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Hilton and Small Luxury Hotels have announced an exclusive relationship to begin later this year where you’ll be able to earn, redeem Hilton points at roughly 560 SLH properties. This was an incredible part of the Hyatt program whereby you could get great value from World of Hyatt points at smaller, more boutique, often quite luxurious hotels around the world. It was pretty obvious that this partnership would end after Hyatt announced the acquisition of Mr and Mrs Smith late last year, but unclear as to where it would end up. I actually thought there was a flip flop in the works whereby SLH could partner with IHG since IHG lost Mr and Mrs Smith to Hyatt, but alas, Hilton beat them out.
My expectations for redemption pricing are pretty low. Hilton properties are dynamic with “base” pricing reaching 150k to 180k for properties like the Waldorf Maldives, Conrad Bora Bora, and Waldorf Beverly Hills. Will the SLH properties be in this pricing neighborhood? It wouldn’t surprise me that many are ridiculously high, but then again, there are always sweet spots.
One big complaint that many Hyatt members had was the lack of elite benefits being consistently given when staying at SLH properties since it was a partnership and not officially under the World of Hyatt umbrella. I had a great upgrade at the Cellars-Hohehort in Cape Town, but the typical experience was Globalists never really saw much of a bump even in low occupancy when staying at SLH properties, and suite upgrade certs couldn’t be applied on SLH properties. Hilton Golds and Diamonds are guaranteed far fewer benefits, which is likely to make SLH property owners happier, but don’t expect the red carpet to rolled out even with top tier status.
This was our room we booked for just 12k points per night!
You will be able to book SLH properties on Hilton booking channels, and fingers crossed they extend the 5th night free on Hilton Honors bookings.
Here’s a quote from Hilton:
“Hilton guests are among the most sophisticated travelers in the world, and we are always looking for amazing new experiences to share with them,” said Chris Silcock, president, Global Brands and Commercial Services, Hilton. “This relationship with Small Luxury Hotels of the World will grant Hilton customers and Hilton Honors members access to a community of high-end boutique hotels in exciting new luxury travel destinations, giving them more ways to dream, book, and earn and redeem points with Hilton.”
Overall
If you’re sitting on a ton of Hilton Honors…you will have a lot more options for redemption; however, it has yet to be seen how properties will price and ultimately what percentage of the portfolio will be bookable.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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