airb330

People still get the certs? I have two AXONS booked for this year (one booked in June 2012 and January 2013) and I didn't get a certificate E-Mailed to me for the one I booked in January. I just assumed they were not using them anymore. Both reservations show 170,000 points but only 145,000 were deducted like as before.

My Ocean City MD AXON award I received my usual reservation with reward ID number attached. I then also receieved the usual E-Mail cert listing that reward ID number. I've never been asked for this separate E-Mail, but apparently they can.

I don't want to run into problems at Conrad Tokyo...as I don't have that second, separate email with the reward number certificate that lists the issue date and expiration date.

Any thoughts?

NJUPINTHEAIR

Those AXON certs are tied to a specific reservation and when that reservation is canceled, the cert should be canceled as well. Sometimes that automaticallly happens, other times, it does not.

Notwithstanding the cheering section confirming what their hopes and aspirations are, the better and more reasoned argument, and likely the argument that HHonors will make, is that an AXON cert not tied to any reservation should have been canceled and the points returned to your account -- not that you can just go ahead an reaplly it willy nilly at your choosing at some later date to whatever hotel your heart desires.

lkar

Just recently I cancelled some reservations that I used a cert for and then reattached the cert to another reservation. The last several (more than 5 less than 10) times I've cancelled a reservation made with an AXON cert online I've had to call in separately to cancel the cert to get my points back.

While I agree with you that would be a reasonable response by Hilton, that's not the question I'm asking. It is whether it would work. Sounds like we're all guessing, but I don't see a downside, so I'm going to book a few AXONs for 2014 and save my certs. A few other things I'd add -- the certs themselves don't have a specific reservation identified on them and have a unique code that permits them to be retrieved. They have their own expiry dates. And I know for a fact that it's not always possible for the agents to see what reservations they previously were attached to if those reservations have been cancelled, although vice versa is not true -- they can see the cert number if they look into the reservation if you give them the number or they pull it up in your history.

beltway

Cat 7, not cat 5.

NJUPINTHEAIR

If you have the points and you are not using them, there is no downside other than it may not work.

rdchen

my bad, need to get a new pair of glasses

spleuchan

Regarding AXON, last time Hilton added categories, AXON rates were increased, but not eliminated. I see no reason why the same wouldn't hold true this time.

travelinfoo

As long as you make no changes to your reservations, you should be fine. However, if you make any changes, you will be charged at the new rate.

travelinfoo

Any changes made after 3/28 will result in the higher points charges.

When you cancel an AXON, both the reservation and certificate are cancelled. However, the points have to be manually returned to your account.

I called about missing points after cancelling an AXON. I cancelled online 1 week before the deadline and called 2 weeks later (1 week after my stay was to have occured). The CSR checked to make sure I met the hotel cancellation rules and could see that both the reservation and certificate had been cancelled. She told me because of the way they are issued (via the DD manually), the points have to be returned manually as well.

Just because the points are NOT returned does NOT mean you still hold a certificate. It just means your points haven't been returned and YOU have to be proactive about getting them returned.

BTW, there is no certificate. You just get an award certificate number on the award reservation that you make. That's ANY award reservation, standard, AXON, GLON, etc. Those two are linked. So when you cancel the reservation, the certificate number is also cancelled.

lkar

Not so, or at least, not always so. Just last week I cancelled a reservation booked with an AXON cert and reused the cert on a completely different reservation. The DD agent told me she had a drop down menu in the reservation and manually added the cert number.

That's funny, because I have 8 of them currently in my e-mail. If you really care, PM me with an e-mail and I'll show you what one looks like. Here's a cut and paste:

Congratulations! You are receiving this Reward Certificate for accommodations at one of over 3,700 hotels in more than 80 countries:

1: Keep this Reward Certificate in a safe place.

2: Please call to make your Reward Reservation. When calling from the U.S. or Canada, for reservations and participating locations contact:
1-800-HHONORS. From outside the U.S. and Canada, contact the Hilton Reservations and Customer Care office nearest you.

3: Be sure to provide the reservations agent with the Reward Certificate ID listed to the right.


Enjoy your Reward. You've earned it!


Issued To: XXXXXXXXX

HHonors Account Number: XXXXXXX

E-mail: XXXXXXX

Ship Mode: E-Mail

Reward Certificate ID: XXXXXXX

Issue Date: 04-Jan-2013

Expiration Date: 04-Jan-2014

Description: This certificate valid for four free nights for two at participating Category 1 through Category 7 HHonors Hotel Worldwide

Control Code: XXXXXXXXX

Note: This Document is not confirmation of a room reservation.

Edit: In thinking about this a bit more, I bet this is a computer compatibility issue. I bet that some hotels still require the manual certs for booking, and it just so happens that my reservations are at these hotels, so for these an actual cert needs to be issued. All of my AXON reservations, for which I have the certs, are in Europe, FWIW.

NJUPINTHEAIR

Well, it is Feb 23, 2013 and still no reports of what, if anything, is replacing the AXON award, other than the much speculated 5th night free under the new reward regime.

Although I am deeply pessimistic that anything new other than the above will come to replace this benefit, AMEX does have an incentive to do so especially since the launch of the Citi Visa Reserve Card.

The only real benefit the Surpass has over it was the instant automatic upgrade from the regular card provides as opposed to the application one must make with the Citi product.

Now, it has been reported in another thread by a blogger that the Citi free night certs - initial 2 and the annual one with required spend -- will cover all 10 award categories except for some properties and therefore, the devaluation will hardly affect the above perk of Citi Reserve cardholders, whereas AMEX cardholders of all stripes are threatened with the loss of the AXON with no real positive alternative or specific AMEX perk coming to its rescue.

If AMEX really does intend to let the AXON die without any real perk replacement that is tied to the card, I cannot understand how they hope to retain their cardholders in the face of this push by Citi and its Reserve Visa.

Ritz

Amex doesn't care. Its not their choice.

NJUPINTHEAIR

I'm not disagreeing with you but how do you know, or what is your thinking for this -- just interested to learn of your perspective.

lkar

Well, it is indirectly. While none of has has seen the Amex/Hilton contract, there is little chance Hilton is paying for the AXON award discount. Amex is. In some form or fashion. It is a benefit of having the card, so Amex would be footing the bill either by buying the point difference or some other concession.

The question here is whether Amex is going to step up to keep its card competitive or cede to citi. The problem is that the price of poker just went up. Axon use to be a 25k savings over GLON. Now it would, to stay relevant, have to be more, causing Hilton to charge more. Though, given the devaluation, I doubt citi and amex will pay the same for points.

There are many moving parts here. Hilton can't devalue without bringing its partners into the loop. Think about it. Amex agrees to buy 200 million points or whatever it agreed to in order to get the contract for the co branded card. When points are devalued one of three thing (or a combination) happens: 1 they lose customers, 2 they lose swipes or 3 they have to increase benefits to avoid 1 and 2. So Hilton can't just devalue without its partners.

If this devaluation coincides with an end to the Amex contract, all bets are off. If not, the two will have to reach agreement. If it is just a reduction in what Amex pays for points, we are the losers, and Amex will just let the cards fade away. If Amex wants to keep the cards relevant they will pony up to give more befits to replace Axon and devalued points.

mnredfox

This. If AXON goes away, this will be the true nail in the coffin's for me. Higher categories didn't affect me much as most places of desirable location I used AXON's.