How to maximize 100,000 Hilton Honors points and a free night award

With more than 6,800 Hilton-branded properties worldwide, it’s hard to travel somewhere and not find a Hilton property.

Whether planning a trip to paradise or visiting a major city, you can find tremendous value in the Hilton Honors program. Most award prices range from 5,000 to 95,000 Hilton Honors points per night for standard rooms, though you may see prices as high as 150,000 points per night at high-end properties in the Maldives.

Given the wide range of redemption options, let’s look at seven ways to use a free night reward and 100,000 Hilton points.

How to earn Hilton Honors points and free night rewards

Right now, you can earn the following welcome offers with Hilton’s cobranded cards:

• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: Earn 155,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the card in the first six months of card membership, plus a free night reward by spending $15,000 on purchases in a calendar year.
• Hilton Honors American Express Card: Earn 100,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the card in the first six months of card membership.
• The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card: Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the card in the first three months of card membership.
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Earn 175,000 points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first three months of card membership, plus a free night reward each year you hold the card and an additional free night after spending $30,000 on the card in a calendar year (and another free night after spending $60,000 in a calendar year)

Related: Elevated Hilton Honors card offers: Earn up to 175,000 Hilton Honors points with a new card

The information for the Hilton Aspire Amex Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

What is a free night reward?

Hilton free night certificates can be used worldwide at almost any Hilton property, with a few exceptions. A free night reward can be used for one night, regardless of the points cost, whenever a standard room is available.

Previously, Hilton free night rewards were limited to weekend nights only (i.e. Friday through Sunday). Thankfully, this has changed, and you can use your certificate any day of the week as long as Standard Room Rewards are available for booking on the Hilton website.

Related: How to get maximum value from Hilton free night certificates

Luxury near Utah National Parks

National parks have been having a moment as more and more travelers flock to the great outdoors.

While there are various points-friendly hotels around some national parks, some of them are pretty modest. However, if your travels take you to Utah, you can level up your lodging selection in Moab and stay close to both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.

The Hoodoo Moab, Curio Collection by Hilton looks beautiful, and it’s bookable for 80,000 Hilton Honors points per night on many dates. At those rates, you can book a weekend getaway in the heart of Utah’s natural beauty using your stash of points for one night and a free night reward for the other. This leaves you with 20,000 points to spare.

Also in Utah, you’ll find the Cliffrose Springdale, another Curio Collection property, just a few minutes away from Zion National Park. This property has rooms available for 90,000 Hilton points per night later this summer; although, if you travel in off-peak season, you can book a room for as few as 48,000 points per night on many dates.

If you want to stretch your points further, the Hampton Inn & Suites Springdale/Zion National Park has rooms available for around 24,000 points per night during off-peak dates and 70,000 points per night during peak times.

Related: Guide to visiting Zion National Park

Take a trip down to the Florida Keys

If you want an iconic beachfront hotel that transports you back to the style of the 1920s, the Casa Marina Key West, a Curio Collection property, is available for 95,000 Hilton points per night. With 100,000 points and a free night reward, you’d have enough for a weekend at this property, which features two pools and a refurbished lobby. Better yet, it’s near Duval Street, which is chock-full of restaurants, shops and pubs.

Another resort-style option in Key West is the Reach Key West, a Curio Collection property bookable from 95,000 Hilton points per night. It’s just blocks from the heart of Duval Street and has a beachfront pool and floating gazebo.

Say “aloha” to Hawaii

Hawaii is a solid place to redeem Hilton points, with a wide variety of properties across multiple Hawaiian islands.

Note that as Hawaii is such a popular destination, Standard Room awards at luxury properties can be very difficult to come by.

Thankfully, some less expensive Hilton awards in Hawaii are easier to find. On the Big Island, the Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo DoubleTree can be booked for 50,000 points per night on most nights. Combining a free night certificate with a 100,000-point welcome bonus, you could book three nights here for free.

This property is close to Volcanos National Park, so get ready to explore.

In my experience, guests staying on Hilton points, even with mid-tier Hilton Gold status, are treated like kings and queens. They get free drinks, free parking, waived resort fees and free chocolates.

