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Originally Posted by gbearbuck
(Post 22984520)
It was 145k axon for 4 nights (36,250 per night.... even in high season) and two Axon's equaled a week long vacation (check in Saturday night, check out Sunday a week later). The five nights makes leisure travel a bit more difficult (you need to check in Thursday and leave a week and a half later on Sunday to do back to back five nighters).
Regarding the OP... I stayed with HHonnors (mostly due to locations of properties and the fact I know what I'm getting). When Marriot had their Mega Bonus I was sure to spend four nights to get the free night (in the past I didn't bother with that... so I guess you could argue Hilton lost several nights from me however nothing major)... A lifetime designation would refocus my efforts on Hilton... |
Originally Posted by lsumegan
(Post 22984632)
It sounds like your efforts are already focused on Hilton.
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I'm still happy. I make Gold through my free HH AMEX each year. I only make 1-2 business trips per year (and try to stay at HH properties if at all possible). I spend all my points on leisure trips within the US, preplanned to take advantage of good redemption values. While I loved the 18K per night redemption at an ES in DC over the Memorial Day weekend about 8 years ago, I realize that is not sustainable for Hilton over time.
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Club Carlson is getting my attention now. Better credit card for everyday spend, easily. And since wife and I each have the credit card, we can do 2-night stays each, indefinitely.
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I retired from my business travel job and now only travel for leisure, and almost always book hotels using points accrued with CC spend from my new business. Prior to the devaluation, I put almost all my spend on my Hilton Surpass card. Now that a quick weekend night in NYC is 160K points rather than 80-100K, I find the return on my cc spend with Hilton is diminished drastically. I have since gotten SPG cards and a Carlson card, and also am putting more spend on my CSP card.
Going forward I will redeem based on a city by city analysis of hotels and what point redemption level is attractive. Just returned from a pleasant stay in London at a Radisson Blu (2 nights for 50K). I may stay at Hyatt for upcoming trip by transferring CSP points. So for me the devaluation has caused me to shift my credit card spend and spread out my stays. |
I have gone from about 100 HH nights per year to virtually zero.
Marriott has always been my other program of choice, and I am still an advocate, not least since am a lifetime platinum. Initially tried out Radisson--but was disappointed with overall standards and lack of locations. Am currently onto IHG, and am relatively happy with their program. If there were more Hyatts where I need to be--I would be giving them almost all my business--but so far not even close:( |
Originally Posted by travelexpert
(Post 22996732)
I have gone from about 100 HH nights per year to virtually zero.
With 100 nights/year, I'd probably be top-tier with SPG, Hyatt, and a third program just for locations without SPG/Hyatt properties. HHonors wouldn't be a bad choice... even if there weren't enough stays away from SPG/Hyatt to make Diamond, HHonors has one of the best mid-tier statuses going. If I could stomach the Holiday Inn Express stays, I'd consider IHG for their liberal promotions and points-purchasing tricks. With 100 nights/year, I'd think you'd have plenty of points to redeem, so spreading them around 2 or 3 programs shouldn't make redemption any more difficult outside of possibly week+ long stays at aspirational resorts. My main issue with Marriott is how difficult top-tier and even mid-tier is to reach without any discernible difference compared to top- and mid-tier in other programs. |
It happened. The worst devaluation aka "four new perk" yet
As Hilton promised to improve their loyalty program beginning in the end of February, I just checked the new "improvement".
A category 1 hotel, which was 5K points or about $40-$50 max per night now can be booked for 30K and same cash price. :td: |
Originally Posted by Kat007
(Post 27972903)
As Hilton promised to improve their loyalty program beginning in the end of February, I just checked the new "improvement".
A category 1 hotel, which was 5K points or about $40-$50 max per night now can be booked for 30K and same cash price. :td: |
Yes, that`s for standard room (Hampton).
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I see Conrad Tokyo requires a bit less points on some days, but 95K points was outrageous amount of points already.
Jumping to 30K points from 5K points is hard to swallow, especially for such low cash price. I guess Hamptons and other lower end brands suffer the most from this "improvement". |
How are you guys seeing anything? I've checked 6 cities on different dates, ALL show rewards unavailable.
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The site undergoes maintenance, so maybe those cities haven`t been updated yet?
Try selecting any hotel in a city, but I don`t see any changes in checking availability. Just checked Hilton, which used to be 20K for $120-$160 cash price - now it jumped to 40K (same cash). Checked two more hotels-points option is not available, so it must be the maintenance issue. |
Well, it was good while it lasted. Seems like max cap don't change doesn't exist.
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Originally Posted by lyndonmaxewell
(Post 27973138)
Well, it was good while it lasted. Seems like max cap don't change doesn't exist.
As of right now, the numbers are keep changing (an hour ago, Tokyo Conrad was 95K on most days, 91K on some, and now it has some odd "yen 45K" under the point option). In about six hours, we should see the final result. |
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