Another transfer bonus is here for American Express cardmembers. This month they are offering a 50% boost on conversions from Membership Rewards to Hilton Honors. This is hot on the heels of the Marriott Bonvoy transfer bonus we saw last month.
The 50% Transfer Bonus
From now until October 31, any one with an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points can choose to transfer them to Hilton Honor and receive a 50% bonus when doing so. The standard conversion ratio is 1 MR point to 1 Hilton Honors points and with the bonus that works out to 1.50 Hilton Honors Points per 1 MR Point.
The offer as presented in the email sent from American Express state it can take up to 8 weeks for the bonus points to be posted to your Hilton account. This is over and above the initial up to 5 days it can take for the standard transfer to happen. Do keep this in mind if you are needing the points sooner than later. It is entirely possible they may post faster, let us know in the comments below if they do so we can share those data points with all our readers!
Which cards can I convert from?
All cards that earn Membership Rewards points are eligible for this offer and those cards are as follows:
- American Express Cobalt™ Card
- American Express® Gold Rewards Card
- The Platinum Card®
- American Express Green Card
- American Express Business Edge™ Card
- American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card
- Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Although this transfer bonus may not be as anxiously awaited as the Marriott bonus that we just saw in September, this one can represent a decent value proposition. We usually value Hilton points around 0.7 cents each in C$ so in effect you are receiving 1.05 cents per Membership Rewards point. However, on numerous occasions we have found Hilton redemptions at 0.8 cents in US$ or about 1.12 cents each in C$ which would boost the value to 1.68 cents per Membership Rewards point.
As the offer is in market for only one month this time, if you don’t have an American Express Card for this offer you would need to get one the cards listed above almost immediately and get your required spending done by the third week of October to be able to transfer the welcome bonus over to Hilton!
Decent value in the conversion to Hilton
When you take into consideration the points multipliers that you receive on the various Amex cards, this bonus can provide good value for your spending. For example, if all your Membership Rewards points were earned on the American Express Cobalt Card from the 5x eats and drinks category, you are in fact earning 7.5 Hilton Honors points per dollar spent or a 5.25% return with this bonus – if not more! That’s a pretty good return and something to consider given the fact that you can pull even more value out of Hilton Honors than 0.7 cents per point. If we take the 1.12 cents value we have found some redemptions that works out to an 8.4% return on 5x points spending.
Considerations
Remember in the numbers above we are only taking into account 5 points per dollar spending from the Cobalt Card. Once you bring in non Eats and Drinks spend and/or the lower earn rates the other American Express cards provide, your overall value will drop but not to a point where these bonuses should be ignored. It really depends on how, when and where you as an individual want to be rewarded.
You also want to consider that Membership Rewards points can be transferred directly to airlines like Air Canada, Air France KLM and British Airways which can provide even more value per point if redeemed for business class or first class tickets. Actually, let me correct myself here, even on economy class tickets now as Air France KLM’s 25,000 mile redemption rates often provide at least 1.8 cents per Membership Rewards point if not more.
Wrapping it up
Ultimately you have to look at the big picture of when, where, how and who you think you might travel with in the future. I’ve said for the better part of now 24 years of doing this that for some Canadians, hotel programs can make way more sense for a family than a frequent flyer program. Think about it – how much money would you have to spend to get four business class tickets versus how much money you need to spend to get one luxurious hotel room? The latter in many cases will take a lot less (although Hilton has devalued some top locations three times in the past year) and with a bonus like this available it makes reaching that goal potentially easier. Then ask yourself this question that I have also posed for many years: do you want 7-10 hours of luxury or 7 days of luxury? I know which I’d pick. Granted some of us our lucky in that we can potentially do both for our families but for most Canadians it will be one or the other.
On the flip side, if you are single traveller or perhaps even two travellers it is a more of grey area as to where to park your points and which bonuses to take advantage of. Do you convert your Membership Rewards points to Hilton right now for this bonus or do you think you can get better value using your points for flights? These are all questions you need to ask yourself before you convert.
Offer terms & Conditions:
Membership Rewards point transfers must be made in increments of 100 points with a minimum transfer requirement of 1,000 points for each transfer. At the regular redemption rate, 1,000 Membership Rewards points = 1,000 Hilton Honors Points. From 12:00:01 am ET on October 1, 2025, until 11:59:59 pm ET on October 31, 2025, when you transfer Membership Rewards points to Hilton you will receive 50% more Hilton Honors Points on the total number of Membership Rewards points transferred. For example, if you transfer 1,000 Membership Rewards points to Hilton, you will be credited a total of 1,500 Hilton Honors Points. Please allow up to eight (8) weeks after October 31, 2025, for the bonus points to be credited to your Hilton Honors account. You must be enrolled in Hilton Honors in order to participate in this offer. Visit HiltonHonors.com/join to enrol. American Express is not responsible for availability, accommodations or any other rewards in the Hilton Honors program. Once you have transferred Membership Rewards points, they become subject to the Terms and Conditions of the Hilton Honors program and cannot be transferred back to your Membership Rewards program account. This offer is non‑transferable and may not be combined with other offers. American Express in its sole discretion reserves the right to alter and or terminate these offers at any time. Hilton Honors bonus points do not count towards elite tier qualification. Hilton Honors membership, earning and redemption of points are subject to Hilton Honors Terms & Conditions.
