Hilton HHonors - 48 hr availability rule--confusing

Well this is interesting--just got off the phone after talking to a reservation agent and a supervisor. They wouldn't guarantee a room for me at 9 PM on March 9 in Edmonton (now 9 PM March 7).

The website states: "Reservations availability is guaranteed to Diamond VIPs when reservations are made before midnight hotel local time, 48 hours prior to intended arrival. "

Well I don't know how others read this (other than it is confusing--isn't it always before midnight?).

The supervisor said they are working on changing the wording but that doesn't help me obviously. :(

The wording should obviously read:

"when reservations are made at least 48 hours prior to the date of arrival" and then give an example ("e.g. if intending to arrive on March 15th then reservation must be made before midnight local hotel time on March 12th.").

This effectively puts the time at somewhere around at least 65 hours prior to time of arrival in most cases (if intending to arrive around 5 pm).

The Americas HHonors program guide adds even less clarity with:

"Hotel availability guaranteed when reservations are made up to 48 hours in advance" implying that it has to be less than 48 hours!

The story continues . . .

As I have learned, when all else fails, phone the property. I got a very helpful front desk agent who booked me the room I wanted. Apparently a group has reserved a bunch of rooms with no names attached, presumably they will fill them but I have been put into one of the "group's" rooms (sounds like an informal group). She said "I hope I don't get into trouble but it should be OK."

No extortion rate, just the normal user friendly rate I always get. ^ ^