The Hilton Honors program has had dynamic rewards pricing for years. Without an award chart, the unannounced standard room award cap has increased multiple times over the years, including to 120,000 points in March 2022, 200,000 points in May 2025, and 250,000 points in September 2025.
However, Thrifty Traveler recently discovered that standard room awards at some high-end Hilton Honors hotels are now cheaper on select dates. For example, until recently, all standard room award nights at the Conrad Orlando Iveymore cost 105,000 points. But now we see some costing 90,000 points.
Several TPG employees also noticed that award rates for standard room awards and premium room awards are converging. For example, TPG’s Carly Helfand noted that during the same month at the Waldorf Astoria Maya, a standard room award night cost up to 180,000 points, while a premium room award night started at 145,000 points.
You can redeem additional Hilton Points on certain dates for premium room rewards at select Hilton properties. For example, on certain dates, a room with a view of Mt. Yotei at the Niseko Hilton is available as a premium room bonus and can be booked for just a few thousand more Hilton points per night.
This small difference may cause you to book a Premium Room Award when you redeem Hilton Points at the time of your stay. But remember, you can’t use Hilton free night certificates to earn premium room awards.
Related: How to redeem Hilton points for room upgrades
We also found some examples of award prices varying significantly between standards. For example, TPG’s Eric Rosen noted that while a standard room award night at the Conrad in Washington, D.C., costs 85,000 points on most dates, on some dates the standard room award cost jumps to 105,000 or even 180,000 points.
The difference is even more pronounced at the Hilton Niseko Village, where standard room awards can go as high as 160,000 points during the holiday ski season, but as low as 29,000 points during other seasons.
Unfortunately, all standard room award night pricing at many high-end Hilton Honors hotels is still at an unannounced 250,000 point cap. For example, standard room award nights at Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi and Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal still cost 250,000 points when available.
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Especially since some hotels offer cheaper standard room awards on certain dates, it’s worth checking your current Hilton Honors reservation to see if you can rebook at a lower price. If your schedule is flexible, it’s worth checking if you can save some points by traveling on different dates. For example, if you stay at the Conrad Washington, D.C. from March 19-22 instead of March 26-29, you can redeem 135,000 fewer points.
It’s also a good idea to regularly check your award bookings (not just in the Hilton Honors program, but in other programs that use dynamic award pricing) for any price drops. These checks can save you some serious points, especially when reward rates fluctuate frequently.
I’ll remind you every week to check for price reductions on your upcoming reservations, but you may want to check more or less frequently. Alternatively, you can set up award alerts in your favorite hotel awards tool (such as Rooms.aero) to notify you when award nights fall below a certain price.
Related: How and Why You Should Maximize Your Hotel Stay Experience by Using Multiple Loyalty Programs
bottom line
The downside to plans that use dynamic reward pricing is that reward rates can spike without notice. However, the positive aspect of dynamic award pricing is that sometimes award rates drop, especially if you have flexibility in choosing when and where you travel. Therefore, it is important to regularly check for price drops in dynamic rewards.
Hilton Free Night Certificates are still a great way to stay at hotels with sky-high standard room awards. However, especially as Standard Room Award rates converge with Superior Room Award rates, keep in mind that you can only use Hilton Free Night Certificates to earn Standard Room Awards.
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