Our upcoming trip to Europe will include a stay at the Waldorf Astoria Versailles – Trianon Palace. The hotel is located right next to the Palace of Versailles, about a 30-minute train ride to the west of Paris. In order to minimize our out of pocket expenses, we are looking to maximize points and miles on our journey.
Mixing Points and Miles into the Equation
Travel has been limited over the past year and a half. As a result we’ve accumulated a number of free night certificates and hotel rewards that come from holding credit cards. During our time at the Trianon Palace we plan to use benefits that come from holding the Hilton Aspire card by American Express.
The Hilton Amex Aspire Card comes with a hefty $450 annual fee (yeah, that’s a lot). But it also comes with benefits that will help cover the cost of our upcoming stay at the Trianon Palace.
Specifically, here are three ways we’ll use our credit card benefits to help cover the cost of the stay.
$250 Resort Credit
The Aspire card offers a $250 resort credit each cardmember year. This credit can be used at hotels that are on Hilton’s official “resort” list. Two hotels in France are considered Hilton resorts, one of them is the Waldorf Astoria Versailles. This $250 credit can offset pretty much anything that will show up on our hotel bill. We’ll likely use this to help cover the cost of dining at the Trianon.
Free night Certificate
The Hilton Aspire card also offers an annual free night certificate. This certificate can be used at pretty much any Hilton property worldwide. Until recently, this was a free “weekend” certificate, meaning, it had to be used for a Friday, Saturday or Sunday stay. It can now (at least for the time being) be used any night of the week. We’ve accumulated a total of three free night certificates which will cover the room cost for our three nights in Versailles.
Free Breakfast
Holders of the Hilton Aspire card receive Diamond status within the Hilton Honors program. Diamond status includes a number of benefits, including a breakfast benefit. In the past we’ve experienced great breakfasts across many Hilton Properties. At some locations, like our stay in the Maldives, it saved hundreds of dollars. The breakfast benefit, when teamed up with the $250 of resort credit will help make a dent in dining expenses.
Note: Hilton is currently handling their breakfast benefit differently in the United States, but for our stay in Versailles, it should result in a free breakfast.
Other Perks
There are other diamond perks that might come into play for our trip, for example, room upgrades can be offered on a space available basis. Diamond status also provides premium wifi and other ancillary perks. The three benefits we are planning on are those listed above: the free fights, the resort credit and the free breakfast.
On to Versailles
Points and miles have made it possible to experience memorable trips. The benefits of the Hilton Aspire card will result in a better trip to the Waldorf Astoria Versailles – Trianon Palace.
