Get VIP tickets to the BMW PGA golf with your Hilton Honors points

A few weeks ago, Emirates Skywards was offering tickets for the BMW PGA Golf Championship at Virginia Water from 15th to 17th September. The cost was 60,000 Emirates Skywards miles PER TICKET, which I’d value at £600 if used for flights.

Hilton Honors has now popped up with an identical offering. The price is 60% less than Emirates is asking!

Hilton Honors is offering VIP packages for the BMW PGA tournament from 115,000 Hilton Honors points for TWO tickets. Thursday packages were just 100,000 points but they sold out yesterday.

To put this in comparison:

• I value a Hilton Honors point at 0.33p so, at 115,000 points for two VIP tickets for the Friday, you are giving up £383 of free hotel rooms for two VIP packages

• I value an Emirates Skywards mile at 1p so, at 60,000 miles per ticket, you are giving up £1,200 of free flights for two VIP packages

If you look at it from the point of view of converting American Express Membership Rewards points:

• 57,500 Amex points gets you 115,000 Hilton points for two Friday VIP packages

• 120,000 Amex points gets you 120,000 Emirates miles for two Friday VIP packages

The only benefit of the Emirates packages is that they take ages to sell out because of the high price – the ones I wrote about three weeks ago are still there.

Based on last year, the Hilton packages will have disappeared by lunchtime today once this article has been widely read. Thursday packages had already gone by the time I wrote this piece.

Amex transfers to Emirates are also instantaneous if your accounts are already linked (it may take an hour or so if not) so there is no risk of a package disappearing whilst you wait for a transfer to complete. Amex to Hilton transfers take 1-2 days to complete which is risky here.

You can see details on the Emirates sport tickets website here and the Hilton Honors Experiences website here.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (April 2025)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit and debit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

There are two dedicated Hilton Honors debit cards. These are especially attractive when spending abroad due to the 0% or 0.5% FX fee, depending on card.

You also receive FREE Hilton Honors status for as long as you hold the debit cards – Gold status with the Plus card and Silver status with the basic card. This is a great reason to apply even if you rarely use it.

We reviewed the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card here and the Hilton Honors Debit Card here.

You can apply for either card here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 30th April 2025, the annual fee on the basic Hilton Honors debit card is halved from £60 to £30. The sign-up bonus is also easier to earn – you need to spend £1,000 either in the UK or abroad within three months. The usual bonus rule requires you to spend the full £1,000 outside the UK.

NEW: Hilton Honors Plus Debit

10,000 bonus points, Hilton Gold status and NO FX fees Read our full review

NEW: Hilton Honors Debit

2,500 bonus points, Hilton Silver status and 0.5% FX fees Read our full review

There is another way of getting Hilton Honors status, and earning Hilton Honors points, from a payment card.

Holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card.  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (50,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton Honors points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points.