Originally Posted by
sdsearch
Where are you getting this information?
Because it's
wrong!
Do a search for Kansas City, MO for 1 night on 4 Jun. I get two hotels that price at the
identical $157 (HHonors Discount price*), but one of them (the Curio Collection) is
39000 points and the other (the HGI) is
20000 points.
And this is far from the only current example I've seen, but it's the most stark counterexample to what you claim.
* HHonors Discount price is the default price shown in large type for me in these cases.
Actually, this proves my point. The HGI rate is currently capped at 20,000 because of the hotel's previous category. So it IS a deal right now at 20,000 points ("where the cash rate for base/standard rooms is so high it exceeds the max possible points rate"--maybe not worded in the best possible way but you get the idea). The Curio for 39,000 works out to 0.47 cents per point (based on the HH discount rate of $183) which is close to Hilton's current norm for standard rooms of half a cent a point. All indications are that at some point in the future, the caps based on the hotel's previous category will be removed and the HGI will be 39,000 points, too. But for now it's a deal precisely because of what I stated.
My point is that basing points redemption on cash rates is a double-edged sword and most in the Hilton forum think that the program has been gutted and that great values are now few and far between and found only when the cash rate is so high that the current (temporary) cap comes into play.