Hilton Honors Members Shortchanged on Qantas Points Transfers

Hilton Honors, a hotel loyalty program, lets you convert your points to 27 different airlines including Qantas and Virgin Australia.

The “points exchange rate” varies depending on which airline you transfer your points to. When transferring 10,000 Hilton Honors points to either Qantas or Virgin Australia, you should get 1,500 Qantas or Velocity points.

I recently wanted to top up my Qantas points, so converted 10,000 Hilton Honors points to Qantas Frequent Flyer.

A week later, the points arrived in my Qantas account – but only 150 of them. That’s just 10% of the points I should have received.

I thought this was unusual, but it turns out that this wasn’t just a one-off glitch. AFF members have been reporting this issue since 2023.

This is a systematic problem

I highly doubt that either Hilton Honors or Qantas Frequent Flyer are deliberately shortchanging their members when they transfer points. It’s quite possible that somebody simply forgot to add a zero in a document or database somewhere when setting up the process for transferring Hilton Honors points to Qantas Frequent Flyer.

That said, some AFF members have found it quite difficult to get the error fixed after receiving the incorrect amount of Qantas points. The fact that this has already been happening for well over a year isn’t great either.

It’s not entirely clear whether Hilton or Qantas caused the issue.

I do also wonder how many people didn’t notice that they had been shortchanged and didn’t follow up, or simply gave up trying to get this fixed.

Hilton says it’s working on a solution

A Hilton spokesperson told Australian Frequent Flyer that the company is working on a solution.

“We are aware of the issue affecting Hilton Honors Points transfers to Qantas Frequent Flyer and are working closely with our partners on a resolution,” the Hilton spokesperson said.

“Delivering value and seamless experiences to our members is a top priority for Hilton, and we’re taking active steps to ensure this is addressed as soon as possible.”

What you can do if you’ve been shortchanged when converting Hilton Honors points

In the meantime, if this happens to you – or has happened in the past – you can get the correct Qantas points credited by contacting Hilton Honors.

Don’t bother contacting the regular Hilton Honors customer support channel or the Qantas Frequent Flyer Service Centre. Instead, the fastest way to get a resolution is to email [email protected].

In your email, include:

• Your Hilton Honors membership number
• Your Qantas Frequent Flyer number
• A screenshot of your Qantas Frequent Flyer activity statement showing the incorrect amount of Qantas points being credited

I did this, based on the advice given by members on the AFF forum. The remaining 1,350 Qantas points were credited to my Qantas account six days later.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.