Gomac

IME the quarterly promos have been combinable with the 2x rate and I have always got both sets of points. However I haven't tried it with the Double Up Q4 promo yet, but if past promos are anything to go by then the answer is yes

Ruhr

OK, I guess the damage has been done because I already took a stay with the 2x point rate (it was only US$7 more (96 vs. 89--haha!). I racked up some room service charges. I was anxious about getting points so I thought I'd ask the veterans. When I get my folio posted in a few days, I'll report back with my results! Thanks!

Points Scrounger

I think you should be fine -- I racked up a fair amount of weekend 3x activity plus 2x room rates this past quarter.

strayersong

I think it's clearly stated that the double-up work on BASE points only. So you get 3x points instead of 4x.

Points Scrounger

As an HHonors Gold at a participating property on a $100 rate, you would expect: 1000 base + 1000 2x rate + 1000 2x promo + Gold bonus (and points-and-points option).

sethb

Each promo gives you bonus points equal to base points, so you get 3x.

Ruhr

OK. I feel shorted. Clicking on the details of one of my most recent stays, it says base points 1166, then "Double points offer" 1166, but not an additional line item for "Double Up". I am getting the other bonuses for Gold as I expect. The stay still does show "Pending" at the top level and doesn't show the total amount of points earned, so I hope it's not finished processing and that they'll credit me with an additional 1166 points.

djibouti

Not at all the same. One is buying points with someone else's money. The other is choosing not to give up one benefit to save someone else an otherwise legitimate expense.

If you think it's ethical to spend extra for points then just buy them outright and expense... See if your accounting department agrees with you.

jbvideo

Was that your 2nd stay during the promotion? I think it says you get double points starting on your 2nd stay.

Ruhr

It was my second stay. By the way, these points eventually did post. So, learning from this experience, booking the 2x points package and combining with the current double points offer through the end of January, you effectively get 3x base points.

IsleOfMan

The Double Up promo points post as a separate line item in your "All Points Activity" page, not as part of your folio in "Past Stays". I've actually had my Double Up points post in "All Points Activity" BEFORE my folios left "Pending" status.

As for 2x Points on the company dime, if it were as the OP mentioned only a $7/night difference on a sub-$100/night rate, I'd go for it... If it were $50/night more on a $150/night room (like I normally see at Palmer House for example), then I most definitely would not. That said, my manager (at the EVP level) tells me to buy airline club day passes to get around policy to get around him not being able to approve a membership... clearly my company doesn't mind keeping its traveling Business Development people happy. I also took points instead of breakfast prior to making Diamond, for what its worth. So far the only expense I've ever had questioned was a $1400 domestic coach airfare, but even that was only caught by the Concur auditor and immediately approved by our internal controller.

MaldivesFreak

I am interested in everyone's opinion and input of the following use of the 2x Points cash promo.


--- Background ---

Property: Conrad Maldves Rangali Island

We have been to this property 3 times already on both cash and points stays. Note that this property is not on the list of non-participating properties for all promos mentioned herein so all promotions do apply in this case. Also, the tentative dates of our upcoming trip fall within all the promotion periods.

Also note that all expenditure at the property (let's keep seaplane transfers separate) is subject to 10% service charge and 12% T-GST (Tourism Goods & Services Tax). The 10% is added to the bill, then the 12% is added onto the total, i.e; $100 becomes $110, then T-GST gets added and is calculated at 12% of $110, not 12% of $100. This makes for a total, after tax, of $123.20. It's not a simple 22% tax slapped onto the $100 making $122 as many people believe. It's actually 23.2% added to the bill.

I have never used the 2x Points cash promo before...being a little weary of it being value for money or not.


--- Outline, Base Points & Bonus Points ---

* We were going to make another trip there this coming July but, after seeing the 'Double Points or Double Miles' promo, we thought we'd go earlier since the promo expires at the end of May. We plan on travelling with friends (7 pax) and staying 6 nights. I have already registered and confirmed my registration for this promotion. This will give us double points.

* After looking at the '2x Points Package' offer, I'm also keen on taking advantage of this promotion. The plan is to pay the extra $300++/night on a standard King Beach Villa.
BAR is $790++, with 'EARLY SAVER 30% Off' it comes down a nice whack to $553++ and with the '2x Points Package' the rate will go up to $853++. Naturally this will also qualify us for double points.

* The above combined will make this effectively a triple point promotion: base + base x1 for each of the two promos.

* We can avoid losing potential points due to the $10K cap, as there will be 7 of us and so will be booking a second room using another account. Only one room - what we'll call the first room, will be booked with the '2x Points Package'. In this room we will maxing out the spend with Room + F&B + Spa at $10,000 (not incl. taxes), making for a base point total of 100,000 points. Total points earned will therefore be triple the 100K base @ 300K.

* This first room will be booked with my account where I will use the Diamond 50% bonus and Points & Points for another 50%. This will effectively make it a quadruple point trip giving us another 100K for a total of 400K.



