I will be burning my HH points before the change and will be getting rid of my Hilton Amex. I've not stayed in a Hilton property in two years as I have turned my loyalty towards SPG and Hyatt. I've received better treatment, upgrades, benefits, and better promos.


Halothane

The grass is not greener elsewhere. I have certain Hiltons I use frequently and I will continue to use these and I will continue to enjoy excellent treatment there. The same is true for InterContinental and SPG. It is my clear aim to keep top level tier in all three programs because I want to have a choice and Hilton will certainly get its share of 28 stays next year.

Redemption levels? Everybody here is speculating, nobody has information. It is my speculation that in particular European properties and properties in the Australia region will go up for very good reason. The HH point is USD linked and most of you guys value HH points in USD at whatever rate. However, the USD is close to its all time low at 1.50 to the Euro (even worse with the AUD) and the hotels in these regions get less and less value in local currency. Don't complain to Hilton, complain to the US government!

The only reason I am still with Hilton is that Starwood and Hyatt hotels in London (where I have a majority of my stays) are almost prohibitively more expensive than the Hilton hotels there. I might as well stay at Holiday Inn hotels in London, though, as they aren't really worse than the Hilton hotels there. So I am currently considering that. Diamond recognition at the Hilton hotels I usually stay at (London) is almost non-existent. The points devaluation makes it significantly less attractive to suffer through the stays at London Hilton hotels just to use the points at some point in the future in one of the nicer Hilton hotels.

I'll probably requalify for Diamond this year as I am only a few stays away, then burn all my points before the changes to the HHonors program and hope for some Diamond recognition when burning the points and then take all my business to Hyatt/SPG/Priority Club from next year.

I am looking for other opportunities, and I was wondering what would be your choice, given my Hilton stay pattern: diamond on points, 10 stays and 35 nights. This pattern was consistent over the last 3 years and I don't expect them to change much. I am staying mostly in Europe and Asia, and I don't think I can expect to get a good status with SPG as it doesn't account for spending. Would you stay with Hilton in my case? I don't have CC earning opportunity, either, not being based in the US.

If you are happy with the hotels, sure....why not? The current rant is over the Hhonors program and is a minor blip on the radar relative to the general gutting of the program that began several years ago. The people crying the most have just figured out they have been riding the wrong horse.

Ah yes the good old FT perception of our own self iimportance:D

It seems anytime a member here has to make a decision based on their own personal habits/interests etc .. we are presented with quite a bit of rationalization and much comfort is sought and gained from those who support that point of view:)

The fact is that in case anyone care to look carefully, SPG for example over recent years has had multiple catagory and point redemption increases when compared to Hhonors. That is mitigated by throwing a ton of points towards their members so that now points garnered by actual stays become almost insignificant relative to promos bonuses.
Seem HH has gone a different route. For example award stays still garner stay credit and even the " not permitted" points awarded on such stays have not been actively persued.
( I for one cannot believe that they are unable to successfully eliminate that " unpublished benefit" if they actually wanted)

It sucks when one has to pay more for anything but to claim tha HH is unique in that regard (as many here attempt to foist on us) is pretty silly IMHO.

mike

My 2 cents worth is I focus on what property is best suited for my needs regardless of its Reward Program. I stay a Hiltons around 150 nights a year, tried Starwood for one year, got status match, treated great, but their properties just were not convenient. When I work a show for 10 hours and a Hilton Garden is across the street I am not going to drive 22 miles to stay at a Starwood. Having been a Diamond for over 10 years I have always been treated decent, and I guess thats all I ask.

Have two stays in Hiltons at the end of this month. Waiting for the bomb to finally drop before making the final decision to move over to SPG. Our corporate hotels are Hiltons so moving will require some creative inputting into our travel system. Never say never, but It's looking like its time to leave.

Oh well, it was a good run while it lasted.

I'm definitely rethinking my travel options. With a comp to SPG Plat or Hyatt Diamond, I may switch over wholeheartedly.

