The Deal Mommy

My twitter feed is clogged with offers to buy Hilton Points for .56 cents* each. I think it’s a terrible price the same way I think airline miles are worth no more than a penny. So my reaction in seeing these posts are the same as the ones I have when seeing miles “on sale” for 1.8+ cents each…and the one I want to share with you:  Points sales earn bloggers commission.   

I think it’s pretty much common knowledge that bloggers can earn megabucks on credit card sales. Most of you proceed carefully. But I don’t think it’s common knowledge that points.com also compensates for points sales. It’s not credit card money, but with sales averaging over $500 it adds up quickly.

Look- we all need to make a living. I’m certainly not above selling points when I think the price is good. My rule is “if I wouldn’t buy it, I won’t sell it” for items I promote on the blog.  I just think it’s important for you to be an informed consumer and consider the source before deciding if any specific deal is a good one for you.

The more you know…

The Deal Mommy is a proud member of the Saverocity network. 

*While Hilton redemptions nominally start at 5,000 points, most are well above 30,000 (and I’ve seen over 100,000) for places you’d want to stay at times you’d want to stay there.  Even worse, Hilton yanks availability entirely on peak dates.  A quick survey of my travel hacker friends revealed that some have had success redeeming with Hilton but that no one honestly valued them speculatively at over half a point each.  

(Edited to add: so far I’ve found two bona fide bargains: Daytona Beach during bike week, and a points + cash at the Hilton Hill Country that saved around $30 over published rates.)