Hilton HHonors - What--No more great point deals?

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I'm disappointed in the fact that there are no great deals ( I'm talking 50,000 point bonus)from Hilton these days. Gosh! Even a 30k point bone would be nice.

When you consider how they diluted the value of their points,you might have thought that they would come up with something.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by mommaroo:
I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I'm disappointed in the fact that there are no great deals ( I'm talking 50,000 point bonus)from Hilton these days. Gosh! Even a 30k point bone would be nice.</font>


Sorry for being sarcastic here, but so far since the beginning of the VISA promo (double points) I racked up about 20 000 bonus points, with another 20 000 to come for July and August stays. Maybe you should stay more often at Hilton Hotels and benefit from these promo.

I think it's a great way for Hilton to give points opportunities for those who stay with them regularly.

Actually I agree with you Super Larry, but I don't think the "pay with Visa" rewards those who most often stay with Hilton. I'd like to see promotions that rewards stays period. The business traveller (I am) and premium leisure traveller (I'm not) pays the highest rates and those are the people that the programs should be aimed towards. It always amazes me how companies come up with these promotions. They should be trying to influence behavior of people to STAY MORE OFTEN - not stay occasionally and use a particular credit card - Hotelling is Hilton's core business and they should be aiming to strengthen that piece of the business. Run promotions that reward 30 or 40 nights in a quarter - or offer double base points for every night over 100 or 125 nights in a year. That encourages the type of behavior that makes Hilton profitable and (assuming they give you good service) strengthens their customer's loyalty.

My own opinion is that the types of promotions that they are currently running with the VISA card actually dilutes the loyalty of the customers that they desire most. They allow good but not great customers to place themselves in position to actually reap more rewards from Hilton than their best customers receive. Removing loyalty from a service business results in price being a larger piece of the decision process (along with service - and since servie isn't uniform within Hilton...) and in the long run thats bad for Hilton.

just playing devil's advocate here ... but i wonder if there r any marketing mba types who has case studies etc to back this up or refute this.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MacDaddie:
Actually I agree with you Super Larry, but I don't think the "pay with Visa" rewards those who most often stay with Hilton. I'd like to see promotions that rewards stays period. The business traveller (I am) and premium leisure traveller (I'm not) pays the highest rates and those are the people that the programs should be aimed towards. It always amazes me how companies come up with these promotions. They should be trying to influence behavior of people to STAY MORE OFTEN - not stay occasionally and use a particular credit card - Hotelling is Hilton's core business and they should be aiming to strengthen that piece of the business. Run promotions that reward 30 or 40 nights in a quarter - or offer double base points for every night over 100 or 125 nights in a year. That encourages the type of behavior that makes Hilton profitable and (assuming they give you good service) strengthens their customer's loyalty.

My own opinion is that the types of promotions that they are currently running with the VISA card actually dilutes the loyalty of the customers that they desire most. They allow good but not great customers to place themselves in position to actually reap more rewards from Hilton than their best customers receive. Removing loyalty from a service business results in price being a larger piece of the decision process (along with service - and since servie isn't uniform within Hilton...) and in the long run thats bad for Hilton.</font>

Gee, since I almost zeroed out my account at the beginning of last month, I have earned something stupid like 100,000 miles with all the bonuses around.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Super Larry:
I think it's a great way for Hilton to give points opportunities for those who stay with them regularly.</font>

I agree with you as well. Heck I'll agree with anyone that users Super in their handle.

I would like to see them do a bonus where you get 500 bonus on your 2nd stay in a quarter 1000 on your 3rd, 1500 on your 4th with maybe a top limit of 4,000 to 5,000 for each additional stay once you reach tier. Seems like it would go a long way toward building brand loyalty.

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"A day without Points/Miles is like a day without SUNSHINE"

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Superd1:
I agree with you as well. Heck I'll agree with anyone that users Super in their handle.

I would like to see them do a bonus where you get 500 bonus on your 2nd stay in a quarter 1000 on your 3rd, 1500 on your 4th with maybe a top limit of 4,000 to 5,000 for each additional stay once you reach tier. Seems like it would go a long way toward building brand loyalty.

