Hilton HHonors - Do you have to check-in to receive "credit"?

I am currently a diamond member and would like to extend this status to next year but I think I will be short 2-3 stays. So I was thinking about just finding the least expensive Hilton brand hotel (probably Hampton Inn) and booking a few nights before the end of the year.

Trying to get creative, I was thinking do I actually have to physically check-in to get the HH points? Most of the hotels have a cancellation policy where if you don’t cancel by a certain time, you will get charge the first night. So I was thinking about finding the cheapest properties in the USA and letting the hotel charge me 1 night when I did not show up and getting the HH points this way.

Do you think this will work? Any other suggestions?

cwdavis4: Welcome to Flyertalk! It looks like you are fairly new here, so please don't be offended if I tell you some things you already know. First, performing a Search will pull up previous topics that you may have questions about. On this topic, I found a recent discussion here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum57/HTML/008891.html

It looks like there may be a couple of other topics in the past about this subject. See above post

I can tell you briefly that the answer to your original question is that it is usually hit & miss whether you get points or not. Some have been lucky, but I would say most no-show charges are not credited. I have no personal history to share on the topic- sorry!

I hope this information helps, and please forgive me if you know about the Search option--I'm just trying to help! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Looks like UpgradeMe beat me to the punch! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by cfrehner (edited Nov 24, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by cfrehner (edited Nov 24, 2003).]

Thank you for the replies. I should have thought about searching the archives (a rookie mistake).

I definitely will have to try the Reno Hilton in Nevada. It shows rooms for $39/night.

Regards...

Just a minor clarification, you will probably be charged for the room, but you will not receive credit for points and stays and the rest.

The words charges and credits have two very different meanings here, you will pay, but probably won't get the benefits.

I really am only looking for the qualification nights since I am closes to achieving Diamond on the 28 nights required. Maybe worth a chance given the cheap room rate at Reno...