Hilton HHonors - Help! Can't redeem points for rooms?!

Hi there,

I've been a Hilton member for a couple years and racked up about 130k hhonors points. This is the first time I've decided to use these points for an award stay. I'm completely shocked by the results.

Stay 1: Hilton Tokyo 5/16 2 nights
Stay 2: Hilton Dalian China 5/20 for 3 nights

The hotels were completely unavailable! :eek: I was surprised because there were plenty of availability online, and Dalian isn't exactly a busy location either. Yet they don't have any award availability. The booking lady said each Hilton is only required to provide 4% of the room for award redemption. :confused: If this is true then this is one of the worst award program I have ever been in.

Any suggestions on how I can use the points for these stays? What's the point of having all these hilton points if I can't use them? This is worse than united miles... My experience at Starwood nevery had such severe restrictions.

Please help with any suggestions. Thanks!

Your situation stinks, I'm sure, but I'd be surprised if airlines made 4% of seats on each flight available...

Your situation stinks, I'm sure, but I'd be surprised if airlines made 4% of seats on each flight available...

Ah, but don't be surprised that Starwood makes 100% of rooms available.

This also depends upon your status. I know that for Diamonds, they'll open up an award room as long as something is available. Not sure if this applies to Gold and/or Silver VIPs as well.

Mike

Searching through the archives, I've come across an "award hack" but the link is dead after the move. Is this something worth trying?

Still, the program doesn't make much sense. If you don't spend all your points when you're a diamond, it'll be extremely hard to do so after your status drops.

What are my options? Some people recommended calling the property directly to talk to CSRs and GMs. I'm hoping they have English speaking reps in China and Japan. Any other thing I can try? Thanks.

This might or might not work, but is worth a try. Send an email to flyertalk@hilton.com asking for the emails for the hotels. They generally respond within a day. Then send an email to the hotel and request the award stay.

I think the "award hack" was superceded by the online booking capability on http://beta.hilton.com .

Just because these don't work, doesn't mean the program doesn't. I haven't been denied a reward I wanted as a Gold or as a Diamond. Once I had to phone the hotel directly (london in summer) but each time I have been successful. Hong Kong Conrad on short notice, Cancun during high season, Europe in high season etc.

Dalian Hilton seems to have lots of availability later on so maybe there is some kind of conference that has these rooms occupied. I know my experience in China is that, except for SARS, I often find the hotels full or close to full.

Have you checked to see what might be happening those days? If there's a major convention, or event, they may be full up, even. But you've had some good recommendations, and it's worth following up. Good luck - I've always had great luck with Hilton family hotel awards.

BlondeBomber, what Hilton number are you calling? Have you tried this number 800-446-6677? I understand this number has been set aside for Award Reservations. Good luck.

The Hilton Tokyo Bay has award availability for May 16-18. It is located near Tokyo Disneyland and is ~30 minutes by train from Tokyo. My suggestion is the same as mentioned by others, contact the hotels directly.

Just called Tokyo Hilton. A very nice lady on reservation desk came online, but she was not able to let me use the points. She went away for about 5 min, presumeably to check with her manager.

Should I try again by calling the general manager?

If there is availability (and you can check here), go to

http://beta.hilton.com then log in and go the Book Rewards button.

It works very well.

smoking rooms ARE available May 16 for:

These rooms are available at 40,000 points per stay.


KING DELUXE OCEAN
SUNNY SPACIOUS ROOM ON HIGH FLOOR
PANORAMIC VIEW OF TOKYO BAY AND MOUNT FUJI

Hilton Tokyo also has rooms

Go to the website above and book

Thanks for all your great help!

I have already made visits to the beta site, unfortunately, no luck booking the dates. That's why I called hhonors directly hoping to get better luck :)

BlondeBomber, thanks for checking for me. But Hilton Tokyo shows up as no award availability for me on 16/17. They do have availability on 18/19th. Maybe you got the magic touch? :D

I was planning to stay two nights in tokyo, then go to kyoto. For now, I'm swapping the plan to go to kyoto first, then come back to tokyo on 18/19th since Hilton Tokyo have availability at these dates. Still digging to see if I can swap back to my original itinery.

