Go global with this Hilton bonus

Good morning from my hometown of Nottingham, New Hampshire!

I gotta say, it’s always a shock to come back to this small town after traveling around the world for months…

… but not as shocking as the travel deals and news I’ve got for you today:

• 🏨 Hilton’s new global promotion

• 💔 SLH gets divorced from Hyatt

• 🔄 Current Transfer Bonuses

🏨 Hilton’s new global promotion

I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news for you… which one do you want first?

Just kidding, you obviously want the bad news first…

Hilton currently has a pretty sweet global promotion to earn 2,000 bonus points on all stays. The bad news is that it ends in a few weeks, on May 1st. 😭

The good news, however, is that they’ve just announced ANOTHER global promotion that starts one day later (on May 2nd)…

… and it’s even better 😎

From May 2nd to September 2nd, you’ll earn double Hilton points on ALL Hilton stays! Wooh!

Here are the deets:

• You must register for the promotion

• You’ll get 20x base points per dollar spent (the normal rate is 10x)

• There is no limit to the number of points you can earn from the promotion

Overall, this is pretty sweet…

A few weeks back, we saw a similar promotion pop up from Hilton, but it was targeted to a select few members.

This one is open to ALL members who register and can earn you a VERY good return on your spend.

For example, let’s say you want to travel to Niagara Falls for a quick weekend getaway.

You could book this Hilton hotel on the Canadian side (a.k.a. the superior side) of the falls for $149 per night, which is not too shabby for a Spring weekend at such a popular tourist spot.

So, a 3-night stay would cost you $447 and earn you 8,940 Hilton points.

Pretty good, right?

WRONG. It’s not good. We can do way better.

You see, if you have this co-branded credit card, you’ll earn 14x points per dollar on Hilton stays, in addition to the 20x you’re earning already 🤯

Because this card also gives you automatic Diamond elite status, you’ll earn ANOTHER 10x points per dollar for having status.

In total, holding this credit card and registering for the promo yield the following earnings:

• 10x points for being a member

• 10x points for having Diamond status

• 10x points from the promotion

• 14x points from the credit card

• Total: 44x points per dollar

Now, the aforementioned example is earning you 19,668 points for your 3-night stay in Niagara.

That’s enough points to book an entire other night at a hotel somewhere else in the world.

Overall, this promo offers a way to really maximize the return on your spend with Hilton, especially if you combine it with the right co-branded credit card.

💔 SLH gets divorced from Hyatt

Speaking of Hilton…

You may remember when we talked about how SLH (Small Luxury Hotels of the World) terminated its partnership with Hyatt.

It was devastating since it was one of the few ways to get elite-like benefits without needing any elite status 😭

In some cruel twist of fate, they’ve decided instead to team up with Hilton to offer us what many believe to be a “less good” partnership, to put it eloquently.

Here is what we know so far:

• Hilton will be starting to integrate the properties into their system this summer, but it will likely be a long time before all of them are bookable through Hilton.

• Gold and Diamond elites will receive some benefits at SLH hotels like free breakfast

• We will be able to redeem Hilton free night certificates at SLH hotels

• Members will earn points for their stays

Essentially, they’re becoming “normal” Hilton properties.

While this is a net positive for Hilton’s footprint, it’s a net negative for us, since there’s no way for non-elite members to enjoy the tasty benefits we used to love SLH for.

For example, last year, I stayed at this awesome SLH hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

It was a really cool property, but I also got free breakfast, a room upgrade, early check-in, and late checkout, thanks to Hyatt’s partnership with them.

With Hilton, these types of benefits will no longer be possible…

So here’s the bottom line:

If you’re a Hilton fan, this is good news—more hotels to stay at, more ways to use your free night awards, and elites will still get benefits.

If you’re a Hyatt fan, come find me so we can cry and mourn our collective loss together 💔

One of the questions I get asked most often is, “How do you justify holding so many credit cards every year after getting the signup bonus?”

And the answer is simple:

I make sure that the benefits I get from the card each year outweigh the cost of the annual fee.

So we’ve decided to launch a new mini-series with The Daily Drop Podcast all about justifying annual fees. Each episode will be a breakdown of a single card.

And this week, we’re kicking things off with this card. Check out the episode and enjoy! 👇

That’s all for today, friends! Overall, Hilton has lots of good news.

I love how they launched another solid promotion immediately after their previous one ended.

How do you feel about SLH shifting alliances? Are you upset about them leaving Hyatt? Excited for them to join Hilton? Both? Please tell me, I’m dying to know.

And with that, I bid y’all adieu.

52°22'35.4"N 52°15'17.4"W