UPDATE: GLON Awards are no longer available.
This is post #6 of a series regarding the Hilton HHonors hotel program.
Related Posts:
- Introduction to a new Hilton Credit Card – Citi® Hilton HHonorsTM Reserve Card
- Hilton Credit Card Comparison
- Earning Status with Hilton
- What does Hilton Status Get You?
- Understanding the Double-dip Options
- Utilizing Hilton GLON Awards (GLON awards have been discontinued)
- Utilizing Hilton AXON Awards
- GLON vs. AXON – Which One is Better? (GLON awards have been discontinued)
- Utilizing Hilton’s 5th Night Free Awards
- AXON vs. 5th Night Free Award – Which One is Better?
- Understanding Hilton Cash and Points Redemption
I’ll be the first to agree that Hilton requires too many points to redeem an award, however, if you take advantage of their double dipping options properly and learn more about their GLON and AXON (AXON awards will be discussed in the next post in this series), then their points can go much further.
What exactly are GLON awards? They are elite only awards where you get discounted point redemption for multi-night stays (4-14 nights) at category 3-7 + Waldorf Astoria hotels. You MUST have Silver, Gold, or Diamond elite status to access these discounted awards (which is super easy to get – I’ll explain later on in this post).
What is the GLON discount?
- Category 3 hotel, typically requires 25,000 points/night
- GLON discount for 4 nights = 21,250 points/night
- GLON discount 5 nights = 20,000 points/night
- GLON discount 6-14 nights = 18,750 points/night
- Category 4 hotel, typically requires 30,000 points/night
- GLON discount for 4 nights = 25,500 points/night
- GLON discount 5 nights = 24,000 points/night
- GLON discount 6-14 nights = 22,500 points/night
- Category 5 hotel, typically requires 35,000 points
- GLON discount for 4 nights = 29,750 points/night
- GLON discount 5 nights = 28,000 points/night
- GLON discount 6-14 nights = 26,250 points/night
- Category 6 hotel, typically requires 40,000 points
- GLON discount for 4 nights = 34,000 points/night
- GLON discount 5 nights = 32,000 points/night
- GLON discount 6-14 nights = 30,000 points/night
- Category 7 hotel, typically requires 50,000 points
- GLON discount for 4 nights = 42,500 points/night
- GLON discount 5 nights = 40,000 points/night
- GLON discount 6-14 nights = 37,500 points/night
- Waldorf Astoria hotels, typically requires between 50,000-80,000 points/night depending on the resort and if it is high season or low season.
- GLON discount for 4 nights = take a 15% discount off the rate
- GLON discount for 5 nights = take a 20% discount off the rate
- GLON discount for 6-14 nights = take a 25% discount off the rate
You can essentially think of this discount as getting your 5th night free on an award redemption (at category 3-7 + WA hotels), similar to both the Starwood and Marriott program (although they do not require elite status). The advantage that Hilton has on Starwood and Marriott though, is that for your 4 night stay you are still receive a 15% discount and if you have a stay longer than 5 nights, you are getting an even greater discount at 25% off, which is a greater discount than just one night free.
What are some ways to earn status? Since the only way to access these discounted awards is by having status (Silver, Gold, or Diamond), if you have a big stay coming up, it is really in your best interest to earn status prior to redeeming your points. I have an entire post dedicated to earning status with Hilton, so you can check out the details here, but to quickly recap:
- Stay at Hilton branded hotels – 10 nights or 4 stays in a calendar year will earn you Silver status (for the remaining year and the following year) which is all you need to access these awards
- Have a Hilton branded credit card – 3 out of 4 of their credit cards give you automatic status for the entire time you are a card member.
- Sign up for a “Fast Track to Gold” challenge, where if you stay 4 times in 90 days you’ll receive Gold status. This often comes up quite often and most are typically eligible. You can learn about the current offer here.
How do I apply the discount to my award redemption? There is no extra steps you need to take. If you are eligible, meaning you have status, the discounted number of points will automatically appear when you go to make your reservation. No extra buttons you need to press or a phone number you need to call. It is really simple, which I like!
Enjoy your discounted awards!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links for some of the credit cards. All of these are the best offers available. As always, thanks for your support and happy traveling on a deal!
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What do GLON and AXON stand for?
@Grant – I actually have no idea. I’ll see if I can find out though!
This is really helpful. I really appreciate the work you do. Hotel points are harder to understand for me. I now know that I can get a discount with GLON (I thought it was only AXON). And it seems like I might actually save a bit more with GLON with a stay in a Category 6 hotel I want to do next summer for 4 nights in Vancouver. I have gold status and a Citi Visa hilton honors (not the reserve).
@Mariana – Glad this helped! Next post will be on AXON. And then a comparison between the two.
[…] Utilizing Hilton’s GLON / VIP Awards […]
I tried to book a stay using the Axon and Glon discounts at the Waldorf Astoria property at The Canyons and was told that Axon did not apply to that location and Glon could not be used because it was high season. What’s the point of having discount awards if you can’t use them?
oh shitt i wish i knew this, i have gold status and have citi hilton no af card, booked and stayed 9 award nights in thailanf.
[…] Utilizing Hilton GLON Awards (GLON awards have been discontinued) […]