Forbidden City to a private concert with Walk The Moon in Las Vegas, there are unique experiences up for grabs, some which money can’t buy. On that note, the VIP access to the McLaren F1 team in Surrey, England is pretty cool too.
Be sure to always compare cash rates with auction prices, and always seek to get more than half a cent of value for each Hilton point. Basically, if you’re cashing in more than 100,000 Hilton Points, you want more than $500 in value.
You can check out all the Hilton Honors Auctions here.
Hilton is making big moves to bring access to more concert via Live Nation partnerships, so this will be an interesting space to watch as the chain dukes it out with Marriott Bonvoy Moments in 2019 to offer the best experience or loyalty program members.
Both programs are leveraging their reach to bring the world’s best chefs, hotels and experiences to their programs in hopes of conquering all things lifestyle and offer value for your points which aren’t just free nights. So far, it’s a good start.
There’s some pretty interesting things in there at fairly reasonable price points (in my opinion). There was a dining experience in Athens and a luxury boat experience in the Bosphorus that stood out to me. The ski trip to Switzerland looked pretty neat, too.
Thanks for sharing! I never would have known this existed otherwise.