Note: For full disclosure, The Alviator gets a referral bonus for Hilton Honors Debit Card subscriptions. Here at The Alviator, we only partner with firms and cards we genuinely believe will help the passenger experience
When I was a university student in the UK, I remember feeling like I was missing out on the opportunity to earn points with my spending. With the launch of the Hilton Honors Debit Card, you’ll be able to earn Hilton points with your spending. This isn’t the most lucrative way to earn points ever (credit cards will generally give a higher value per pound spent), though is an awesome way to earn miles on debit card spending, such as if you aren’t eligible for a credit card.
There’s a limited offer for the Hilton Honors Debit Card where you can get half price off the first-year fee for the base card or a triple welcome bonus for the Plus card, which I figured was worth writing about. This is a really good option if you’re a student, or not otherwise in a position to get a rewards credit card.
Earn Hilton points by spending on the Hilton Honors Debit Card
The Hilton Honors Debit Card is a debit card that automatically links to your bank balance, and allows you to earn Hilton Honors points with your daily spending. There’s the base card that has a £60 annual fee (discounted to £30 first-year for the next week), and a “Plus” card with a higher welcome bonus and a £150 annual fee.
The former card gives you annual Hilton Honors Silver status, and the latter card gets you Hilton Honors Gold status. I’d generally only consider Gold status to be a significant perk since you get space-available room upgrades and a food and beverage credit, though obviously Silver status gives you a leg up to get Gold status more easily as well.
I’d generally find this an easy way to earn passive points with a debit card, since this is one of the few cards that will allow you to do so in the UK. I’d also consider the Hilton Honors Debit card to be one of the cheapest ways to earn miles on daily spending, since the card itself costs you an average of £5/month (£2.50/month with the promotion if you get it over the next week). Hilton Honors points aren’t as valuable as airline miles, though it can be a good start if you’re looking to kickstart some form of points earning.
Redeem Hilton Honors points for the Atocha Hotel Madrid from 49,000 points/night
Points earning rates are as follows:
- The base card earns 1 point/£1 spent on normal transactions
- The base card earns 2 points/£1 spent on foreign transactions and transactions at Hilton properties
- The base card earns 3 points/£1 spent in a foreign currency at Hilton properties
- The Plus card earns 50% more than all of the above rates, and has no FX fees (the base card has a 0.5% FX fee)
Obviously, there are some areas of spending where points earning is blocked:
- UK or European taxes (e.g., HMRC, council tax)
- Rent or mortgage payments
- Card fees
- ATM cash withdrawals
- Financial product payments
- Cash recycling schemes
- Educational fees
- Cash advances disguised as purchases
- Transactions with retailers controlled by the cardholder
For those holding credit cards, the only area I can think of where you otherwise wouldn’t be able to pay via a credit card are council penalty charge notices, though if you’re otherwise eligible for a credit card I’d mainly get this card for the points bonus, or for staying at Hilton properties.
Transfer Hilton Honors points to airline miles
If you’re looking to kickstart your ability to earn airline miles, you’ll be able to do so with the Hilton Honors points that you earn on this card. Now, these are considerably lower earning rates than you’d get on a credit card, though this is about the best earning rate you’ll get for a debit card with this annual fee.
Looking at this list by NerdWallet, you’ll see that you’ll get approximately 1 point for every £10 spent. This isn’t a spectacular deal, but at least there are a lot of different partners you can transfer to:
- Aeromexico: 25,000 Hilton Honors points = 6,500 Premier points
- Air Canada: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 Aeroplan points
- Air France/KLM: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 Flying Blue miles
- ANA: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 ANA Mileage Club miles
- British Airways: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 Avios
- Cathay Pacific: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 Asia miles
- Delta Air Lines: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 SkyMiles
- Etihad Airways: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 Etihad Guest miles
- Emirates: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 Skywards miles
- Japan Airlines: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 JAL miles
- Malaysia Airlines: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,200 Enrich points
- Qatar Airways: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 Privilege Club Qmiles
- Qantas Airways: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,500 Qantas Frequent Flyer points
- Singapore Airlines: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 500 KrisFlyer miles
- Turkish Airlines: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 Miles&Smiles miles
- United Airlines: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,000 MileagePlus miles
- Virgin Atlantic: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,500 Flying Club miles
- Virgin Australia: 10,000 Hilton Honors points = 1,500 Velocity points
You could potentially get a good deal in Virgin Atlantic’s Premium class with a healthy earning of Hilton Honors points
If you mainly earn points via flying and need a way to “top up” your miles in order to make a redemption, Hilton Honors points may be a good way to do so.
Hilton Honors Debit Card Launch Promotions: Act Fast
If you’re considering getting the Hilton Honors Debit Card, I’d highly suggest getting one within the next week. Hilton is running two promotions on the card, ending August 14th:
- If you’re getting the base card, you’ll be able to get 50% off your first year card fee, and earn 2,500 Hilton Honors upon spending £500 in foreign currency within 3 months of ordering the card
- If you’re getting the Plus card, you’ll receive triple the amount of sign-up bonus points (30,000 Hilton Honors points instead of 10,000) when you spend £2,500 in foreign currency on the card within 6 months of ordering the card
Earn 3x points when spending in foreign currency at the Hilton Osaka
Conclusion
The Hilton Honors Debit Card is a great way to passively earn rewards points on a debit card, and can be especially great if you’re not in a position to get a rewards credit card (e.g. if you’re a student). Obviously this won’t match the rewards you’ll typically get on a credit card, though you’ll still find some lucrative ways to spend these points at aspirational properties.
Click here to take advantage of the Hilton Honors Debit Card promotion!