If you're looking to earn additional Hilton Honors Points when you purchase meals, you've come to the right place.
Luckily, you're already earning credit card rewards on your restaurant spending with one of the best restaurant credit cards. However, many major hotel and airline loyalty programs offer dining rewards programs that allow you to earn rewards while dining out.
There are different types of rewards you can earn through this program. Let’s learn how to earn Hilton Points using the Hilton Honors Dining Program.
Related: The 19 Best Hilton Hotels in the World
Hilton Honors Dining Overview
The Hilton Honors Dining Program allows you to earn Hilton Honors Points when you dine at select restaurants. These points are typically added to rewards earned through credit cards or the restaurant's rewards program.
To begin the Hilton Honors Dining Program, you must join the program, register at least one card, and search for an eligible restaurant. The rest of this guide will walk you through everything you need to know.
Related: Hilton Honors Awards Traveler's Guide
How to sign up
To sign up for the Hilton Honors Dining program, go to the Hilton Honors Dining website. You'll fill out a short form including your first name, last name, zip code, Hilton Honors number, email address, and your preferred password.
You must also agree to the program terms and conditions. To maximize your earning potential, we recommend opting in to receive emails.
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The final step required to sign up for Hilton Honors Dining is to link your card to your account. When you add a card to Hilton Honors Dining, it will automatically be removed from any other dining programs you have enrolled the card in. For example, within minutes of adding the card to my Hilton Honors Dining account, I received an email informing me that the card had been removed from my Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Dining account.
Related: 8 Ways to Maximize Your Hilton Honors Use
How to Use Hilton Honors Dining
When you join Hilton Honors Dining, you can search for restaurants, bars and clubs near you that participate in the program. You can use the search function. Enter a city in the search bar to see a variety of results.
You'll automatically earn bonus points every time you dine at an eligible restaurant, bar or club and pay with the card you enroll in Hilton Honors Dining.
Each credit card may be enrolled in only one Rewards Network operated dining program at a time. Therefore, if you add your card to a dining program operated by another Rewards Network, that card will automatically be removed from Hilton Honors Dining.
Related Topic: Can I earn rewards through the Dining Rewards Program and my credit card at the same time?
Accumulation rate
Hilton Honors Dining Program earning rates vary depending on several factors. Specifically, you can earn the following returns:
- 8 bonus points per dollar when you dine at least 11 times per year and opt-in to email notifications from Hilton Honors Dining. This accumulation level is called the VIP level, and you maintain this accumulation level in the year you earn it and the following year.
- Five bonus points per dollar if you dine no more than 10 times per year and choose to receive email notifications from Hilton Honors Dining. This accumulation level is called the Select level.
- If you opt out of email notifications, you'll receive 2 bonus points per dollar. This accumulation level is called the base level.
Hilton Honors Points are worth about 0.6 cents each, according to TPG's valuation. So if you earn 8 points per dollar, you'll get a 4.8% return on your spend. Meanwhile, 5 points per dollar equates to a 3% return, while 2 points per dollar provides a 1.2% return.
Therefore, if you plan to take advantage of the Hilton Honors Dining Program, we recommend opting in to receive email notifications. You will receive an email once a week, providing restaurant recommendations and notifications when new restaurants in your area join the program.
If you did not initially opt-in to receive email notifications, you can now opt-in to receive email notifications by logging into your Hilton Honors Dining account. Click the “Profile” tab and then select “Yes, I would like to earn Hilton Honors Bonus Points by dining at participating restaurants. Please send me emails from time to time about restaurants in my area, special offers and bonus opportunities where I can earn Bonus Points. Check the box that says “
Related: What is Hilton Honors elite status worth?
Card that can be used for Hilton Honors dining
When setting up your Hilton Honors Dining profile, it's ideal to register at least one of the cards best suited for dining. Here are the best cards currently available:
To quickly earn Hilton Honors Points for future use, we recommend enrolling your Hilton Card in the Hilton Honors Dining Program. If you use it after registering as a member, Hilton Amex Surpass Card When you dine at eligible U.S. restaurants, you can earn 6 Hilton points per dollar, depending on your card's bonus category. Additionally, you can earn up to 8 Hilton Points per dollar spent at Hilton Honors Dining.
Related: Best Hilton Cards
conclusion
As with all dining rewards programs, knowing nearby restaurants that participate in the program is the best way to maximize your Hilton Honors dining. However, you can only earn at the highest rate if you have VIP level status.
The dining rewards program is free to join, but you should consider whether the Hilton Honors program is the best dining rewards program for you. Ultimately, you can only enroll each credit card in one Rewards Network dining program at a time.
Based solely on TPG's ratings, some airline dining programs may offer better value than the Hilton Honors dining program. Ultimately, it comes down to which points and miles you want to earn the most at this time.