Examples of point upgrade and point+cash
Oct 6, 2011, 6:32 pm
#151
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
I hadn't seen this discussed any where else, but feel free to merge if it has.
I'm looking at booking some rooms and noticed the upgraded rooms are sometimes twice as many points as a standard room. Does this seem a little ridiculous to anyone else? Granted I only sampled a few properties, so it may just be these properties.
For example:
Hampton Inn Waco (Cat 3)
1 King Study w/ sofa bed - 25,000 points
Hospitality suite (1 king bed and sofa bed, room is about 2x larger than study) - 74,925
Hampton Inn Pensacola Beach (Cat 6)
1 King w/ sofa bed (parking lot view) - 32,000 points
1 King w/ sofa bed (gulf view) - 55,932 points
Hilton Sandestin (Cat 7)
1 King Partial Beach View - 40,000 points
1 King jr suite Partial Beach View - 113,586 points
and my favorite... the Presidential Suite - 251,448 points
I also like how they calculate how many more points you'll need to purchase. For example:
You will need to purchase 891,970 points for $25,959.10.
I'm looking at booking some rooms and noticed the upgraded rooms are sometimes twice as many points as a standard room. Does this seem a little ridiculous to anyone else? Granted I only sampled a few properties, so it may just be these properties.
For example:
Hampton Inn Waco (Cat 3)
1 King Study w/ sofa bed - 25,000 points
Hospitality suite (1 king bed and sofa bed, room is about 2x larger than study) - 74,925
Hampton Inn Pensacola Beach (Cat 6)
1 King w/ sofa bed (parking lot view) - 32,000 points
1 King w/ sofa bed (gulf view) - 55,932 points
Hilton Sandestin (Cat 7)
1 King Partial Beach View - 40,000 points
1 King jr suite Partial Beach View - 113,586 points
and my favorite... the Presidential Suite - 251,448 points
I also like how they calculate how many more points you'll need to purchase. For example:
You will need to purchase 891,970 points for $25,959.10.
When I recently stayed at the WA Park City on Q3FN's, I was offered an upgrade from the standard to the best room in the house for just $29 a night. Ended up with a 2BR suite with a Viking Kitchen and a mountain view. Worth every penny.
32,000 points a night for an upgrade to a parking lot view and sofa bed?
It is a joke, isn't it?
I wonder how many people burn points this way? It has to be the worst redemption value of anything they offer.
(Adding to my own post as it was the last in the thread.)
I just booked a reward stay at the Cincinnati Netherlands. For a weekend, basic room was $159 or 35K points. The mini king suite was $184 but only 7,890 points higher. I consider this fair and I took the larger room. The upgrade points costs on paid stays are indeed ridiculous.
Last edited by InkUnderNails; Oct 7, 2011 at 8:42 am
Oct 10, 2011, 12:34 pm
#152
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Chicago Western Suburbs
Programs: HH Lifetime Diamond, AA Lifetime Plat
Posts: 375
I was dreaming of taking my wife on a really nice vacation next year. Just for fun I looked at the resort on Bora Bora. With a date range of 8 weeks, the least amount of points for a room was over 140,000 with a high of 190,000. That's unreal that they don't have to offer any more standard rooms for points. BTW, the presidential suite was 934,000 per night.
I could get the property in Fiji for under 30,000 a night.....
I could get the property in Fiji for under 30,000 a night.....
Oct 10, 2011, 12:49 pm
#153
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 2,741
I think I may have found the reason for the outrageous costs of the Premium Awards
I just checked HH.com to confirm that my 2 upcoming award reservations were intact and was surprised to see at the bottom of each reservation:
For the Rome Airport Hilton where I had booked a standard award reservation for 40,000 pts I was given these choices:
King Hilton Executive for 2,252 points
Twin Hilton Executive for 2,252 points
King Executive Room Plus for 6,653 points
For the Madrid Airport Hilton where I booked the 30,00 standard award, I was given these:
King Hilton Deluxe for 34,390 points
King Hilton Executive Room for 46,713
Twin Hilton Executive Room for 46,713
(If all of these details have already been covered, forgive me. I've been aware that you could select the premium awards at the original time of booking but I was unaware of the choices given after booking - so figured I should post this in case others were similarly unaware).
