1 Stay = 14,543 Points

Last weekend, I had a 2 night stay at a Hilton Conference Center. Overall, the stay was good except for the lack of hot water one morning.

On Tuesday, I checked my Hilton account and learned that I earned 11,643 points from 1 stay.

As you can see, the points earned cam from multiple different sources.

First, I earned 7,000 points from the most recent Hilton promotion, as I wrote here. 1,000 points per night (2,000) + 5,000 points for staying 2 nights = 7,000!

Then the base points come from my bill. You earn 10 pts per $1 spent at the hotel minus certain expenses like taxes. I spent $266.50 at the hotel. That earned me 2,665 points.

Next, as a Gold member, I earn a 25% bonus on the base points. 2,665 x 25% = 663.

The last way I earned points is the 50% Bonus on Base Points is from choosing the Points & Points option. This option earns you an additional 5 Bonus Points per $1 spent.

Overall, the haul was pretty nice, but where did the last 2,900 points come from. Great question! One of the most important decisions on any trip is which credit card to use. This decision was easy for me. The card I used was the Citi Hilton Reserve:

The card earns you 10 points for every $1 spent on a Hilton Portfolio.

My $290 stay earned me 2,900 points from the credit card.

Credit Card - 2,900 points

Hotel Stay - 11,543 points

Total: 14, 543

A great haul for 1 stay at a Hilton!

What is the most points you have ever earn in 1 stay?

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Exchange Gift Cards

Did Grandma give you a gift card to PETCO for Christmas, but you don't have a pet?

Well, United has a solution; Gift Card Exchange. United will allow you to exchange your gift card for miles.

To exchange your gift card, you needs to go to this website and complete three easy steps:

The amount of miles that you earn depends on the amount of the gift card and demand for that merchant. The website provides you with a chart to show you approximate number of miles one can earn.

Now the exchange is offering a 25% bonus:

I decided to try out the exchange with a $25 Best Buy Gift Card. The exchanged offered me 840 miles like the chart above shows.

Since I paid $25 for the card, the 840 would cost be 2.9 cents per mile. Not a great redemption value. However, if you get the card for free and don't want it then it may be a good redemption.

Here are a few additional things you need to know about the exchange:

Here is a list of most of the gift cards that they will exchange for miles:


Abercrombie & Fitch                Dick's Sporting Goods         Lowe's                              The North Face
Areopostale                             Disney Store                      Macy's                               TicketMaster
Armeine Exchange                   Domino's Pizza                   Nieman Marcus                  Toys R US
Banana Republic                      DSW                                  New York & Company        United Artists
Barnes & Noble                        EB Games                          Nike                                 Victoria Secret
Bass Pro Shops                         Ethan Allen                        Nordstrom                        Walmart
Bath & Body Works                  Finish Line                         OfficeMax                         West Elm
Bed Bath & Beyond                  Flemings                            OfficeDepot                      Zappos.com
Best Buy                                 Foot Locker                        Old Navy
Bob Evans                               Forever 21                          Omaha Steaks
Bon Ton                                  Four Seasons                       Orvis
Bonefish Grill                          Gap, Gap Kids                     Overstock.com                        
Brooks Brothers                       Guess                                 Payless
Buca di Beppo                         Guitar Center                      PETCO
Burton                                    Hollister                             Pottery Barn
Cache                                    Home Dept                          Puma
CB2                                        HP                                     Pipeline
Chico's                                   J. Crew                               REI
Coach                                    Justice                                Regal Entertainment
Columbia                               Kmart                                 Rite Aid
Converse                                Kohl's                                  Saks Fifth Avenue
Crate & Barrel                        L.L. Bean                            Sears
CVS                                       Land's End                           Target
Carrabbas Italian Grill            Legal Sea Food                    The Body Shop
Champs Sports                       Lids                                     The Container Store
Dean & Dulca                         Lord & Taylor                      The Great Indoors

I would not recommend this as a way to earn miles except if you have no use of gift card. There are cheaper ways to earn the miles than buying gift cards for the purpose of exchanging for miles.

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 Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com