Hilton Honors Dining program guide
Key takeaways
- Hilton Honors Dining allows you to earn Hilton Honors bonus points for dining at participating restaurants, bars and clubs.
- To participate in Hilton Honors Dining, you’ll need to create a Hilton Honors account, sign up for the dining rewards program and link a credit or debit card.
- If you want to maximize your Hilton Honors Dining rewards, use a top rewards credit card that offers points, miles or cash back on every purchase.
Hilton Honors Dining is a great program for those who want to be rewarded for one of life’s simple pleasures — eating out at your favorite restaurant. Whether you’re looking for a fancy five-course meal or a casual bite, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to earn Hilton Honors bonus points by signing up for the dining program. If you love eating out, chances are the Hilton dining program is a quick way to rack up extra Hilton Honors rewards you can use for future stays with the brand.
What is the Hilton Honors Dining program?
The Hilton dining program combines two concepts: eating out and earning Hilton Honors bonus points. Once you enroll, you’ll be eligible to earn up to 8 points for every dollar you spend at a qualifying restaurant, bar or club. Upon enrollment, you’ll have access to the Hilton dining website so you can quickly find eligible restaurants in your area.
One of the best perks of the program is you earn points for every dollar you spend — including taxes and tips! In addition to the points per dollar, you’ll have opportunities to participate in bonus programs throughout the year and earn an initial enrollment bonus. You’ll earn points at participating establishments right away after enrolling by using your linked card at a participating restaurant, bar or club.
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How does it compare to other dining programs?
The Hilton Honors Dining program isn’t the only loyalty program that rewards dining. If you regularly fly United, for example, you may want to consider signing up for the United MileagePlus Dining program. Many major airlines and hotels offer dining rewards, including the American AAdvantage Dining program, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining program and the IHG Rewards Club Dining program. All of these programs allow you to link a credit card and earn loyalty points at participating restaurants.
Which dining program is best for you? It all depends on where you fly, stay and eat most often. If you use many different airlines but always stay at Hilton hotels, you might want to sign up for the Hilton Honors Dining program. If you live near a Southwest hub, you might get the most out of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining program. You may also want to check to see which loyalty programs reward your favorite restaurants and choose your dining program that way.
You can enroll in multiple dining programs at once — and you might be able to maximize your loyalty rewards by pairing a Hilton credit card with the Hilton dining program, a United credit card with the United dining program and so on.
Keep in mind: While you can enroll in as many individual programs as you’d like, you can only link a card with one program at a time. In other words, if you enroll in three programs, you’ll need at least three different cards to link.
Steps to get started with Hilton Honors Dining
Visit the program portal
First, visit the Hilton Honors Dining program portal to get started. You’ll be asked for the standard information, such as your name, email address and zip code. You’ll also be asked to provide your Hilton Honors membership number — and if you aren’t a Hilton Honors member yet, you’ll want to sign up before you complete your Hilton Honors Dining application.
The Hilton Dining program is free to join. Simply fill out the required information and you’re ready to go. We recommend opting-in to Hilton Dining emails, which alert you to special offers and opportunities to earn bonus points as well as the chance to increase the amount of points you earn every time you dine out.
Enroll in the program with a qualifying card
You’ll be asked to link a credit or debit card to enroll in the Hilton Honors Dining program — this is for registration purposes only, and you won’t be charged for anything. You can link a Hilton credit card if you want to maximize your Hilton points, but you can also link any other card of your choosing. This would be a great opportunity to link a card that offers a top rewards program so you can earn points, miles or cash back along with your Hilton dining rewards.
You can link multiple cards to your Hilton Dining account, if you want, but you can only link a credit or debit card to one dining program at a time. This means that once you link a card to the Hilton Dining program, you won’t be able to link the same card to the United MileagePlus Dining program or the Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining program. That said, you can always de-link a card if you’d rather connect it to a different loyalty dining program.
It’s also worth noting that if you link a debit card, you’ll need to treat it like a credit card during the restaurant payment process. Otherwise, Hilton won’t be able to credit the appropriate rewards to your account.
Start earning Hilton Honors bonus points
You’re eligible to earn points as soon as you enroll. To get started, browse the Hilton dining website and use the search function to see which restaurants, bars and clubs are currently offering rewards. You can search by multiple factors including location, reviews, cuisine or price.
Hilton Dining rewards can change daily, so make sure that the rewards you’re hoping to earn are still being offered the day you plan to dine — and keep your eyes out for any bonus rewards you might be able to earn by dining at specific restaurants.
How many Hilton Honors bonus points can you earn?