Ok, I am open to switching, but: my Diamond status is based on Amex spending (and I spend a good deal more on my *wood Amex). That said, does Hyatt, Marriott or Priority have top tier status based on credit card spending—a cursory look didn’t reveal that benefit?

This is yet another confirmation to me that the cost to acquire HHonors Diamond is excessive when: given the lack of distinction between Diamond and Gold in an environment where there is such a low cost to acquiring HHonors Gold; and given so many major HHonors points devaluations over the course of the past several years.

Jailer, Hyatt doesn't have an affiliated credit card so acquiring Diamond status from spending on a credit card doesn't happen unless it involves staying at Hyatt hotels. Priority Club top-tier status is achievable with credit card spending on the affiliated credit card.

Just one further remark: All this "less-promotions-higher-burning-rate" arguments forget about one important issue: There are some people that are more interested in rates than in points. Hilton had and still has great rate promotions (currently PR13CB, PR24VC).

I told my Westin people in my favorite destinations (40 nights in that town in 2009 in three hotels) that I won't stay one further night unless they do something about the rates. My normal Hilton rate under PR24VC is 153 Euro (or even lower under PR13CB), the best I can get with the Westin is 189 Euro. Both hotels are pretty similar qualitywise. All these nice points are not freebies but one needs to pay for it. And I certainly prefer a decent rate at the beginning.

Count me on the "no more" list. No worthwhile promos, the loss of rolling qualification, point devaluation, lack of meaningful differentiation between Diamond and Gold, lack of recognition of Diamond status at many properties, and a paucity of properties where I actually want to use my points leaves very little value in the program for me going forward.

I have status matched to Hyatt and canceled my one upcoming Hilton stay. I will no longer be spending on my HHonors Surpass card, and will likely cancel it when I burn through my >500k points.

I am so done with Hilton now too. They can kiss goodbye 125 nights / yr.. at $150/nt, thats $18,000+ in revenue. GONE! CYA!

Take my stays to a place that takes care of me.

What this does for me is just guarantees that I will use Priceline for more and more stays.

For example, I am at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Warwick, RI this week. On their site, each night would be $115. I got it on priceline.com (and pretty much knew it would be this hotel) for $34 a night. Tell me why I would not drive to priceline? Especially given the major devaluation of points that is going on during this economic crisis.

Just makes no sense.

I am curious... what place is that?

All the programs are devaluating their program.

I am as upset as the next person in this thread, but we all need to remember that we are effectively a very very small percentage of what has to be the total number of Hilton Honors Members. Even that being said, we are all almost certainly unverified complainants. As much as we all like to tout our status, lets remember we are just nameless people behind internet nicknames. You could register 100 accounts here and complain on them all claiming whatever level you wish. Thus I am sure the general complaints here are taken with a grain of salt in the grand scheme of things.

If you really want to lodge a complaint, I would imagine a call to the Honors desk, especially the Diamond Desk, or better yet a personal letter would serve much more weight that want can be accomplished here. Perhaps the HHonors Rep can enlighten us as to the best way to express our dissatisfaction with these changes.

Mia

Hilton Honors Diamond
Hilton Grand Vacation Club Owner

This year, really? Global demand for hotel stays is down this year compared to even last year and that is showing up in occupancy and/or room rates being lower overall. This economic situation has lead to hotels competing harder for business, and one of the ways hotels are doing that is in the form of more and/or richer promotions. Has Hilton dropped its hotel rates more than other hotel brands running more and/or richer promotions?

Same boat here. Mine was $125 for a mid-week multi-night stay at the Homewood Chapel Hill, vs. $55 for PL where I was awarded the same property. I am going to have to do a couple of Hilton mattress runs for Diamond, and it's such a low bar that I'd be stupid not to do it. [Amazingly, I'm using my PL savings from multi-night stays earlier in the year to fund it, and I'm still ahead of the game.]

