The Hilton Honors changes are here...

Hilton Honors changed on 2 April: Points and Miles has been scrapped, new points earning rates have taken effect, nine new airline partners have been added and 11 airline partners have been dropped.

Points and Miles no more...

Until Sunday, you could choose between:

• 15 Honors points per $1 (Points and Points) 

or 

• 10 Honors points plus 1 airline mile per $1 (Points and Miles).

Taking Points and Miles was a no-brainer during promotions. It represented a substantial rebate on the room rate, especially on shorter inexpensive stays, because the airline bonus often stacked with Hilton's main Honors promotion.

Last summer for example, Hilton offered 2,000 bonus Avios for up to five stays. I took advantage in Buenos Aires, where I booked a number of one-night stays around the £50 mark at the Anselmo Buenos Aires, Curio Collection by Hilton. I combined this with Hilton's main Honors promotion at the time, which offered double Hilton points.

Until 25 March, Hilton offered up to 2,500 bonus Lufthansa Miles & More points per stay. This stacked with the current points unlimited promotion, which offers 2,000 bonus Hilton points per stay until 30 April.

New Hilton Honors earning rates

With Points and Miles scrapped, you will only earn Hilton Honors points for your stays at the following rates: 

• Blue members (base level) earn 10 base points per $1
• Silver members earn 12 base points per $1
• Gold members earn 18 base points per $1
• Diamond members earn 20 base points per $1

Additionally, Gold and Diamond members receive:

• 10,000 bonus points after 40 nights, and for every 10 nights thereafter; 
• 30,000 bonus points after 60 nights.

More on Flyertalk: Increased Elite Bonuses

Changes to airline partners and airline miles conversion rates

Hilton Honors still allows members to CONVERT Hilton points into airline miles. There have been no changes to the conversion rates for transfers into the two primary UK schemes:

• British Airways Executive Club 10:1
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 10:1.5

The conversion rate for the following three airline partners has improved:

• Lufthansa Miles & More 8:1 (used to be 10:1) - 5,000 Hilton points now convert into 625 Miles & More points
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 8:1 (used to be 10:1) - 4,000 Hilton points now convert into 500 KrisFlyer miles
• The minimum transfer requirement for conversion from Hilton points into Air New Zealand Airpoints Dollars has been lowered. You can now transfer as little as 5,000 Hilton points into 10 Airpoints. The minimum transfer threshold used to be 10,000 Hilton points. The conversion ratio of 500:1 has not changed.

Nine airline partners have been added and you can now convert Hilton points at the following ratio: 

• Air Asia 5:1
• Asiana 10:1
• China Eastern 10:1
• Emirates 10:1
• EVA Air 10:1
• Finnair: 5:1
• Garuda Indonesia: 10:1
• SAS 8:1
• Turkish Airlines 10:1

11 airline partners have been dropped:

• airBaltic PINS
• airberlin topbonus
• Air China PhoenixMiles
• China Southern Sky Pearl Club
• Czech Airlines OK Plus
• Gulf Air Falconflyer
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Multiplus
• OK Cashbag
• SriLankan FlySmiles
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus

The Upgrade Your Trip verdict

The new earning rates are a blow to Blue and Silver members, who are now earning fewer points:

• Before the changes Blue members would earn 15 Hilton points per $1; now Blue members only earn 10 points per $1. 
• A Silver member used to earn 16.5 points per $1 versus 12 points per $1 after the changes.
• The earning rate for Gold members has improved slightly. You will now earn 18 points per $1 (used to be 17.5 points per $1).
• There is no change for Diamond members, who continue to earn 20 points per $1.

Arguably, the new bonus points for Gold and Diamond members after 40, 50, 60, ... nights per year are an enhancement.   

But the loss of Points and Miles is a major devaluation. The attractive bonus airmiles offers, which often stacked with the main Hilton Honors promotion, was a major incentive to shift business to Hilton not only for heavy spenders. But double-dipping also allowed those who don't stay at Hilton often enough to qualify for any meaningful status (Gold and Diamond) to achieve a decent rebate on short stays. This is no longer possible.

Whilst the conversion rates for some airline partners have improved, they remain ludicrously poor. Why would anyone choose to convert 5,000 Hilton points into 625 Lufthansa Miles & More miles when Hilton award nights start at 5,000 points at the bottom end (former Category 1 Hotels)?