Placed international calls to both Hilton Dalian and Tokyo and spoke to reservation CSRs, but unfortunately still can't use points. Do you guys think it'll make a difference if I call the General Manager directly?

Placed international calls to both Hilton Dalian and Tokyo and spoke to reservation CSRs, but unfortunately still can't use points. Do you guys think it'll make a difference if I call the General Manager directly?

Personally, I wouldn't even waste the time (and expense of an international phone call) on speaking with a reservationist, as those folks lack any authority to make a decision to override capacity controls for an award stay. I would definitely contact the GM directly.

While there is no guarantee in having the GM agree to your request, based on numerous reports on FT, your chances are better than average. ;)

Good luck!

I completely agree with Eugene. As I suggested earlier, if you write to flyertalk@hilton.com, they will supply the email address for the hotel - and the general manager, if you so specify. You will have far greater success with a written request in Asia, as it is easier for them to comprehend what you need and research their availability.

Do you guys think it'll make a difference if I call the General Manager directly?Without a doubt.

You may not need to go as high as the GM, but someone in management. Simply explain your status and point out that they have a lot of availability for paid stays. Remember: points stays are not 100% non-revenue -- the hotels do get cash from Hilton as compensation for accepting the rewards.

Finally, save on those international calls by finding the cheapest dial around rate at www.1010phonerates.com (I am not affiliated with them, mererly a user), about $0.11 per minute to Japan and $0.12 to China.

Without a doubt.
Finally, save on those international calls by finding the cheapest dial around rate at www.1010phonerates.com (I am not affiliated witt them, mererly a user), about $0.11 per minute to Japan and $0.12 to China.

This is off topic, but onesuite.com charges between 2.4 cents and 4.0 cents a minute (depending on whether you use the toll free access number or a local area access number) to call China and about 5.5 cents to Japan (non mobile numbers). I've been using them for ages and I have no complaints with the service. You have prepay though with a minimum charge of $10 to your account. Onesuite is not a good option though if you want to call mobile numbers in Europe...for that, I hear 10-10-987 is good since they only charge 3 cents a minute (but with a 39 cent connect charge).

You have prepay though with a minimum charge of $10 to your account. Onesuite is not a good option though if you want to call mobile numbers in Europe...1010phonerates details mobile and land line rates. And, IMO, 1010 codes are much simpler than onesuite for infrequent use. But if you're going to tout Onesuite, fallinasleep, you might as well post your referral link. (http://www.onesuite.com/suitetreat.htm)

(Having fun with formatting. This is sienna colored Times New Roman size 3. Size 2 is the default -- looks to be 10 pt -- but seemed too small for Times New Roman.)

Ah, but don't be surprised that Starwood makes 100% of rooms available.

This isn't even close to being true.

But if you're going to tout Onesuite, fallinasleep, you might as well post your referral link. (http://www.onesuite.com/suitetreat.htm)


Nah, not worth the effort. Onesuite offers a v-e-r-y modest referral bonus. Now, if you wanted to sign up for Voice Over IP service Vonage, that's a different story :)

guys think it'll make a difference if I call the General Manager directly?


I have not figured out how to send you an email or message with this new system. If you know what to do, send me your email. I can try to help you with the Hilton Dalian. We have an apartment at the Hilton there for 6 months. My husband is on business there. No guarantees, but they know my husband very well now and he knows most of the employees. I will also be going there in May. At least he can ask for you.

I have not figured out how to send you an email or message with this new system.Click on the intended recipient's username in a message they have sent; the option "send a private message to XXXXX" is in the pop-up menu.

Click on the intended recipient's username in a message they have sent; the option "send a private message to XXXXX" is in the pop-up menu.

That was too simple. I feel rather stupid.
Thank you for the quick lesson. I will send him a message now.

Got the PM. Hopefully the referral method will work!

Try contacting the hotel directly; if it's open enough, they might be willing to make a Honors reservation for you. This has worked for me several times including getting a 6 nights award at Conrad HKG.