When I'm happy with the rate and certain about my dates, and pretty sure the rate isn't going to sink lower, I often book advanced, no refund stays.

I note some hotels will immediately grab the payment from my card, others just wait for check-in. For the first time, a HGI has emailed me asking me to pay the for my (one night) stay in advance by way of a separate third-party transaction. They cite fraud concerns, but I thought it was up to the hotel to sort out payment channels to make the booking process near seamless.

Maybe this is an everyday procedure for some hotels, and I've been fortunate not running into it before. But it's cumbersome and rather defeats the object of using the Hilton website or app.