Another 50,000-point-per-night DoubleTree option is the Alana – Waikiki Beach. It’s a 10-minute walk from Kahanamoku Beach and a 15-minute drive from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL).

For a bigger Hawaiian resort experience on the Big Island, the 62-acre oceanfront Hilton Waikoloa Village goes for 75,000 Hilton points per night.

The Waikoloa Village property has multiple pools, a snorkeling lagoon, canal boats and trams to explore the tropical grounds. This makes the hotel great for couples and families, as there’s no shortage of things to explore.

Hilton doesn’t have a huge presence on the Garden Island of Kauai, but the Hilton Garden Inn Kauai Wailua Bay isn’t far from the family-friendly Lydgate Beach and the must-do Smith Family Garden Luau. It often goes for 60,000 points per night, which can be a good use of Hilton points, as paid rates can top $500 per night.

Hit the slopes

If you want something in ski season, there are multiple ways to cash in up to 100,000 Hilton points and/or a free night certificate for some nights near the slopes.

The renovated and rebranded Highline Vail (a DoubleTree by Hilton property) in Colorado is just a shuttle ride away from the powder. Standard rooms range from around 57,000 points per night during the offseason and are usually priced at around 80,000 points per night during the peak ski season. With that in mind, you could have enough for a peak ski weekend with the Surpass card’s welcome bonus alone. You can find early- and late-season weekend rates for even fewer points per night.

If you would prefer to stay in a larger city and drive to the slopes each day, consider Denver properties. Echo Ridge ski field is just 36 miles from the city.

The cheap and cheerful Home2 Suites by Hilton Longmont starts from just 20,000 Hilton Honors points per night, even in ski season. So, you could book five nights there with a 100,000-point welcome bonus.

Related: Best ways to use points to stay near a ski resort

Experience a luxury resort in Mexico

Escape to the beaches of Mexico and experience the gorgeous resort Conrad Punta de Mita. Although cash rates are high (generally more than $750 per night), it’s a great use of Hilton points and the free night reward certificate. Standard Room Rewards are at the 95,000 points per night rate, though we have seen Premium Room Rewards on several dates as low as 78,000 points per night.

Even the standard room is 646 square feet and features partial ocean views. Plus, you’ll have access to three expansive pools, a long stretch of private sandy beaches and the Litibu Golf Course. There are four on-site restaurants, each offering a unique take on local cuisine.

Related: Fit for a king: A review of the Conrad Punta de Mita

Fancy a trip to London?

London can be an expensive city for accommodation. Fortunately, you have plenty of Hilton options in London. The hotel group’s portfolio in London far outnumbers Marriott’s and Hyatt’s footprint combined, and there are some excellent redemptions to be had.

Standard Room Rewards at the Hilton London Kensington — right near attractions like Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace — start from just 32,000 per night. With 100,000 Hilton Honors points plus a free night certificate, you could score a four-night stay in one of London’s poshest neighborhoods.

Related: The ultimate 3-day itinerary for visiting London with kids

Splurge on a trip of a lifetime

Let’s be real — 100,000 Hilton points and a free night certificate won’t get you that many nights at some of Hilton’s top-of-the-line overwater villa properties, such as the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, Waldorf Astoria Maldives or the Conrad Bora Bora Nui. Still, it’s a good start, especially for properties where standard rooms top out at 95,000 points per night.

This is especially true if you pool your Hilton points with friends and family, and each of you earns a 100,000 welcome bonus and a free night reward. Hilton allows free points pooling with up to 11 people, making top-tier redemptions even more accessible for groups.

We found Hilton points to be the best option when we planned a trip to Bora Bora, and we are actively saving again for another big trip in the future.

Bottom line

These are just seven of our favorite ways to use 100,000 Hilton points and a free night reward, which you can receive with select Hilton cards after meeting certain requirements. Plus, you can stretch these rewards to the max to book dozens of award nights at properties that start at just 5,000 points per night. Or, you can opt to save your points for the trip of a lifetime and redeem them at high-value resorts.