FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,047
A new credit card offer doesn't make the tiniest bit of difference to an obvious strategy that has been playing out over the last year or two.
1. Hilton are making everybody (who wants to be) "elite"
2. Hilton are making their points worth no more than 0.5 cents, except in rare cases
The gamble is that Hilton might lose more 70-night per year road warriors (I doubt it) than they win multiple 10-night per year nobodies who will now choose Hiltons because they are "Diamond" or "Gold" and they roughly understand what their points are worth.