Let me give a few responses based on my experiences:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Dave Noble - On the list of member benefits on the website, for the guaranteed availability, it doesn't actually say that the member has to be staying, only that they are guaranteed to be able to make the booking. "Reservations availability is guaranteed to Diamond VIPs when reservations are made up to 48 hours prior to intended arrival and guaranteed to a credit card."
mikejos: That's the exact point I'm making. Hilton's policies are very vague. What I'm concerned about is leaving it up to the interpretation of an agent versus the actual policy.</font>
You guys know that this is intended for the Diamond member and not their friends, family and business associates. There is nothing vague about this policy. Yes, there have been exceptions made from time to time. But putting their feet to the fire and demanding an exception to the rule is going to cause them to just ban all exceptions.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> KathyWdrf: Most definitely, awards without blackout dates are a Diamond benefit (with some exceptions for "extraordinary demand dates").</font>
Kathy - no blackout dates does not mean guaranteed availability. No blackout dates simply mean that when they balckout certain time frames for other, it does not apply to Diamonds. They still have a certain reward room allocations and if the hotel is sold-out, it's sold out. A sell out is not a blackout.
And what was done for
sbm12 is exactly what was done for me last year in Paris when the property was sold out in July.
Diamonds should contact Stacy Strickland, if it's possible she will help.
Ms. Stacy Strickland, Assistant Manager
Diamond Special Services, 972-770-6076
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>
But again I think that
mikejos is being unreasonable for attempting to demand a Diamond special service for a family member.