Hilton Is Killing Me

I made a decision with my credit cards. And that decision is beginning to bite me in the proverbial behind.

The decision was easy. I’m using my Chase Rewards points for travel. I’m booking flights through the portal and using my points to pay for it. That decision was based on two things.

First, with my cash back card, I get 1.5 points for each purchase rather than 1.0. And those are transferrable to my Sapphire card which gets me 1.25 cents per point when buying airline tickets through the portal. It isn’t much, but it’s a pretty good multiplier.

That means my American Express cards points needed a home. So, I applied for the American Express Hilton Surpass card to book hotels where possible. That’s how I got my Doubltree in Monti, Rome (which was a great deal at the time!).

Earning points on my Gold and Platinum cards can be transferred to my Hilton account, and I wait for there to be an offer of buying TWO Hilton points for ONE AmEx point. So, the Hilton points actually only cost me 1/2 a cent to buy a cent. Or, 50 cents on the dollar.

That’s a decent deal.

But now, Hilton has cut their reward points. It now takes more points than ever to get a room reserved. And the multiplier effect has been negated.

Moving forward, I’ll probably cancel the Hilton card. The points will still be available in my Hilton account. But I will probably move more to IHG or even…gulp…Marriott.

Amex Hilton, you done me wrong, bruh.