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Old Jan 1, 2010, 10:44 am
  #1  
mozacq
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: U.S.
Programs: Marriott, AA
Posts: 12
Hilton Honors Rewards for Rental Car

This is incredibly bad business by Hilton in my opinion.

Background: For honeymoon want to redeem HH points for rental car w/ National. 10-day, 1-way rental, RNO to SFO in SUV. I'm a Diamond mbr w/ a few hundred K points.

1. I call HH to inquire about using my points for a rental w/ National they tell me I can get 7-day, 2-day and 1-day certificates that are non-refundable and must be used within one year. They tell me it'll be good for a round-trip, mid-size rental.

2. I call National and and how much those certificates will cover given that I want a 1-way SUV rental. He gives me the $ price of the rental and then tells me I need to ask Hilton how much their certificate is going to cover.

3. I call Hilton back. Hilton says they have no idea all they can do is issue the certificate and I take that to National. I confirm with the rep and she says, "Yes, you have to blindly take the certificate before you know if it can be redeemed or not. It is non-refundable and must be used within the year." That's the bad business in my opinion.

4. I call National and ask them for blackout dates, etc. They don't know. I tell them the story and ask them how much it will cover, they can't know.

So essentially, here I am with a bunch of points I want to use to rent a car and neither side can tell me if they will be valid. ...? Diamond Member... a lot of good 65+ nights/yr does.

At least it was easy to get my one night at SFO with points.


As a side note, in a world where competence is such an issue in Customer Service, the guys I spoke with at National were as helpful as they could be.
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