IHG Rewards this week released its latest list of PointBreaks hotels that are available for booking for just 5,000 points per night.
27.07.2023 - 18:47 / smartertravel.com / Tim Winship / Credit Card
Are you a current or prospective Hilton loyalist? If so, a credit card linked to Hilton’s HHonors program is a no-brainer. And, for a limited time, one of the HHonors no-annual-fee cards comes bundled with a particularly generous sign-up bonus.
Offer Details
New customers for the Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature card can earn 75,000 bonus HHonors points after charging $2,000 within three months of opening an account.
Other card features:
No annual fee Annual percentage rate: variable, currently 15.49%, 17.49%, or 19.49% based on creditworthiness Earn 6 HHonors bonus points per $1 spent at Hilton hotels Earn 3 HHonors bonus points per $1 spent on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations Earn 2 HHonors bonus points for each $1 spent on other purchases Complimentary HHonors Silver status Fast track to Gold statusRELATED: Hilton’s New Direct-Booking Discount Comes with Caveats
The normal sign-up bonus for this card is 40,000 points. There’s no published end date to the 75,000-point offer, and it could be scaled back at any time.
Deal or No Deal
We’re not fans of churning: signing up serially for credit cards solely to earn lucrative bonuses. For the average consumer, such tactics are more time-consuming than they’re worth, and there’s the very real danger of damaging one’s credit rating in the process.
In this case, the up-front bonus is enticing, to be sure. As is the absence of an annual fee. The question, though, is whether there’s a place in your wallet for the card long term. And that question turns on the relevance of Hilton and the HHonors program to your travel.
There is no best loyalty program, or best travel-rewards card. There are only best programs and best cards for you, given your individual travel patterns, your goals, and so on. If the Citi Hilton Visa Signature card makes sense in that context, then by all means sign up for it while the bonus remains at what is likely to be the peak of generosity. Otherwise, move along; nothing to see here.
Reader Reality Check
Is there a place for this card in your wallet?
More from SmarterTravel: Starwood Follows Marriott in Raising Prices for Award Nights Congress Suspects Airlines Are Impeding Customer Complaints Starbucks Copies Airlines, Devalues Loyalty ProgramAfter 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.
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IHG Rewards this week released its latest list of PointBreaks hotels that are available for booking for just 5,000 points per night.
Following is our regular summary of the latest travel news and best frequent traveler promotions reviewed during the past week.
Bad news for the airlines often translates as good news for travel consumers.
You may remember the 100,000-mile bonus for new British Airways credit card sign-ups in 2010.
Starwood’s systemwide “Triple Up” bonus-points offer ends on July 31, and to date there’s been no word of a successor campaign for late summer and early fall stays.
Best Western isn’t known for its generous loyalty-program promotions. The rewards tend to be low value, and the offers have been hobbled by niggling restrictions.
Likely in response to JetBlue’s systemwide double-points promotion, in effect through February 29, Virgin America is also offering double points, but only on select routes.
Flying to Europe between now and July 31? Good. Flying on a first-, business-, or full coach-fare ticket? Even better. Because, bonus miles.
American Airlines’ AAdvantage program is 35 years old this month, and to promote that milestone, the airline is giving away miles:
As it has been doing with some regularity, Southwest has upped the sign-up bonus for its Rapid Rewards Premier credit card to 50,000 points.
Headed Down Under? Delta has announced a new bonus-mile promotion for Australia flights. But it’s not the only option.
With almost 1,400 hotels in operation or under development, the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group isn’t the largest of the hotel chains. But with six brands in more than 100 countries, it’s big enough to accommodate the needs of most travelers. That makes its Club Carlson loyalty program a contender.