Hilton HHonors - "No credit will be applied for any stay booked on a third party booking source"

Hello:

My company policy requires me to book hotels only through Expedia Corporate Travel (Egencia). I heard that I cannot get my HH points with some specific rates (Expedia Special Rates).

I contacted HHonors for more information and here is their answer: "In accordance with the HHonors program guidelines and restrictions members do not earn points or stay or night credit when booking with Expedia or other third party booking sites or channels. Only stays booked on or through Hilton approved sites and channels are eligible for HHonors credit... :mad:".

This is a major disappointment as from now on I will be loosing my Diamond VIP status and I do not see any reason for sticking with Hilton if they do not credit HHonors points.

Do you guys have any related experience with 3rd party booking agencies?

Do you guys have any related experience with 3rd party booking agencies?


Only to the extent that the few times I've used them I haven't gotten HHonors points, but I knew that going in...

With most programs (including SPG which you also list in your profile) the bookings that are made through 3rd party booking sites like Expedia, Orbitz, Hotwire, Hotels.com, Priceline, etc. do not earn points because the room rate is actually paid to the 3rd party and not directly to the hotel operator on site. I have had instances where I was attending a convention and the convention travel planner booked the room and I got credit....but I paid the bill at the hotel and not in advance. I think you will be out of luck with all the hotel brands if the room rate is paid to the booking site.

I have made that mistake to book thru Hotwire,DreamClub - no points at all. No staus. Never again.

Hello:

My company policy requires me to book hotels only through Expedia Corporate Travel (Egencia). I heard that I cannot get my HH points with some specific rates (Expedia Special Rates).

I contacted HHonors for more information and here is their answer: "In accordance with the HHonors program guidelines and restrictions members do not earn points or stay or night credit when booking with Expedia or other third party booking sites or channels. Only stays booked on or through Hilton approved sites and channels are eligible for HHonors credit... :mad:".

This is a major disappointment as from now on I will be loosing my Diamond VIP status and I do not see any reason for sticking with Hilton if they do not credit HHonors points.

Do you guys have any related experience with 3rd party booking agencies?

Can you get your corporate discount code and use it on Hilton website to book yourself? The rates should be same as your travel agency.

You are probably out of luck unless your company is flexible. I know we are getting ready to go to the Travelocity engine, and any expenses travel related that people want to get reimbursed for have to go through that or they will not get reimbursed. While most people don't care about points, those who do will be giving them up at some of the chains.

Unless they will allow you to book outside of Expedia you are just out of luck, there are no points for third party bookings. It really doesn't matter to most people.

i got my points and miles throught the expedia bmi booking engine for the last 15 stays.

for the hilton vienna, i didnt receive anything.

crap :mad:

After many back and forth between Egencia (Expedia Corporate Travel) and Hilton, here is the answer we got from Egencia:

"I just got off the phone with Hilton and got some confirmation around the Hilton Honors programs. It seems there was some miscommunication on this. Your travelers should absolutely receive their loyalty points when booking a published rate with Hilton. They will not if they book an 'Expedia Special Rate,' which is where I believe the confusion is coming from on Hilton's end. But published rates do offer points. I think they were confused because Expedia.com does not offer these types of rates so they are conditioned to push back on this when they see the Expedia name"

So we get the points as long as we do not book an "'Expedia Special Rate".

Thanks davidmiami for the tip.

If you book on a 3rd party site, always give your number upon check-in even when they tell you that you can't earn points. For the past 3 Priceline & Hotwire stays, I have earned the points, status bonus and even AMEX card stay bonus.

After many back and forth between Egencia (Expedia Corporate Travel) and Hilton, here is the answer we got from Egencia:

"I just got off the phone with Hilton and got some confirmation around the Hilton Honors programs. It seems there was some miscommunication on this. Your travelers should absolutely receive their loyalty points when booking a published rate with Hilton. They will not if they book an 'Expedia Special Rate,' which is where I believe the confusion is coming from on Hilton's end. But published rates do offer points. I think they were confused because Expedia.com does not offer these types of rates so they are conditioned to push back on this when they see the Expedia name"

So we get the points as long as we do not book an "'Expedia Special Rate".


OK, das heisst aber für alle nicht-Corporate-Reisebürobucher trotzdem: Finger weg von Expedia.com, .de, .it etc weil es dort nur die sogenannten "Expedia Special Rates" gibt, die in Tat und Wahrheit überhaupt nicht "specially cheap" sind...

I consider booking Hilton Madrid Airport through Expedia UK in order to use a 40 GBP Expedia UK voucher. The rate will be the published rate of 79 EUR/nt = GBP 69/nt.

I don't care about the points/stay but I would hate not to receive HH Gold benefits (upgr. to exec. floor)

Should I play it safe and book the room on Hilton.com?

I have no idea how, but for the past 3 stays I have had on Priceline and Hotwire (2 were hilton and 1 was Doubletree), I insist on giving the front desk my HHonors number and I have gotten credit posted a few days later! They have told me that I will not be eligible for points, but I insisted they enter it on my record.

I have been using Expedia Corporate Travel / Egencia for about 6 months and have never had an issue with points posting or getting upgrades. BUT, I always use the "PUBLISHED RATES" not the "EXPEDIA SPECIAL RATES" (visable when clicking the "View all rates" link on the hotel map/search page). Before I used travelport.net and about 1/4 of my stays would not show up because my HH number was not in the reservation, but filling out the form on hhonors.com would always get the points posted within a few days. Also, if I caught it at check-in, the front desk person would enter my number and then the credit would work fine.

I have been using Expedia Corporate Travel / Egencia for about 6 months and have never had an issue with points posting or getting upgrades. BUT, I always use the "PUBLISHED RATES" not the "EXPEDIA SPECIAL RATES" (visable when clicking the "View all rates" link on the hotel map/search page). Before I used travelport.net and about 1/4 of my stays would not show up because my HH number was not in the reservation, but filling out the form on hhonors.com would always get the points posted within a few days. Also, if I caught it at check-in, the front desk person would enter my number and then the credit would work fine.

I concur. I have to now use Egencia so I make sure that I am not on a rate that Egencia charges me the stay rather than the hotel directly. When the hotel charges directly then I do get my points

I just checked the rate on Exp.UK and it is indeed the "Exp. Special Rate" - although there is nothing special about it as it is exactly the same as the adv. purchase rate on hilton.com

I consider booking the first night on hilton.com and the second night on Exp.UK at the "Special Rate" using the GBP 40 voucher.

For the first night I’m likely to receive a room on the exec. floor as HH Gold and for the second night the hotel will probably let me stay in the same room. Should I tell at check-in that I stay for two nights or simply check-in again on the second day and tell them that I already stay at room XXXX? I assume that I could jeopardise the upgr. for the first night by revealing that I have booked a second night on Exp.UK.

Another tip: I have never had any trouble getting Hhonors points when I book through the airline web site. The UA hotel site is really expedia and offers special rates, but because the airline is a hhonors partner they give the points.