I was thrilled to see the FCO Hilton's offers - especially since I'm now only Silver. A paltry 2,252 HH pts for a confirmed upgrade to the executive rooms actually seems better than being a Gold and merely hoping for an upgrade. I selected that and immediately received a popup screen showing this:
And the new HHonors balance correctly showed just the 2,252 debited.
So I clicked confirmed and immediately saw the new reservation with the same Res. Conf. number and original Reward Conf. ID but now there was a second Reward Conf. ID. And the res now shows under "Room and Plan Selection": Twin Hilton Executive for 42,252, Premium Room Reward. I'm pretty stoked about this.
However, for the Madrid Airport Hilton I'm pretty bummed, to say the least, that they want an additional 46,713 pts for their confirmed upgrade. I tried clicking on it anyway to see if maybe they'd only debit the difference between the 46,713 and the original 30,000, but no such luck.
Is the Madrid Airport Hilton's offers in error - or - did FCO Hilton mess up their confirmed upgrade offers (to my benefit)?
Guarantee your room upgrade.
As a Hilton HHonors Member, you can get one of the following guaranteed upgrades:
As a Hilton HHonors Member, you can get one of the following guaranteed upgrades:
King Hilton Executive for 2,252 points
Twin Hilton Executive for 2,252 points
King Executive Room Plus for 6,653 points
For the Madrid Airport Hilton where I booked the 30,00 standard award, I was given these:
King Hilton Deluxe for 34,390 points
King Hilton Executive Room for 46,713
Twin Hilton Executive Room for 46,713
(If all of these details have already been covered, forgive me. I've been aware that you could select the premium awards at the original time of booking but I was unaware of the choices given after booking - so figured I should post this in case others were similarly unaware).
I was thrilled to see the FCO Hilton's offers - especially since I'm now only Silver. A paltry 2,252 HH pts for a confirmed upgrade to the executive rooms actually seems better than being a Gold and merely hoping for an upgrade. I selected that and immediately received a popup screen showing this:
HHonors Points Required:
2,252 HHonors Points x 1 Nights = 2,252 HHonors Points.
You will have:
xxx,xxx HHonors Points Remaingin
Confirm or cancel your upgrade
2,252 HHonors Points x 1 Nights = 2,252 HHonors Points.
You will have:
xxx,xxx HHonors Points Remaingin
Confirm or cancel your upgrade
So I clicked confirmed and immediately saw the new reservation with the same Res. Conf. number and original Reward Conf. ID but now there was a second Reward Conf. ID. And the res now shows under "Room and Plan Selection": Twin Hilton Executive for 42,252, Premium Room Reward. I'm pretty stoked about this.
However, for the Madrid Airport Hilton I'm pretty bummed, to say the least, that they want an additional 46,713 pts for their confirmed upgrade. I tried clicking on it anyway to see if maybe they'd only debit the difference between the 46,713 and the original 30,000, but no such luck.
Is the Madrid Airport Hilton's offers in error - or - did FCO Hilton mess up their confirmed upgrade offers (to my benefit)?
I'm pleased to say that there's now *more reasonable* offers being given from the MAD Hilton.
I had emailed the hotel directly about this as well as emailing HHonors. I also pm'd HHonorsRepresentative. (He/she pm'd me back requesting my account number but I've been away and only now see the messages so didn't reply to them - but thank you nonetheless HHonorsRepresentative!). Hilton replied to me that they were forwarding the issue to the Website Department and I didn't receive a reply back from the hotel - but apparently one of these routes produced the desired result because today I see the following:
For the Madrid Airport Hilton, Upgrade with Points Offers:
Room Type: King Hilton Deluxe
Points Per Night: 7,220 (last week it showed 34,390)
Room Type: King Hilton Executive Room
Points per night: 14,344 (last week it showed 46,713)
Room Type: Twin Hilton Executive Room
Points per night: 14,344 (last week it showed 46,713)
Room Type: King Hilton Deluxe
Points Per Night: 7,220 (last week it showed 34,390)
Room Type: King Hilton Executive Room
Points per night: 14,344 (last week it showed 46,713)
Room Type: Twin Hilton Executive Room
Points per night: 14,344 (last week it showed 46,713)
And I'd bet this same confusion is the cause for alot of these Premium Awards' requirements being so huge. The hotels are providing point requirements for the Premium Awards meant to represent the SUM of the Standard award points PLUS the additional points needed - but then Hilton is showing this figure as the cost for the ADDITIONAL points needed on top of the Standard award. Which in turn is making the REAL total cost exorbitant.
