Buying loyalty points or miles is normally a dicey deal: a profit windfall for the hotel or airline selling the points, but subpar value for the traveler buying them.

There are exceptions, however, when limited-time promotions boost the value of the purchased points and shift the value proposition in the buyer’s favor. Hilton’s 100 percent bonus on purchased HHonors points may be one of them.

Offer Details

Through June 3, HHonors members will receive a 100 percent bonus when purchasing HHonors points.

RELATED: Book IHG Stays for Just 5,000 Points Per Night

The normal price to buy HHonors points is $10 for 1,000 points, with a maximum purchase of 80,000 points in a calendar year. During the promotion period, the price is effectively halved, to 1,000 points for $5, and the maximum purchase is doubled, to 160,000 points.

Deal or No Deal

Assuming you went all in, and purchased 160,000 points for $800, the question would be: Could those points be redeemed for stays worth more than $800?

HHonors award nights are priced between 5,000 and 95,000 points, so with 160,000 points at your disposal, you’d have many redemption options, depending on whether you were inclined to stay many nights at cheaper hotels or fewer nights at luxe properties.

At the low end, a one-night award stay at the Hampton Inn in Junction City, Kansas, can be had for 20,000 points. So eight nights would cost 160,000 points, on sale for $800. Booking those eight nights at the AAA rate, on the other hand, would cost $672. In that scenario, you’d be overpaying for the points.

Mid-tier, an award night at the Double Tree in downtown Los Angeles goes for 40,000 points. A weeknight stay at the hotel, at the HHonors discount rate, is priced at $204. So cashing in 160,000 points, purchased for $800, would net a four-night stay worth $816. It’s a wash.

And the high end, April an award night at the Chicago Waldorf Astoria is priced at 80,000 points, versus $553 for a paid night. So $800 worth of points would buy two nights otherwise priced at $1,106. Advantage: purchased points.

The above are random picks. And we haven’t factored in cash-and-points options, or the fifth-night-free perk available to HHonors elite members. So although the results are a mixed bag, they do suggest that there are redemption options available that will deliver solid value. The trick: finding the ones that work for you.

Reader Reality Check

Can you make this discounted points offer work for you?

After 20 years working in the travel industry, and almost that long writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.

This article first appeared on SmarterTravel.com, where Tim is Editor-at-Large.