</font>


Glad to see I'm not alone. But considering the number of posts since your the date of your beginning here, I would say you are the SUPER of all super!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Super Larry
I'm glad that some of you have done well with the Visa bonus (really more of a bonus from them than HH).Some of us must use corp. cards that are not Visa. You can't compare this years "bonuses" to those of the last couple years.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MacDaddie:
Actually I agree with you Super Larry, but I don't think the "pay with Visa" rewards those who most often stay with Hilton. I'd like to see promotions that rewards stays period. The business traveller (I am) and premium leisure traveller (I'm not) pays the highest rates and those are the people that the programs should be aimed towards. It always amazes me how companies come up with these promotions. They should be trying to influence behavior of people to STAY MORE OFTEN - not stay occasionally and use a particular credit card - Hotelling is Hilton's core business and they should be aiming to strengthen that piece of the business. Run promotions that reward 30 or 40 nights in a quarter - or offer double base points for every night over 100 or 125 nights in a year. That encourages the type of behavior that makes Hilton profitable and (assuming they give you good service) strengthens their customer's loyalty.

My own opinion is that the types of promotions that they are currently running with the VISA card actually dilutes the loyalty of the customers that they desire most. They allow good but not great customers to place themselves in position to actually reap more rewards from Hilton than their best customers receive. Removing loyalty from a service business results in price being a larger piece of the decision process (along with service - and since servie isn't uniform within Hilton...) and in the long run thats bad for Hilton.</font>


Well, I think your perspective might be right for you, but may not be for everybody. I'm HH Gold and I earned it the hard way since 1998 now. I'll be Diamond before the end of the year and I stay for business AND leisure. This promotion is good for me as an active Hilton customers because it rewards me for my stays regardless if they are business or leisure.

At the end I think Hilton looks at these promotions for two things : Improve occupancy rate in the slower months (Summer in North America) and improve brand awareness to new customers.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jabez:
Super Larry
I'm glad that some of you have done well with the Visa bonus (really more of a bonus from them than HH).Some of us must use corp. cards that are not Visa. You can't compare this years "bonuses" to those of the last couple years. </font>


We both know that VISA has to pay Hilton for the points, so it's also good for HHonors because it increase the cash flow.

You're right about the corp. cards. I'm using my personal cards for my business expenses and get reimbursed monthly. I love it that way, because I can choose whatever is best for me. One of the few perks working for a small company! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Count me in the bunch forced to use a particular card. When all the promotions were with AMEX I had to use Diners Club. Now that I have AMEX I have to use Visa. Argh, I just can't win!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hfly:
Gee, since I almost zeroed out my account at the beginning of last month, I have earned something stupid like 100,000 miles with all the bonuses around.</font>

hfly, could you post some more detail on this?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jabez:
Super Larry
I'm glad that some of you have done well with the Visa bonus (really more of a bonus from them than HH).Some of us must use corp. cards that are not Visa. </font>

Yep--still waiting for a nice MasterCard promotion to roll around, but not holding my breath. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

I fall into that category.... as our corporate card is not VISA, so I have moved all of my business over to Starwoods. Where I can take advantage of their current promotion. Its tough when you tie in your whole promotion program to one credit card, like Hilton has done right now.

I passed 60 nights at Hilton's the first week of June and I haven't been back, waiting for the next promotion to start. I will have 50 nights with Starwood by the middle of next month.



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AA member since 1981. Oracle Implementations .... Will Travel....

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">I would like to see them do a bonus where you get 500 bonus on your 2nd stay in a quarter 1000 on your 3rd, 1500 on your 4th with maybe a top limit of 4,000 to 5,000 for each additional stay once you reach tier. Seems like it would go a long way toward building brand loyalty.
</font>

This is what I would like to see too. Priority Club is running a bunch of these I registered for ten of them and am now getting around 20,000 points/stay! (See thread on PC)

Hilton does, however have one promo in this fashion, at all NY Hiltonbrand hotels you earn double/triple/quadruple miles(1st stay 1000miles, 2nd 1500 miles, 3rd 2000miles when using AMEX card. Valid with BA/CO/DL/NW/UA/US. Unfortunately not on KL where my mileage is.. Rate code for this is HC.



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KLM PE,HHonors Diamond,SPG Plat,PC Plat,SAS Silver

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Elena:
Rate code for this is HC.</font>
Beware these "promos" tied to a rate code. The rate if rarely the lowest available, and is often one of the highest.