Denied converting standard nights on points to FNCs
Just a data point, I called the diamond desk to convert a 5 night stay booked with points to a 4 nights stay booked to using FNCs. Typically the agent calls the hotel, they open up inventory temporarily and cancel / rebook the reservation. I have done this before a few months ago, it is not easy and you need to get a willing agent, but this is the first time it was denied. The agent did call the hotel and spent about 20 minutes with them, including talking to a supervisor, but it was denied citing low inventory and construction. They even had to unofficially cancel the 1 night I did not want to stay (the reservation still has the 5 nights, but due to a note on the account I should get a points refund for 1 night (ironically, even though this was a 5th night free booking)).
The reason I book with points to "hold" the nights is because my FNCs are not yet available and the inventory at this hotel is very limited. The Hilton reservation system is frustrating due to inability to change points bookings, and the "Terrace" rooms at GW are just fake inventory control room types; when you cancel a night they never go back to the "inventory". Frustrating. If anyone has any recent tips, please share.