Siambob

I will be traveling to LAX July 2 and I will be needing a room near the airport. So far I cannot find anything about the 3rd quarter promotion and July will be at the start of the 3rd quarter.

My questions:

1. Should I wait until the 3rd quarter promotion is posted so I can register for it before booking a room for early July or do previously booked rooms automatically qualify for the promotions after registering?

2. A room booked for July 2nd is obviously after the 2nd quarter promotion, but will it be within the 3nd quarter promotion. It seems that the 2nd quarter promotion period for 2010 didn't begin until April 6th (i may be wrong). Is it possible that rooms booked in the first days of a quarter are excluded from the Hilton promotions?

This is what I found for the 2nd quarter promotion regarding the qualifying periods:

Fast Ways to Free Stays

Earn double points for each stay or one free night certificate after 10 nights within the promotion dates of April 6 - June 30.

HHonors members must register for the promo.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

divemistressofthedark

Just some $.02 (and there are a couple other threads filled with Q3 speculation going right now, FYI...I'll link one if I can remember what it's called)...

* A stay you reserve now will count toward the promotion as long as you register for the promo before you complete your stay July 2.

* That is, IF (and this is a big if) the Q3 promo starts July 1 - usually they kick in a few days into the month and some folks believe the July 4 weekend will be exempted accidentally-on-purpose.

It's not only possible, it's exactly what happened for Q2. Long story short? Don't pin your hopes on this stay qualifying for any of the quarterly bennies. (And I'm in the same boat, got a stay July 1 - 6...)

Hippo72

Well, I can remember of at least one promo where you needed to book *after* registration. Wasn't a problem for me, simply cancelled 4 bookings and rebooked (luckily at the same rate).
But I'd say it was one out of ten promos?

travelinfoo

I'm waiting to see what Hilton will come up with. I have a LOT of travel planned for Q3. I will go with Hilton or SPG depending on the promos.

I am eager to see how SPG Platinum compares internationally (US-based). So far, SPG Platinum seems better than Hilton Diamond domestically.

mnredfox

Can it really get any better than the Q2 promo?

needtoescape

My gut instinct says that the 3Q Hilton promo will not deliver anywhere near the value of the Q2 promo. My reasons for thinking this are:

1) Hilton has had three consecutive promotions that IMHO far exceeded the previous three, at least from my perspective.

2) In 2009, the 3Q promo was (again my experience) the weakest promo (I don't recall if there was an option, but I only got 10,000 bonus points that quarter, and I was travelling 2 - 3 days/week most of the quarter.

3) From a supply and demand perspective, I assume that there is the highest demand during Q3 (school is out, weather is nice, and a lot of people travel in the summer); therefore, hotels have less reason to offer incentives for people to travel.

4) There have not been any advance leaks from Hilton insiders like there was last quarter.

Of course, the economic situation and competitor's promotions could have a significant impact on Hilton's promotion for 3Q.

Like others stated, I would not expect Hilton to begin its 3Q promotion until after the July 4 weekend.

uElliots

book now and then rebook again if a promo comes about
you have nothing to lose as long as you don't book prepays

Points Scrounger

I'm with you on those.

CAlex

It's only 30-May and I think it's unrealistic to expect leaks or info on possible Q3 promos. Best promo they might run is with airline miles, but I would not mind another free nights offer

hamptoninnsider

It's likely we'll be told in a week or two.

divemistressofthedark

Thanks as always, HII.

Not necessarily true. I have a series of stays coming up I've already rebooked a couple times...the price has fluctuated up to $45 per night. You're not at all guaranteed to get the same rate if you rebook, especially once you're closer to the date of the stay.

(this is why I book rooms as separate reservations - 1 individual ressie per night - fairly often. If you put all the nights on one reservation number, if your dates change and you rebook closer to the date of stay - you're stuck paying the higher nightly rate for your entire stay, even if you're staying fewer nights.)

needtoescape

FYI, HamptonInnsider started another post today with the preliminary promo details:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...r-hhonors.html

Thanks HamptonInnsider; I really appreciate your sharing the advance information with us!

I travel for business to an area where my regular Hampton sometimes gets full because they get a lot of families during the summer, so I did the same thing for one week in July (i.e., made three separate one night reservations), so I can decide, based on the HH 3Q promo and how I like a new hotel I am trying in June, whether to spend part of the week somewhere else without worrying about rates changing if I change my reservation. But, the front desk people always can seem to shorten or split my reservation and give me my corporate rate, even when I only can change my reservation with a higher rate on the website. I'm not sure if this is something that all hotels will do, since I have only asked at a hotel where I stay regularly.

Canarsie

So as not to have two concurrent threads regarding the Hilton HHonors Third Quarter promotion, please follow the ongoing discussion here.

Thank you.

Regards,

Canarsie
Co-Moderator, Hilton forum