Hilton Honors might not be as exciting a loyalty program as Marriott Bonvoy or even IHG Rewards.

However, Hilton has some amazing properties under its umbrella. Probably the reason why we end up collecting a few (or more than a few) Hilton Honors points every now and then.

But this occasional use of the program comes with its own problem - preventing your Hilton Honors points from expiring.

Do Hilton Honors points expire?

Yes, Hilton Honors points expire if there is no activity in your account for a continuous period of 15 months. This used to be 12 months earlier.

In case of no activity for 5 years, your account may be terminated.

How to extend the validity of your Hilton Honors points?

Fortunately, it’s pretty simple and cheap to extend the validity of your Hilton Honor points.

You need at least 1 qualifying activity every 15 months. However, since points might take time to post at times, it’s better to keep a buffer of 2 months at least.

Stay at a Hilton property

It could be the simplest option. However, it is not that cheap and requires a little more effort than required. Having said that, if you have a stay coming up anyway, why not stay at a Hilton instead. Have a look at the current Hilton promotions before you book.

Purchase Hilton Honor Points

This is probably the quickest and a pretty straightforward way to extend the validity of your Hilton Honors points.

All you need is to buy some Hilton Honor points and you are good to go for another 12 months.

This method is recommended if you are too close to your 15-month window.

The standard rate is $10 per 1000 points. However, with Hilton Buy Points promotions you can get a much better value.

Donate Points

If you have no use for your points, donating them is a good idea any day.

However, if you donate some of them, you also end up extending the validity of your remaining points.

Here’s the list of organizations you can donate to.

Unfortunately, it’s not as good as it sounds. There’s a minimum of 10,000 points that need to be donated and Hilton only pays $25 per 10,000 points to the charity. That’s a value of just 0.0025 dollars per point.

Hilton could have done better.

Hilton Honors Credit Cards

If you happen to hold any of the Hilton Honors Credit Cards, all you need to do is use your card once a year and you should be good to go.

There are mixed reports about transferring points from other cards to Hilton. For example American Express Membership Reward Points. It seems to work for some and not for others.

If you are planning to transfer your credit card points to Hilton, better to email them first and wait for a reply before you go ahead.

Partner Activities

A few partner activities that earn Hilton Honors points can also help you extend the validity of your points.

Hilton Dining Program and Hilton Lyft Program are good places to start.

Conclusion

It’s not too difficult or expensive to extend the validity of your Hilton Honors points. All you need to do is remember to do it in time.