Case of the Missing AMEX Hilton HHonors Bonus Points

As you know, the Hilton HHonors Devaluation is on March 28, so I've been working to get my HHonors points to post before then. American Express had kindly agreed to expedite my bonus points (as is typical, just the signup bonus, not points from actual spend) and I received a call that my points had been posted, several days after meeting my minimum spend and paying off the balance. The only problem? They weren't in my Hilton HHonors account when I logged in.

I called AMEX to ask about this, and found out that my points had been deposited in a different Hilton HHonors account. The agent said she couldn't merge the accounts and that I'd need to call HHonors Customer Care, at 800-446-6677.

When speaking with the Hilton HHonors representative, I found out that I must have missed the field on the application that asks “Are you enrolled in the Hilton HHonors program?” such that even though I'd provided my existing HHonors number to the AMEX representative when activating the card, a new Hilton HHonors account had already been created, and that's where the bonus points were deposited. 

And since it was easier for the HHonors representative to move all my existing Hilton HHonors account info and points to the new account, that's what she did, and then emailed me the PIN number of my new HHonors account.

There are two points here:

• If you happened to miss the field that asked about your existing HHonors account, a new one was created for you and your bonus points will automatically be deposited there. You'll need to move your existing account and points to the new account number
• Since a new HHonors account is created if you miss answering the question (since the default answer is “no”) this has been an easy way to receive multiple bonuses for those who churn this card, because the system doesn't check to see whether there's an existing account for you. Note that this does not work with every card; some of them will run a check even if you don't put in a number, to see if you have an existing frequent flyer or hotel loyalty account.