If you're wanting a particular hotel that is showing similarly outrageous pts requirements, I recommend you also contact the hotel and HHonors as I did.
Oct 10, 2011, 1:40 pm
#154
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: So Cal
Programs: UA Gold/0.744MM, WN AL, Hyatt Diamond, MR Scum, Hertz PC, National Exec, Avis PC
Posts: 5,561
And I'd bet this same confusion is the cause for alot of these Premium Awards' requirements being so huge. The hotels are providing point requirements for the Premium Awards meant to represent the SUM of the Standard award points PLUS the additional points needed - but then Hilton is showing this figure as the cost for the ADDITIONAL points needed on top of the Standard award. Which in turn is making the REAL total cost exorbitant.
If you're wanting a particular hotel that is showing similarly outrageous pts requirements, I recommend you also contact the hotel and HHonors as I did.
If you're wanting a particular hotel that is showing similarly outrageous pts requirements, I recommend you also contact the hotel and HHonors as I did.
Oct 11, 2011, 8:41 am
#155
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Chicago Western Suburbs
Programs: HH Lifetime Diamond, AA Lifetime Plat
Posts: 375
Just for fun I checked Moorea as well. Points required ranged from 200,000 per night in November to 92,000 for December 26th - January 3rd. Man, that's a huge difference. But then I clicked on the 92,000 choice and was offered a KING GARDEN BUNGALOW POOL. When I clicked on the 200,000 choice, it was for a KING PANORAMIC OVER WATER BUNGALOW.
Oct 11, 2011, 11:30 pm
#156
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rockin' the Bakken
Programs: Several
Posts: 978
It seems Flagstaff are hotels are also testing the points+cash option. I booked a room at the HGI Flagstaff for points+cash for next Monday.
Both the HGI and one of the Hampton Inns in Flagstaff showed availability of points+cash "rewards". Both are category 4, 30,000/night hotels.
With the cash+points option, it is $50 plus 15,000 points and tax on the $50 so about $55 at both locations.
It may seem like a poor use of points, but me and a friend are splitting the room and I'm on a student budget with the $4k spend AA card bonus
**Update** I received a night stay credit along with the 500 HH Amex booking bonus two days after the stay, so no tech problems with it
Both the HGI and one of the Hampton Inns in Flagstaff showed availability of points+cash "rewards". Both are category 4, 30,000/night hotels.
With the cash+points option, it is $50 plus 15,000 points and tax on the $50 so about $55 at both locations.
It may seem like a poor use of points, but me and a friend are splitting the room and I'm on a student budget with the $4k spend AA card bonus
**Update** I received a night stay credit along with the 500 HH Amex booking bonus two days after the stay, so no tech problems with it
Last edited by UVU Wolverine; Oct 20, 2011 at 11:07 am
Oct 24, 2011, 7:20 am
#157
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 223
Unusual upgrade option at Hilton Waikoloa Village
Regular rate is 50,000 points. For 4 nights or more, the GLON rate is 42,500 or less, as expected. But upgraded rooms range from 36,960 an up, exactly 4/7 of the regular upgrade cost for 3 nights or less. And, I don't have to be logged in to get this rate, so it's not a VIP rate. Since I'm going to be there 4 nights, I may have to burn my free nights elsewhere.
Do these rates make any sense?
Do these rates make any sense?
Oct 27, 2011, 1:33 am
#158
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Thailand
Programs: Marriott - P; HH - G; Hyatt - P; Avis - LT First
Posts: 5,023
Booked 4-nights at Hilton Queenstown (New Zealand) for 70,000 HH-points + NZ308.72 (verses 119,000 HH-points)
To bad I can't get same/similar at Lake Taupo
To bad I can't get same/similar at Lake Taupo
Oct 27, 2011, 2:44 pm
#159
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 52
Points + cash stay- worth it?
