Premium Room Reward only at certain properties - Major Devaluation of HH points
Jun 1, 2012, 12:17 pm
#931
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Nashville, TN - BNA
Programs: Hilton Gold, WN RR
Posts: 1,818
Having had a few days to cool off, I'm still disgruntled, but turns out I have to grudgingly admit I'm not as screwed for EWR as I had initially thought.
(There are only a couple of Hilton properties there these days: this Doubletree and a couple of Waldorf-Astoria properties.) I tried a whole bunch of different combinations of rooms, dates and points, and by making three separate reservations was able to get three nights on points at the W-A Reach for a total of about 135K, at a room that isn't the bargain-basement most basic ("Traditional Boutique," whatever that means. There's all of one photo of it online, but it's allegedly 425 sq feet... doubt it'll have a view, but we Diamond beggars can't be choosers.) I hear that property isn't up to W-A standards, but it is oceanfront and centrally located.
We're going to pay through the nose for two other days at the property - sandwiched between our two reward reservations - but will do it to get the same room type and hopefully avoid having to change rooms.
I think this is a worthwhile trick, folks - just keep trying different dates and combinations of rates & room types. The quoted rate for this room for our entire 5-day stay would have been over 300,000 HH points - but by slicing it up into separate 1- and 2-night reservations we were actually able to get decent value. Have no idea why the rates are outrageous for some nights but then back into a reasonable range for others - and that's true for some room types but not others.
Not happy about having to go to a bunch of trouble fooling with Hilton.com, but it beats having my points seem almost worthless. Another downside to slicing-and-dicing some W-A reservations: You have to put down a one-night deposit for each individual reservation. They're still cancellable, but be prepared to pay cash up front if you're, say, booking a one-night paid stay between reward nights.
Not sure if I'm going to stick with Diamond or downgrade to Gold and then parse my other reservations between Priceline, Marriott and SPG. I'm forced to admit that living in this part of the country it's hard to beat Hilton's coverage, and as of yet the devaluation hasn't metastasized to every Mom & Pop Hampton Inn in the mid-South. Sigh.
(There are only a couple of Hilton properties there these days: this Doubletree and a couple of Waldorf-Astoria properties.) I tried a whole bunch of different combinations of rooms, dates and points, and by making three separate reservations was able to get three nights on points at the W-A Reach for a total of about 135K, at a room that isn't the bargain-basement most basic ("Traditional Boutique," whatever that means. There's all of one photo of it online, but it's allegedly 425 sq feet... doubt it'll have a view, but we Diamond beggars can't be choosers.) I hear that property isn't up to W-A standards, but it is oceanfront and centrally located.
We're going to pay through the nose for two other days at the property - sandwiched between our two reward reservations - but will do it to get the same room type and hopefully avoid having to change rooms.
I think this is a worthwhile trick, folks - just keep trying different dates and combinations of rates & room types. The quoted rate for this room for our entire 5-day stay would have been over 300,000 HH points - but by slicing it up into separate 1- and 2-night reservations we were actually able to get decent value. Have no idea why the rates are outrageous for some nights but then back into a reasonable range for others - and that's true for some room types but not others.
Not happy about having to go to a bunch of trouble fooling with Hilton.com, but it beats having my points seem almost worthless. Another downside to slicing-and-dicing some W-A reservations: You have to put down a one-night deposit for each individual reservation. They're still cancellable, but be prepared to pay cash up front if you're, say, booking a one-night paid stay between reward nights.
Not sure if I'm going to stick with Diamond or downgrade to Gold and then parse my other reservations between Priceline, Marriott and SPG. I'm forced to admit that living in this part of the country it's hard to beat Hilton's coverage, and as of yet the devaluation hasn't metastasized to every Mom & Pop Hampton Inn in the mid-South. Sigh.
Jun 1, 2012, 9:02 pm
#932
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: LAX
Posts: 10,909
ES Waikiki joined the party - not sure what they define as standard room but apparently with minimum stay requirement i can have a room for one or two nights for 50k/nt (dia force come up online) but 3 or more start at 115K/nt.
Idiots.
Idiots.
Jun 1, 2012, 9:07 pm
#933
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,905
Feb 9, 2014, 11:15 am
#935
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: On strike
Posts: 8,135
Noting for the record this separate thread; title says it all: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...ions-ever.html
Feb 9, 2014, 11:43 pm
#936
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Trident Plat, DL Diamond, AI Maharajah
Posts: 29,678
Noting for the record this separate thread; title says it all: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...ions-ever.html
Jun 15, 2014, 9:08 pm
#937
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NJ
Posts: 3,335
Just looked at Hilton Barbados -- at best an okay Caribbean resort -- and all high season nights are premium nights now. Wanting 120,000 pts. PER NIGHT for any night in January. Ridiculous, for a room I can reserve for $329. 600,000 points for 5 nights, so $200,000 of everyday spend on a Hilton credit card.
Instead, I can get a great Westin in the Caribbean for 16,000 SPG points a night. 5 nights for 4, for a total of 64,000 points. $64,000 everyday spend on SPG Amex credit card.
Are these people at Hilton this oblivious to the (lack of) value proposition here?
Instead, I can get a great Westin in the Caribbean for 16,000 SPG points a night. 5 nights for 4, for a total of 64,000 points. $64,000 everyday spend on SPG Amex credit card.
Are these people at Hilton this oblivious to the (lack of) value proposition here?