ozstamps

Starwood won virtually everything except "Best airline" category.

http://www.freddieawards.com/events/?event_key=6

WHY did they nuke Hilton so comprehensively?

jabez

I wondered that as well.
My guess is that part of it was HH's changes to glon's,etc.
The other part being that Starwood is,IMHO.a better program.

Humaniod

Because Hilton hotels doesn't always deliver on HHonors benefits. SPG hotels go out of their way to make everything right. As a Hilton Diamond I find it amusing that I almost never get upgrades to a suite, but as SPG Gold I get a suite over 75% of the time. It is all about taking care of your best customers!

TrojanHorse

From my needs, I see it as hilton is nickel and diming me to death not only from a cost perspective at the hotels but IMHO and more importantly from a benefits perspective.

The award increases kill me, 75% is outrageous from my perspective, yes Spg made increases but not to this magnitude

The non use of the VIP certs have made me irate.. if there isn't an expiration, they shouldn't eliminate the use of them, I've earned them (I know that this was not an issue when I voted but I wanted to add this as it is a major sticking point for me)

The inability of Hh to be able to distinguish its perks as a Diamond compared to Gold during my stays. The only difference I see is the award blackout waivers which is not something that I need all that often... SPG will upgrade the plats much more often than hilton a diamond

I'm not impressed with the Hilton upgrades in this regard, I think Hilton and Marriott are about the same, while SPG wins hands down

SPG has the lurker, what does Hh have, adam burke, he may do something but I sure don't see it..

That in a nutshell is why I did not send my vote Hiltons way

PHL

I find HHonors Customer Service response time abysmal. Only when I got the direct email of someone in HHonors Customer Service did I start getting quicker responses.

I hardly ever see Adam, or anyone else, a regular presence here.

My general email inquiries submitted via the web site either go completely unanswered, or take a week.

Starwood has none of the above issues. Queries logged on the web site are answered within 48 hours. Usually the same day if submitted in the AM. And, well, William the Lurker is a true gem.

If I wasn't spending 90% of my Hilton stays at the Waldorf (where they have their own profiles of Diamond and repeat guests), I'd probably be feeling that my Diamond status means nothing since I've seen so many complaints here.

Yes, HHonors has a little bit of work to do in the Customer Service area and status recognition at all their brands....

Superd1

Starwood cares about repeat business! Hilton???

geo1005

Starwood treats me as a guest. Every time.

Hilton thinks I should feel priveleged to stay with them. Each time.

It's as simple as that.

andrzej

I will have to disagree with the above. For me at least it was just the opposite. I was comped Gold by both programs. I chose Starwood as the one to actually make Gold the hard way. The few stays were very disappointing. Maybe I was just simply unlucky, but I never received any upgrades, and on one or two occasions, it seemed to me that I was downgraded. Finally, decided to give Hilton a try, and out of 4 stays I received 2 mini-suites, 2 concierge floors rooms, breakfasts, and few other perks. For details read my post about 'recent stays in Tampa, Chicago and Las Vegas'. So, I decided to earn Gold the hard way with Hilton, as the status seems to have some meaning with the hotels, unlike Starwood, at least in my experience with both.

Eastbay1K

Having been a member of both for quite some time (a Plat since day one, and an HHonors Gold most of the past few years, and just recently Diamond), I have to say that the two big factors for me (and apparently for many), are (1) the follow-up from SPG to make things right. HHonors has a few absolute gems in the program, in the higher ranks. And overall, I have very few complaints with HHonors - remember, suites are not a benefit, but breakfast generally is (for 2 tiers, not just top). Most of the time since the inception of SPG, I've had a platinum concierge whom I could either call or email with simple requests or questions, to more special requests. I have only phoned the Diamond Desk a few times, and they have been polite and helpful as can be, but its just not the same. (2) I'd say the other huge factor is the nearly-guaranteed availability for award space. Other than as a Diamond, HHonors can be hit or miss for redemptions. SPG treats Joe-2-stays-a-year who finally has enough points for his stay at the 3points FloridaSwamps the same as me, Mr. Megaplatinum. This alone would cause votes to go the way of SPG.

SPG has its comparative drawbacks, and HHonors its comparative benefits, but those two things probably caused the great showing of SPG.

venk

HH Gold is much better in promised benefits than SPG Gold but that also sets expectations and results in corresponding disappointments when they are not met and HH does nothing to alleviate that.

Hence, while both programs have benefits and drawbacks, the one that affects customer satisfaction the most is that as averaged over all aspects


HH overpromises and underdelivers while SPG underpromises and overdelivers.


That and the presence of William on FT compared to withdrawal of Adam from FT is sufficient explanation.

EWR-COflyer

HH gives status away for a nothing, dilutes the program, then increases the VIP only awards because of the sheer number of VIPs.

