BockwurstGC

I could be wrong, but for many of your mainstream US airlines other than Southwest (Delta, United, US Airways) wouldn't it make more sense to just take the points and then exchange for miles? I haven't done the math but it seems like it would work out better that way

rsercely

It has always been my experience to keep points "native", i.e., take hotel points from hotels, air miles from airlines. Transferring is costly.

With the one exception of the SPG Amex card, where you actually get a bonus by transferring from SPG hotel points to airlines.

alxir

Yes, you are VERY wrong. Do the math and you'll find that Hilton's exchange rates for airline miles are clearly the worst of any hotel chain.

From Ric Garrido's Loyalty Traveler blog are charts showing the exchange rates for hotel points: Hotel Points-to-Miles Conversion Tables.

However, when it comes to earning miles from hotel stays, Hilton is one of the best hotel chains if your travel pattern is to have a lot of stays versus nights. Ric has another excellent blog post on that subject:
Earning Miles from Hotel Stays

Flyer737

Usually this is true, but I find the AA miles transfer to HHonors attractive if I use the HHonors points wisely (NYC Times Square, Hilton Barbados in winter, etc.)

BockwurstGC

I understand the exchange rate is terrible, but if I may elaborate I promise to make sense. I know it varies by person, but in my particular situation I do feel it would make more sense to take points. On the road I tend to stay in Hamptons, so hypothetically I would need 5 stays for 1,000 miles. Most nights a room will run me somewhere between $110 and $130, with double points you would earn more than enough points to cover the 10,000 = 1,000 and then have some points to spare. Also note, if you were to spend a week in the same place you would only get the miles for 1 stay, whereas with points it's based on the total dollar amount. The only airline I'm even considering doing miles for is Southwest, I just thought it would be interesting to see what other people though

GoldCircle

Unless you credited your Hampton nights to bmi, in which case you would get 1000 miles for ONE night. And those miles would be more valuable than wherever you currently credit them too.

alxir

Yes. that does make good sense for someone who has lengthy stays. And I noted but should have emphasized that your travel pattern makes a huge impact on the decision of whether to choose double points or miles for this promotion. I, too, spend lots of nights in the same place. But there's a tipping point which I recognize as a unique individual decision in which I'm willing to hotel hop because the benefits of multiple stays is worth the inconvenience of moving in and out of hotels frequently. Divemistressofthedark posts in this thread most excellently quantify the mathematical benefits. I happen to have the time to hotel hop, but understand that most people would rather relax and settle into one place than be constantly moving around from one Hilton hotel to another which can be a hassle not worth taking unless one is driven to get the maximum possible miles as I am at the moment.

jabez

Seven pagesx of discussions about a program not announced yet. I'm still hoping for the free certs bonus. Until it's announced, I'm not going to start calculating which "option" best fits.

boilers

Out of curiosity, what kind of response do these untargeted bonus promotions get? How many HHonors members really sign up for the promotion (outside of Flyertalk)?

needtoescape

I can only give you my personal experience, but before I discovered Flyer Talk, I signed up for these Hilton bonuses most of last year (as a regular business traveller staying primarily at Hilton properties and someone who got email notification about promos from Hilton HHonors). I would suspect that many business travellers in my situation would be in the same boat as I was and would know about these promotions and sign up. Of course, someone not actively following this stuff on FT would be at a disadvantage in terms of not knowing about the promos in advance and not being aware of some of the nuances/opportunities associated with different promotions.

BBFD

I was talking to a friend last night who knew nothing about the Q3FN promo and he stays at Hiltons a few times a quarter. Maybe if you have your email subscriptions preference for special offers and announcements turned off you never get notification and thus miss out? I would not be surprised if people turn all this off to keep from getting what they believe is junk mail?

dcshungu

Has a link to this Q3 promo been posted yet? July is just around the corner and I am staying at a couple of Hiltons (BUD and FRA) early next month!

Keyser

this question has been answered many times in this thread....there is no link yet & we are all waiting for the official announcement....

bsdstone

Yeah, but WHERE IS THE LINK?

serfty

IIRC, the link for the Q2 promotion was not available until around 4th April.

Going by that you may need to wait until after the long weekend ...