Looking at a stay at the Conrad in Hong Kong. Rate is $432 USD per night. Award options are 42,500 pts or 25,000 points and $85 USD per night. I normally would never consider a $432 room, but in Hong Kong the availability of rooms under $200 is very small. This is a great property in a great location, so I 'm thinking I'll go large and use my points.
The way I look at it, the points plus dollars is the best deal?
Is that right?
The way I look at it, the points plus dollars is the best deal?
Is that right?
Oct 27, 2011, 4:40 pm
#160
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: On strike
Posts: 8,135
Looking at a stay at the Conrad in Hong Kong. Rate is $432 USD per night. Award options are 42,500 pts or 25,000 points and $85 USD per night. I normally would never consider a $432 room, but in Hong Kong the availability of rooms under $200 is very small. This is a great property in a great location, so I 'm thinking I'll go large and use my points.
The way I look at it, the points plus dollars is the best deal?
Is that right?
The way I look at it, the points plus dollars is the best deal?
Is that right?
The points/money option is letting you do the equivalent of buying 17,500 points for $85, or roughly 1/2 cent per point. I say "Meh"; it's good if you expect to yield 1 cent/point regularly in the future, but that's not a given.
If you're points poor & cash rich, do the combined redemption. Otherwise, all points is the way to go IMO.
Nov 1, 2011, 3:01 pm
#161
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London
Programs: UA 1 .6 MM,Ethiad Gold,Virgin Silver,Marriott Gold,HHonors Diamond,SPG Gold,BA Blue (ish)
Posts: 669
Finally got a points and cash to post - though no Virgin Atlantic miles - DD said stays using points or 'free' stays do not earn such miles - guess I've been lucky for the past three years then
Last edited by mandc2000; Nov 1, 2011 at 3:02 pm Reason: TYPO
Nov 5, 2011, 7:34 pm
#162
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: HH Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 263
So unfortunately, I won't be able to take advantage of this wonderful value due to flooding in Bangkok 
Wish I had booked it for much later than November!
Wish I had booked it for much later than November!
I just booked a 1 bedroom King Deluxe Suite at the Conrad Bangkok for 17500 points plus 1809.12. Normal cost of this room is about 22000 THB or over $700 dollars. I can't complain about p+c. It works out in some places but not in others. The only room better than the one I booked is the presidential suite but it was not available on points and I did not expect it to be. There are other premium rooms you can book at this rate including Executive rooms & suites! See details of my say below if you need to. Not a bad value in my mind!
1 room for 2 adults Change
1 BEDROOM KING DLX SUITE Non-Smoking Room
Price (2 nights x 1,809.12): 3,618.24
Points (2 nights x 17,500) : 35,000
Taxes: 640.43
Room Subtotal: 35,000 points + 4,258.66
POINTS AND MONEY RWD
Rate details Change
Total for stay: 35,000 points
Total for stay: ฿4,258.67 THB
1 room for 2 adults Change
1 BEDROOM KING DLX SUITE Non-Smoking Room
Price (2 nights x 1,809.12): 3,618.24
Points (2 nights x 17,500) : 35,000
Taxes: 640.43
Room Subtotal: 35,000 points + 4,258.66
POINTS AND MONEY RWD
Rate details Change
Total for stay: 35,000 points
Total for stay: ฿4,258.67 THB
Nov 7, 2011, 4:44 am
#163
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Herts, UK
Programs: BAEC GGL, HH Diamond.
Posts: 3,177
points + cash - conrad HK
Hi
planning to stay at the Conrad HK next month and they seem to be offering really good deal on points + cash HK$661 + 25k points, apposed to HK$3350 or 50k points.
effectivly half of the points reduce the room rate by 80%!
Just wondering , do i get any HH points or a stay when i use points + cash?
Cheers
Andrew
planning to stay at the Conrad HK next month and they seem to be offering really good deal on points + cash HK$661 + 25k points, apposed to HK$3350 or 50k points.
effectivly half of the points reduce the room rate by 80%!
Just wondering , do i get any HH points or a stay when i use points + cash?
Cheers
Andrew
Nov 8, 2011, 12:24 am
#164
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: SFO
Programs: UA MMGold, HH Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 1,263
No points earned for Points and Money Reward stay. See the thread below, post #118 for more detail:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...rewards-8.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...rewards-8.html