Most places I visit for work are smaller cities where the price has inflated over the last 4-5 years from $80+tax up to $119+tax. At this point, after 1/1, I'm going to be inclined (if there is no Hyatt) to bid up to $65/3.5* and $50/3* across the board.

Will I unilaterally give up Hilton? No.
Will I drop from Diamond to Gold? Most likely.
Will I drop from Diamond to Silver? Maybe, but depends on work travel patterns.
Will I move spending from AMEX Hilton to AMEX SPG? Already done.

I have not redeemed SPG yet this year, but from what I gather reading threads in the past day or two (mainly regarding HHonors) they've actually reducing some hotel categories and increased promotions. So I think it's reasonable to say that SPG has not devalued the program in 2009.

Marriott is a bit more subjective. They altered their structure in early 2009, a move that effectively requires me to spend 8% more to achieve my favorite award (a Travel Package). In exchange, they dumped the capacity controls and blackout dates. My personal take on this is that you will benefit if you seek out a popular property in "shoulder peak" season. Hotels can still game the system in max-peak periods and in off-peak periods I never really had an availability complaint with Marriott. They also now allow MVCI's in the Travel Packages, but they took away the best standalone 7-night 2-bedroom suite awards. In any case, I look at it as a slight devaluation - not a major one.

This Hilton devaluation is smelling like 20 to 29 percent to me. They will have to adjust categories significantly in December/January (returning a large number of current Cat 5's and 6's to their 2009 Categories) for me to consider this a "mild" (3 to 5 percent) devaluation.

The structural changes to HHonors don't bother me. The systemwide Category Creep - everything up one level (especially in the 5-6 range) - is the problem.

I'll wait and see. I'm MR Plat but definitely converting my 2010 business to a stay-based program: either SPG or HH. Right now, I'm leaning towards SPG for stays with just enough HH Amex use to keep a good status here. If the December/January categories are reset more fairly, I will consider going total HH in 2010.

I am a diamond with Hilton, and as much as I would love to go to SPG, they don't have as many convenient hotels as Hilton does (Hampton Inns are everywhere)

I guess I could switch to Marriot, but I best use those 600K points I have with them

Which next year will be good enough for two nights at a Hampton Inn :p

One of the consequences of this move may be that some big SPG account holders better rush on the following or otherwise revise their plans about this: transferring SPG points into AA miles, then into HHonors to get to the next Million Mile threshold at AA while still being able to get free hotel stays.

I love the fall.... the ritual shift of FTers leaving [fill in hotel chain] to go to [fill in other hotel chain] because of point devaluation.

This year its HH, a few years back it was SPG. So predictable! :p

In late 2008, it was Marriott. :)

At least Marriott significantly increased the Platinum bonus to make up for the devaluation.

True, and they did actually alter one program fundamental (dumping the "Anytime" awards) in our favor. But still...when it was announced, a lot of people swore off Marriott. Whether a bluff or not, I don't know...

The sad part about this one is that I've been mostly complementary of HHonors in recent years for what I consider a high quality of treatment for HH Gold status. (I'm still, for the most part, pleased with my HHonors stays.) I'm hopeful that there will be some category correction in our favor in December. This move is so mindblowingly bad otherwise, it just seems like they have to throw us a bone.

ALL - I don't really think so. The lower end is actually improving a bit. IHG has been giving away points like candy (if you follow the famous thread in thier forum) for some time now. They have actually been improving their program a bit by offering points and cash style reward nights and a somewhat miserly points for flights option. My upgrade success rate at HIEX and Staybridge as a Plat is better than what I've been getting as a diamond this year. (Just be careful about staying in a regular HI.)

I'm with you...I've been gold for several years and they've always been my tertiary program...with the current devaluation and no free night for me...then can kiss my arse goodbye!
This program has lagged behind the others for so long it's not even funny...now this...:td:

I admit I haven't spent a lot of time studying this but at first blush it doesn't seem so bad- isn't it somewhat a function of which/how many properties become L7? And isn't the impact muted by the reduced elite award levels?

