Yes, someone does stop me from staying at Hiltons in Scandinavia! Hilton!

Maybe someday, when they expand Hilton Garden Inn and/or Hampton Inn in Europe, they'll have properties outside the big capitals in Scandinavia. But me, what I want to do most in Scandinavia is explore Flord country (western Norway), Lapland, smaller towns, etc, and that's where the Scandics (or Riga affiliates) are but Hiltons aren't.

Furthermore, it's too early to see what "using your account" means. Will there be ways of "using your account" without traveling to Scandinavia (such as transferring in or transferring out or buying a small amount of points)? Maybe, but we have to make our decision on Hilton transfers before any of this ironed out. (The Hilton transfers have be done before 1 Jan 2008, but the website clearly says that a lot of info, including new partners, won't be revealed until after 1 Jan 2008.)