"Here take 50k HH points and status, now you're halfway there to 6 nights at the HWV"... oops, my bad... ummm, ALONs are now 175k... yeah, that's the ticket. But anyone w/ a brain can take that Gold status w/ 50k pt headstart and then transfer airline miles at 1:2 ratio and be off to Hawaii for investing less than $400, perhaps much lower, at HH properties.

They rope everyone into booking online for a bonus, drop distribution costs, then eliminate the booking bonus.

That being said, I am still a HH Diamond and will remain one. They have more than an adequate number of properties in the cities where I travel, the hotels are satisfactory and the rates are reasonable. SPG has really spotty coverage where I go, the rates are thru the roof and they offer no Hampton-type offerings (Four Points) in most of my area.

I have used the Diamond Desk to book reward travel during blackout dates, even once when the hotel was sold out (Anchorage, AK for the week of the Summer Solstice...)

Perhaps this will be a wakeup call to the HH dept... do something nice for the people who really stay at your properties instead of diluting the program into oblivion.

What would I like to see? How about a substantial bonus opportunity that involves a substantial number of stays. Not this 4 nights = Gold & 50k pts nonsense. Make it so that people who really use HH will not be as affected by the 75k pt increase for the ALON awards.

pitflyer

That summarizes it in a nutshell for me, as both a Hilton Diamond and SPG Platinum for a year (both earned after initial comps from Marriott Platinum). Hilton looks so much better on paper but SPG is so much better in reality, and customer service, headed by Starwood Lurker, ensures that no bad experience goes unresolved..

Now to be fair Hilton Garden Inn's blow away anything that Starwood offers in that realm, and Starwood is still relatively a small program in that both Hilton and Marriott offer so many more choices (with business cutbacks I find my limits to often not be enough for a Sheraton, and Four Points are pretty poor compared to similarly priced Hilton/Marriott hotels).

I think the clincher this year was the drastic change in awards left a bad taste in all of our mouths, even though we all knew it was coming. Just too much, too quick.

korea71

As a Hilton Diamond, I have had nothing but good experiences worldwide. I started out with the blue level and worked my way up. Any small problems that I had were promptly taken care of. I don't stay anywhere for more than 4-5 days at a time so the point increases for awards don't bother me too much. Thank God for poinstretchers though. They are a gem. I found that doing a little pre-planning does wonders in what you can expect when you arrive at the hotel. Granted, I have no experience with Starwood so I can't make a comparison. All I can say is that I like Hilton and everywhere I happen to go, there seems to be one that welcomes me.

MIKEM

The reason Starwood won was because a lot of people voted for it. However, I beleive most of the people who voted were largly ignorant of the different programs.

Look at any political election. Do you think most people voting know the candidates and issues well? No way. Did most of the people know the differences between all the hotel programs. No way.

I find the Freddies to be interesting and love the idea. However, they are not a true indication of the way we travelers spend money.

I for one, am disappointed with the way HH has devalued their program. I still voted for them most of the time. I also voted for Starwood in some cases. However, I'm not even in the program for many reasons. I'm sure the reputation of what Hilton did recently pulled them down. Rightly so!

A great number of people voted for only what they know about. It would be nice if someone has or made a spread sheet showing the comparisons of the different programs in an easy to read format?

So, take this Freddie Results with a "grain of salt."

dashark

I understand why Starwood won, but its number two for me for three reasons:

1) Location - Starwood just isn't in as many markets as Hilton. If they don't have a hotel where I'm going, the loyalty program doesn't mean a thing.

2) Choice of Product - With the current budget restrictions on business travel, I can't justify staying at a Sheraton or Hilton unless the company has a special deal for that particular hotel. With Sheraton, that means Four Points or nothing. With Hilton, I have the option of Doubletree, Hilton Garden Inn or Homewood before I have to settle for a Hampton.

3) Mid-Tier Elite - I'm both HHonors Gold and (recently) SPG Gold. As an HHonors gold, I've always received free breakfast coupons or lounge access (sometimes both) and usually receive some other little goodies (free water, little snacks and/or amenity coupons). I almost always get some kind of room upgrade, and some of the upgrades (particularly at HHV) have been fantastic. As an SPG Gold, I've received nothing. From what I can tell, SPG spends its upgrade budget on Platinums, whereas Hilton shares some of the budget with the Golds. That may make SPG Platinum the winner of the "Best Elite Level" award, but it makes SPG Gold a stinker.

So, while I can see why Starwood is the program of choice for many, it just falls short for me.

What I have the hardest time understanding is why Marriott Rewards and Priority Club finished ahead of HHonors in the voting. Can someone explain that to me? The only reason I can think of is that the HHonors voting reflects a backlash based on recent program changes.