--- ^ Extra Points ^ ---

Last week I registered for three of Hilton's Waldorf Astoria & Conrad-specific promos;

#1 . 'Earn 2000 Bonus Points In Your Sleep' (earn 2000 bonus points per night) promo

#2 . 'Earn 5000 Bonus Points In Your Sleep' (book a 2-night stay and earn 5000 bonus points) promo

#3 . 'Earn Up To 10,000 Bonus Points In Your Sleep' (receive up to 10,000 bonus points when you complete three stays (2000 points after first stay, 3000 after second stay and 5000 after third stay)) promo*
* Note: We will be qualifying for 2000 points only as it will be our first stay since I signed up for this promotion. Missed the promo for our earlier trip back in Dec/Jan 2014/15

After a bit of mucking round with an inexperienced rep from the Diamond Desk, I have been assured that we will be eligible for all of the above promos on our planned 6-night stay at the Conrad. Good to know that these promos stack and so the calculation of extras is as follows:
1. 12,000 (#1 , 6N @ 2k/night)
2. 5,000 (#2 , min 2-night stay)
3. 2,000 (#3 , 1st of multiple visits)
...for a total of 19,000 points. With the second room on another account that will double to 38K for a grand total of, at a bare minimum, 438,000 points.

* MyWay bonuses on both accounts (1K/ea) will bring that up to 440K for the two rooms which is not a bad haul. Obviously, spend on the second room will earn points - easily bringing the total to half a mil - but let's just leave that out of the equation for now. 440K is a guaranteed 5 nights (with 5th Night Free), almost 6 nights redemption stay at the Conrad which I can put aside for a rainy day sometime in the future.


So, down to the math... Total prices for 6 nights;
a) 'EARLY SAVER 30% Off': $4,087.78 incl., of which 3,318.00 is eligible for base points
b) '2X POINTS PACKAGE': $6,306.85 incl., of which 5,119.20 is eligible for base points
---> So the added cost of the 2x Points Package is $300*6=1800 plus taxes of 10% service charge and 12% tourism tax = $2217.60. Let's call it $2200 for arguments sake. Note from here on figures don't include taxes unless specifically mentioned - every figure will be before tax as that's only what counts for earning base points.

So, the extra 100K base points from the promo aside, as far as point earning capacity goes, the difference between taking the 2x Points Package promo and not taking it is $1800 worth of points. The extra cash coming out of my wallet specifically for the package, i.e; the extra $300/night, will effectively get me 18K more base points ($1800*10). Multiply that by 4 due to the quadruple points I will be earning and that's 72K. So I have 72,000 more points by taking the package. This would be fine as a final calculation if my budget was $8200 (not incl taxes) for room and incidentals.
If I max out the spend at $10,000 for the first room and I want to calculate the points for it, I have to be fair and take $1800 of that $10K out (as the $1800 effectively cuts into the original room's points earning power) and this is where it gets a little tricky... In other words, when looking at the value of this promo it should be noted that 72K out of the 400K earned is attributed to points from the purchase of the promo, while 328K is from normal spend.

Fortunately my budget here is not a round figure of exactly $10,000 and so I will still hit $10K for the first room regardless of whether I spend the extra $300/night on the 2x Points Package or not. Any extra above the $10K will effectively 'spill over' into the second room. On this premise, the promo becomes better value for money because I can effectively put that extra $1800 promo fee onto the other room's bill. Easily done - it's just semantics - a bit of bill-wrangling on the odd occasion. The only requirement for doing that is that I have enough cash to:
a) pay the full bill of the first room - $12,320 (see top of post for how to calculate all taxes in the Maldives), and
b) pay the full bill of the second room. At a bare minimum I would need precisely $2217.60.
Remember we are leaving the seaplane transfers out of the equation even though they are accepted by the hotel on behalf of the seaplane company.

Doing it this way, the 2x Points Package promo will give me the base point multiplier for all eligible expenses on the first room, i.e; get me 100K more for the promotion, and in addition, I get a few more base points from the spend on the promo as it's now on the second room's bill. Assuming I open a new HHonors account (Blue tier) with no status bonus for points (that only comes at Silver when you can earn an extra 15% on base points) for the second room, I will earn 18K and if I choose Points & Points as the earning style it will bump that up to 27K.
However I lose $417.60 on potential spend/points earning power due to the taxes on the $1800 for the promo. I lose 4176 points but overall I'm still up 22,824 points, or say 23K.
Remember that if I only booked one room, and as soon as I got to $10K on the room I went home, I wouldn't be able to claim this extra 23K.

TOTALS:
* For the first room I have 400K. Then add the Conrad-specific promos and the MyWay benefits of 40K: 440K
* For the spend on the promo I get an extra 22,824 points for a grand total of 462,824 points, basically: 463K
* The total number of points attributed to the 2x Points Package promo is: 122,824K (123K)
* Total cost of the promo: $2217.60
* Cost of each point: 0.55c


From a '2x Points Cash' promo perspective, how worthwhile is it compared to what you guys have seen and can anyone recommend any changes to the above to squeeze any more points out of it? It would be good if I could somehow do 3x2-night bookings to take advantage of Waldorf/Conrad promos numbers 2 & 3 but AFAIK that won't work as the 6 nights will still be on consecutive days. I'll have to email HHonors and see just what the story is with that.

HansGruber

That made my brain hurt.

MaldivesFreak

Edited and added content from "Doing it this way..." through "...Cost of each point: 0.55c"

Included analysis and total costs.

sdsearch

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