Members of the Hilton Honors loyalty program (hhonors3.hilton.com) can earn reward points for a number of activities. Methods of accumulating points include hotel stays at Hilton properties, co-branded credit card activity, car rentals, shopping and dining. The first step is to register as a Hilton Honors member and create an account.

Hotel Stays

The traditional method of earning points is through stays at the chain of properties including Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Conrad and Homewood Suites. Although rates vary, most hotels award travelers 10 base points for every dollar spent. In addition to the base points earned, members can choose a bonus in the form of additional Hilton points, 500 airline miles per stay or one airline mile for each dollar spent during your stay; Hilton refers to this as its "My Way Earning Style."

Elite Bonuses

Like other loyalty programs, Hilton Honors has elite tiers to reward frequent guests. Members earn Silver status after four stays or 10 nights, and get a 15 percent point bonus. Gold status is reached after 20 stays or 36 nights and merits a 25 percent bonus. The top tier is Diamond, awarded to members who have 30 stays or 60 nights, which yields a 50 percent bonus. In all three cases, members must qualify based on their activity during each calendar year.

Credit Cards

Hilton participates in two co-branded credit card programs. The first is the Citi Hilton HHonors Signature Visa Card (creditcards.citi.com), which awards between two and six points for every dollar spent, along with enrollment bonuses. The Hilton HHonors Card from American Express (304.americanexpress.com) gives an enrollment bonus as well, in addition to between three and six points for every dollar.

Car Rentals

Hilton Honors members can earn points when renting a car with Alamo (alamo.com), Avis (avis.com), Budget (budget.com), Car Club (carclub-rentals.com), Europcar (europcar.com), National (nationalcar.com), Sixt (sixt.com) and Thrifty (thrifty.com). Reward levels vary. As of December 2012, Alamo and National awarded triple points and up to a 25 percent discount; Avis gave members 250 bonus points in addition to the same discount.

Shopping and Dining

The Hilton HHonors Shop-to-Earn online mall allows members to garner points for purchases at various retailers; incentives vary from one to 18 points per dollar spent. Members can also accrue up to eight points per dollar when dining at participating restaurants, in addition to a sign-up bonus of 1,000 points awarded during the first month of participation in the program.

Other Methods

Earning possibilities with HHonors include bonuses for booking cruises with Cruises Only (cruisesonly.com) and participating in certain mobile phone offers. In addition, members can accumulate points with programs such as e-Miles (e-miles.com) and e-Rewards (e-rewards.com), which award benefits for responding to marketing messages and participating in surveys.

About the Author

Mark Spivak is a writer and reporter with more than 20 years of experience. He has contributed to various newspapers, magazines and online publications, including "National Geographic Traveler," "Robb Report," "Art & Antiques," "Men's Journal" and Newsmax. Spivak is also the author of "Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History," published by Lyons Press.

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