How My Hilton Card Turned a Luxury Resort Stay into an All-Inclusive Experience
I’m a big fan of luxury resort travel, but there’s a downside: Even if booked with points, the trip can be quite pricey due to expensive on-site dining. Of course, all-inclusive resorts can help significantly reduce these costs, but they are not typically known for excellent dining, which is important to me on any trip.
Luckily, there are some credit cards that offer statement points to offset spending, especially at Hilton properties, and I’ve been using these credit card offers for years to reduce my bill on luxury trips to Mexico, Hawaii, Bora Bora, and more. But it wasn’t until this year, when I was planning a trip to Portugal’s Algarve region, that I realized I could use them to completely eliminate my out-of-pocket costs.
Here’s what I did.
Earn Hilton bill points
I became a Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card I bought this product shortly after it debuted in early 2018, and it’s held the top spot in my wallet ever since. My husband also has this card and we both have it Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card We take advantage of its potential with free nightly certificates.
Both cards got a major update in late 2023, adding super-useful statement points to their list of benefits. Aspire Card holders can now earn up to $400 in statement points per year (up to $200 biannually) on qualifying purchases at participating Hilton resorts, while Surpass Card holders can now earn up to $50 in statement points per quarter (up to $200 per year) on Hilton purchases made with the card.
Continuing to accumulate Hilton points, I also received statement points from: American Express Business Platinum Card®. As a cardmember, I can earn up to $200 in statement points on Hilton purchases each calendar year, and similar to the points on the Surpass card, these points will be divided so that members can earn up to $50 per quarter (requires registration).
RELATED: How to Maximize $200 in Hilton Statement Points with Amex Business Platinum
All told, this means that if my husband and I booked a vacation trip every six months, combined we could get up to $550 in statement points on the card.
While this is ideal, sometimes, life gets in the way, and during the first half of the year I found ourselves sitting on a full $550 worth of points with no idea what to do with them.
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Double with coupons
Luckily, I was already planning a trip to Portugal for the second half of the year (2025), which would include a stay at the Conrad Algarve. To book a four-night resort stay, I used three free night certificates and 100,000 Hilton Honors points. Then, during my family vacation, I plan to use our total (up to) $550 in bill points to help pay for in-hotel expenses.
But having not planned for my first half credits, I decided to see if there was any way I could use them towards my stay in Portugal.
TPG Contributing Editor Matt Moffitt managed to put down a deposit to trigger resort points, but since I had already used my stay voucher and points, I didn’t need to do that. Instead, I called the resort and asked if they sold gift certificates that would cover hotel incidentals.
Sure enough, the staff directed me to the resort’s website, where you can purchase coupons for spa sessions, dining, and more. Not having anything to lose, I purchased a dining voucher using my phone. Business Platinum Card Find out what the purchase code looks like and if I can get reimbursed. When it was finished, I bought four more – one for each beyond card one per person desire card. In total, I purchased about $550 worth of dining vouchers (this is an estimate because the gift cards were purchased in Euros).
Related: How to use up to $400 in annual Hilton Aspire Resort points
My Hilton Conrad All-Inclusive Stay
As a result, when we arrived at the Conrad Algarve, we had spent a whopping $1,100 during our stay (approximately $550 in food and beverage credits and up to $550 in combined bill credit).
With this huge sum of money, we were able to pay for food and drinks that far exceeded anything I’ve ever had at an all-inclusive resort, such as Portugal’s famous port wine and a tasting menu at the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Gusto by Heinz Beck.
But we cover more than just food and drink. While a $550 food and beverage credit was issued, credit card statement points worth up to $550 could be used toward any charges to the room while we were at the resort. This included having a nanny arranged by the hotel to look after my daughter for an afternoon in the resort’s kids’ club while my husband and I read by the pool.
While guests usually pay the nanny directly with cash, since I didn’t have cash, the front desk staff asked me to charge cash to my room for a small fee (which was also covered by my bill points).
bottom line
Sometimes, even if you use points to book a hotel stay, the associated fees can add up — especially if you’re staying at a luxury hotel with matching prices.
Hilton’s generous bill credits can make these fees less painful or, if combined, even eliminate them entirely. If you’re trying to use up all your points or save up for a big luxury trip, this strategy might be for you.
Apply here: Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Apply here: Hilton Honors American Express Beyond Card
