GUWonder

Blaming the Olympics really doesn't work to excuse this "premium room reward" scheme for devaluation, as it hits more than just London and other European properties.

Fortunately I have reason enough not to get outraged: I burned most of my points before the full force of this devaluation would hit me. It's unfortunate that others are getting nailed by this Hilton HHonors devaluation because they had more faith in Hilton Worldwide/Hilton HHonors management of points in their accounts than was ideal for maximization of consumer benefit.

Chapel Hill Guy

The facts IME: I have and continue to book standard award rooms at a variety of Hilton properties in Europe and Asia. Have not had a problem.

False. See fact above.

I have no reason to be outraged since none of this has impacted my ability to book standard awards, including AXONs and GLONs, at Hiltons worldwide.

There is a lot of standard award availability at a lot of properties.

GUWonder

"False" only if taking the quoted fragment of a post as being a reference to properties not hit by this change. For properties hit by this change, it's more likely to be true than anything else -- more so when it comes to GLONs and AXONs than not.

Chapel Hill Guy

I'm sorry, this is just gobbledygook.

Let me put it another way. IME:

Number of properties not hit by this change is much, much larger than the number of properites hit by this change.

cblaisd

+1 Have made several reservations since this slowly-being-fixed glitch started, and have had no problem whatsoever getting exactly what I wanted where I wanted. And have done many, many more searches in re trips that didn't work out and have yet to come across even one Premium Room offered.

JDiver

Good to know! Thanks for passing that on; I feel much better with this as a glitch than stealth policy.

mnredfox

Fine, hasn't affected YOU yet. But just wait til you can't book your DSA, or book at one the Hiltons with prem rewards. Keep in mind the number properties that have these will only increase.

deant

I was one of the first ones that was told by Mr. Nassetta's staff that the problem was an "IT Glitch". At first I gave them the benefit of the doubt. However, it is over a month later and the problem has still not been fixed.

We have not received any word from Mr. Nassetta's office or the HHonors Representative here on FT that Hilton is still working on the issue. Based on that, we all must accept the real probability that no IT glitch exists. If Hilton was still working to fix the "glitch" why would they not come here to explain the status (or reply to the numerous emails that have been sent to Hilton Worldwide). It is, and was, Hilton's intent to devalue the program by limiting room availability. At the present time, it is obvious that Bora Bora and Moorea have new limitations and capacity controls. For other hotels, it is not as obvious. The following is a summary of my view of the devaluations.

Bora Bora and Moorea have their own problems in that King rooms are not longer considered "standard" even tho they cost the same as a twin room. Does not seem reasonable. For Bora Bora, they only have 3 twin rooms. If you really search, you can find times where there are standard twin rooms available for cash but not for award. This flys against the Hilton policy that if a standard room is available, you can get it for points.

As for other hotels, the Paris ADT now has 9, yes 9, categories of normal room (not including suites). I believe only 2 of those categories are available for points. I recognize that the Olympics MAY be impacting the ADT during the Olympic time frame. However, if you look at the time before the Olympics, there are few times when you can book 4 nights in a row. I fully believe the numerous categories of rooms is a significant contributor to the lack of awards.

We have also seen the elimination of the "Diamond Force" for awards. For many of us, this was a significant reason to keep Diamond.

There is NOTHING to stop any hotel from creating many, many different room categories such that awards are very limited. They can say that only twin rooms overlooking the dumpsters are the category that qualify for awards. Any hotel that wants to get away from accepting award reservations will do this. It is in their best interest.

Yes there are some Premium awards that are less expensive than a standard award (some Hawaii properties come to mind). However, those properties have a very low rate compared to the points required for an award. In other words, the hotel is probably, based on rates, set at too high a category. I fully believe that they will fix this problem such that premium awards will ALWAYS cost more than standard awards.

Bottom line, Hilton has opened the door for all hotels to reduce award availability and all of the hotels that are very desirable will become unavailable.

squeakr

Despite warnings, and many of you reporting rude and snarky postings, some of the players here seem to be intent on making this a personal argument. NO room for that here. I'm closing the thread till we have a chance to review it.

thanks

squeakr

co MOD HH

zaf

I was looking at few elite properties to use my 400+k points in. Out of curiosity I checked both Bora bora and maldives conrad. In both I have noticed two things:

1- The basic "regular rate" which is 50k or (37.5k x6 days VIP) is only available for twin beds rooms. The equivalent King room starts from ±80-90k per night.

2- Sometimes depending on the month the same room is tagged "premium" and is set a rate of ±100k.

Can someone explain why?

Thanks

justhere

This should answer your questions

JDiver

The property (and other) threads detail this - it is due to demand, and like a number of properties they have determined since the going reward rate is a "standard room" the most basic room is a standard room . Anyone desiring more will pay more points or money for an upgraded accommodation.

July and August French Polynesia gets chockers with French, who take their vacation in droves. OTOH, beginning mid-December, the rains begin, so you may find lots of variability in pay or reward rates in Moorea or Bora Bora; I am not sure what the season is in Maldives, but again, many Continental Europeans take their holidays seriously - and get 4 - 6 weeks (or more!) annual leave.

azepine00

This is a brand new strategy implemented by Hilton to have award capacity control while claiming that they have no blackouts or capacity controls. Additionally once this redefined and very limited supply of base rooms is gone you will not be able to use GLON/AXON or diamond force redemption guarantee - the only option is to pay the bizarre "premium" rates your encountered.

This deceptive practice started with FP properties but now quietly spreading across the chain.

My only advice is to burn your points at the first available opportunity and stop patronizing hilton. Things will only get worse.

divemistressofthedark

Anybody got updates on new properties participating in this diabolical scheme? U.S. hotels, for example? (Glad to see the thread reopened.)

Keyser

just managed to get a room at the paris hilton orly for almost 30% less points than the normal rate....this is the first time the premium rewards have worked in my favour....^^

but on my way back i'm not getting anything at the arc de triomphe paris for less than 300k a night....