Actually, some (many? most?) of us read the email and webpages as "every hotel will jump one category" : all "old L5" currently at 35,000 will become in the new & improved ranking system L6 at 40,000, and so on. Plus some hotel will change category depending of their individual qualities.

not really
 

I am happy with Hilton. I like Starwood, however, I travel to very random places that doesn't have Starwood properties...which leaves Marriott....I refuse to indirectly fund the Mormon church...so that leaves Hilton.

Like attorney28, I travel to London several times a year and stay for up to two weeks at a time. I currently have two stays at Hilton London properties booked next month--I will probably keep these stays--but will be looking at changing my frequent stay habits next year--Keep it up Hilton, and other programs will prosper.

The FAQ explicitly stated it: the default is that the entire system moves up 1 category. Your 175k Cat 6 costs 225k in 2010. Your 150k Cat 5 goes up to 180k.

We need the special December/January list of category changes to come out to determine whether a large number of properties gets moved back to 2009 levels.

This is the one hope I'm holding out: logically, it makes sense that all Opp, 1, and 2 hotels would move up one level to 1, 2, and 3. But today's 4, 5, and 6 hotels should only move up based on their merits, demand, revenue, etc. My hope is that it was easier to first announce the categories and the new Cat 7, and we'll get a full list in December/January that shows most mainline Hiltons - the 4's, 5's, and 6's most common throughout the system - are set back to the proper level.

Is this a naive, wishful hope? :confused:

I would consider switching, but not because of devaluation. The cost per night has gone up over the past five years, so I am still getting about the same number of free nights vs. the number of nights I stay. The extra free day is a nice gesture from Hilton though. However I would stay because of the lack of consistency and no real recognition between gold / diamond.

If you wanted this to really work then have people fax in their receipts from other properties. A few people saying they'll switch is sends a message. Dropping a stack of $1m of receipts from Diamond members giving their business elsewhere will get much more attention.

Are they reduced if a Cat 6 now becomes a Cat 7?

Actually, I was under the impression that some here were still clinging on the hope that the FAQ chart was just incredibly badly designed and that they just intended to show the two redemption & level charts. But I think they are extremely optimistic.

I'd say if it was the case, and the devaluation wasn't extreme, they wouldn't throw us a free night for nothing... If most high-end properties get to stay at the same level, which would be logical in the current economy, it would be a small degradation, and the free night would be... too much. A free night for a 5% decrease is overcompensating to all people not getting 20 free night a year, which I guess is most diamond members.

I am HH Gold Priority Club Plat and Marriott Silver. I have to get US govt. rate or better otherwise I have to eat the difference. Most of my travel is CONUS. I am fat though no seat belt extender so I like the complimentary breakfast at Hilton. When I diet on of my strategies is to go Starwood but there are not enough of them. I would be Diamond if I could get govt. rate often enough. I care about treatment at the property more than the points earned which I understand may be heretical here. I am usually treated well at Hilton branded properties , Hampton Inn http://www.hamptoninn.com/en/hp/hote...tyhocn=WASWBHX Woodbridge VA excepted.

I deplore the devaluation of my points earned but business is business.

I've experienced worse devaluations and have tried them all.HH bugs me at times, but I still think they are the best choice. I've earned LOTS of miles and Delta MQM's as well. I wish they had a higher level, but I'm staying. (Doesn't mean I won't whine at times)

Diamond here.... I am in the process of canceling my remaining Hilton stays this year and booking with SPG.

I will also burn my 1 million points ASAP.

CO Platinum and HH Diamond here. Just received the e-mail ~3 hours ago. As CO transitions to *A so will I transition to *wood! Bye bye Hilton. It's been nice knowing you. I'll either burn my remaining 360K points or just use them to keep my DL account active every 18 months!