You can earn unlimited bonus points through Hilton Honors Dining. The amount you earn on each purchase will vary depending on your membership level.
Your level is based on your willingness to receive email communications and how many qualifying transactions you make in a year The tiers are as follows:
| Level | How to qualify | Points earned |
|---|---|---|
| Basic members | Opt out of email communication | 2 bonus points per $1 spent |
| Select members | Opt into email communication | 5 bonus points per $1 spent |
| VIP members | Opt into email communication and complete at least 11 qualifying transactions in a calendar year | 8 bonus points per $1 spent |
How to maximize rewards earning with Hilton Honors Dining
Choose the right credit card to enroll
Picking the best credit card to use with Hilton Dining is one of the best ways to maximize your rewards. You may want to use a co-branded credit card that allows you to earn Hilton points on purchases, or you may want to choose one of the best credit cards for dining out. Here are a few cards to consider:
- The Citi Custom Cash® Card offers 5% cash back on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle (up to the first $500 spent) and 1% cash back thereafter. Restaurants are one of the eligible 5% categories.
- The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card offers 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases, 5% on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel (terms apply), 3% on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target) and 1% cash back on all other purchases.
- The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 5x points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3x points on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases and 1x on all other purchases.
Another option is to choose an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points since Hilton Honors is a Membership Rewards transfer partner.
Welcome bonus opportunities
New members often have the opportunity to earn extra Hilton Honors bonus points. As of this writing, for example, you can earn 500 bonus points when you spend $25 on dining and complete an online review within your first 30 days of membership. If you’re considering signing up for Hilton Honors Dining, make sure you take advantage of any welcome bonuses that are available.
Opt into receiving emails
When you initially enroll, you’re given the option to opt in for Hilton Honors Dining program emails. If you subscribe, you’re eligible to earn up to 8 Bonus Points per dollar spent if you dine out 11 times per year or more at participating restaurants. This is referred to as the VIP level, and is one of the best ways to get the most out of your Hilton dining rewards.
Even if you don’t dine out 11 times in a year, you’ll still earn 5 bonus points per dollar when you agree to receive emails. If you decline to receive the emails, however, your earning potential drops to 2 points per dollar no matter how many times you dine out. While the choice is yours, you can earn the most when you dine out more than 11 times a year and opt in for the Hilton Honors Dining program emails.
Furthermore, the Hilton Dining program regularly gives members the opportunity to earn additional bonus points — and the best way to find out about these bonuses is by opting in to the Hilton Honors Dining emails. You may be able to earn bonus rewards by ordering online, writing restaurant reviews, linking additional cards or frequenting specific restaurants.
Other ways to maximize points
It may seem obvious, but planning your dining to ensure that you’re choosing eligible restaurants is key to maximizing the program. Use the Hilton Dining online resources or your Hilton Dining emails to confirm that you’ve selected a venue that will allow you to earn dining rewards, and keep your eyes out for restaurants, bars and clubs that might offer bonus rewards-earning opportunities. If you can earn extra points by writing a review, for example, make sure to take the extra time.
Lastly, think carefully about how you want to redeem your Hilton Honors points. The Hilton Honors program allows you to redeem points for free or reduced-cost stays at Hilton properties around the globe, which is one of the best ways to maximize your point value. However, it’s worth considering all of your options before redeeming your rewards. Not only can points be used towards travel expenses, but you can also use them for dining and adventure experiences, shopping excursions, airline transfers, rental cars or even Lyft rides.
FAQs
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Only Hilton Honors base points count towards Hilton Honors status. The bonus points you earn through Hilton Honors Dining do not count towards status tier qualification. If you want to move into Hilton’s Silver, Gold or Diamond tier, you’ll need to meet additional requirements that can’t be earned through Hilton Dining alone.
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Hilton Honors points expire after 24 consecutive months of inactivity. If you are concerned that your points might expire, you can keep your account active by earning, redeeming or purchasing Hilton Honors points.
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Yes, Hilton Honors members can purchase up to 80,000 points per year for $800. You can purchase in increments starting with 1,000 points. In some cases, Hilton may offer bonus points when you purchase points online — so keep your eyes out for those valuable point-earning opportunities.
The bottom line
Enrolling in the Hilton Honors Dining program is one of the most effortless ways to earn Hilton Honors bonus points. You sign up, link your Hilton Honors number and a card and you’re on your way. You can stretch your earning potential further by linking to a credit card with a generous bonus structure, linking multiple credit cards and opting-in for the Hilton dining emails. The hardest decision you’ll have to make with the Hilton dining program is choosing which restaurant to eat at first so you can begin earning.
