PHLGovFlyer

The irony of this new scheme is that the hotels that it impacts the most are the ones where Hitlon's brand standards mandate that they operate a full service restaurant. These hotels have already paid for the restaurant space, the kitchen, furnishings, tableware, decoration, etc. Outside of COVID restrictions they still need to staff and operate their restaurant for breakfast anyway, so the marginal cost of offering free breakfast to elites is comparatively small. There's also a decent amount of "breakage" with a breakfast-only benefit because a lot of folks don't eat breakfast, or can expense it elsewhere at a place and time of their choosing. Now, under the new scheme, these hotels are obliged to offer a credit that can be used at any time, so those elites that don't eat or want the breakfast can now get drinks or part of dinner at the hotel's expense. If I owned a full service Hilton property in the US I'm not sure this new scheme would be a net positive for my bottom line.