Yeah, you see where I am at. Hilton's been pretty reliable on promos lately, but if they decide not to be...

OTOH, hotels.com has devalued their program at least once, no? ♫Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide...♫

Straight point redemptions are somewhat better if you hunt around (from what I can see), points and money definitely worse (much harder to get outsize value from them). Given that straight point redemptions = must acquire more points for the redemption than old-style money and points (60% more), I basically have to go in further into Hilton to continue getting value, or get out. I'm leaning out. But I'll think about it, nothing needs to happen right away.

Seems to be in line with what I am seeing- there are spots where value has improved, and others where it really hasn't.

You do realize SXSW ALWAYS fills hotels in Austin, including the rates at lower-end properties that go up exponentially?

What???? I can't find any points plus + cash rates at TLV Hilton anymore. Is there a change in this feature? Is the website just not fully updated yet. This is a very important part of our travel budget for the upcoming year.

Can't find any either, seems they've pulled the feature while they tweak it.

I did some test bookings earlier today, and it appears the cash portion of a C&P stay is basically dependent upon the lowest refundable rate for Honors members. For example, a hotel charging 14K points for the night with the paid rate being $70, on a C&P rate each 1K section of points will be valued at $5. So, that would be 10K points plus $20; or 5K points plus $45. Now, if the paid rate were $140 for that night, the cash portion on a C&P rate would be double the amount of the previous example.

Also, it appears that there is at least a 5K point minimum usage on a C&P saty.

I was suspicious of this new program and booked my next 6 night trip the other night using a combination of points and old points/money reservations. I am VERY glad I booked previously.

It is my observation that all hotels that had variable category pricing in the past, the previous "high category" is now the "low category." For instance in Sacramento, CA area which is close to me and where I go fairly often for a night, had about 8 20,000 point per night properties during low season (e.g. now); no more; now all of those properties now are 30,000 points a night during the week; there are a couple left on weekends at 20,000 points, in outer suburbs.

Here is what I found out with my latest trip:

Night 1: I booked at 20,000 points- under the new program it is now 30,000 points.
Night 2: I booked at 20,000 points+$85 (full point option was 60,000 points)- under the new program it is now 20,000 points+$200(two hundred!!?!?!??) or 70,000 points if booking full points
Night 3: I booked at 40,000 points- under the new program it is now 48,000 points
Night 4: I booked at 30,000 points- under the new program it is now 38,000 points
Night 5: I booked at 37,800 points HHonors Special Premium Room- under the new program the same premium room is now 75,000 points (the lowest available room on my night is 51,000 points)
Night 6: I booked at 20,000 points+$85 (full point option was 50,000 points)- under the new program is is now 20,000 points+$203 or 70,000 points if booking full points
Looking at totals, I spent 167,800 points+$85 for my 6 nights under the old program. Had I used full points under the old program it would have been 237,800 points.
Under this new program, I would spend 231,000 points+$403 for my 6 nights or using full points 331,000 points.

Ouch ouch ouch ouch. This is a devaluation if I've ever seen a devaluation. It also takes away the ability to shop around for bargain redemption options. It definitely simplifies things... I feel bad for the people holding a lot of points.

Ouch. This is the biggest screw of screws. Previously I liked to use my points to stay at places where the cash rate was above my usual budget, and could sometimes find some good deals between points and money and the HHonors Specials on premium rooms. Now, this changes everything. Now it is most beneficial to use points on the lowest dollar redemptions, and potentially in places with larger fixed dollar hotel taxes/assessments...

Oh well- all good things must end some day.

Exactly, I looked at a bunch of cases and found the same:
- hotels with ridiculously high point rates now charge less - value has gone from terrible to less terrible
- hotels low point rates during low-season have raised their prices on high-demand dates during low season - price has gone up
- great cash & points rates have been destroyed in most cases
- some hotels are gaming their standard vs premium rooms - not sure if it's worse than before or not
- I have not found a case were the new price for a standard room is higher than the previous maximum (when I found prices above max, they were premium rooms)

For casual Honors members, this is good - they are less likely to book a "free" room at terrible value for their points.
For miles & points travelers, this is a significant devaluation, as bad as 2013! If you have a lot of points, they are worth a lot less than last week!

The data of all my cases is here!

Booked a couple nights at the Hilton Bonnet Creek near Disney World. Last week it was 40k a night, today its 50k. Glad I booked it when I did.

0.5c/$ would assume 1 point per qualifying dollar of spend, if you value points at 0.5c each.

As a blue member, you get at least 10 points per dollar - so 5c/$ spent, plus you'd probably want to be on points+points rather than points+miles, taking it to 7.5c before any promotion.

If you then assume that you can get an average of 15 points/dollar of promotional value on top of that, you're getting into the 15c range, before you add any status bonuses.

So even as a diamond, valuing points at 0.5c each, your minimum return (before you add in the value of bonus points, breakfast, exec lounge access, wifi, and theoretical upgrades) is 17.5c per dollar on average (some promotions are more valuable than others).

While that might not be enough to sway you away from the best deal on hotels.com (if I'm paying Hilton $150 when an equivalent Novotel is $100, the loyalty scheme won't bridge the gap) it should match it if the Hilton is a viable choice.

Yep. I was looking at Konrad Samui in mid December. Last week it was 120K per night, now its showing at 305K. Looks like I won't be visiting there again.

Ouch! And to think that just a few years ago I was able to book two villas there at 50K points per villa per night. It just goes to show that it's better to spend points as you earn them, rather than sitting on them.

On a positive note - I've just cancelled and re-booked a Conrad Manila room for July; for the same amount of points the cash element has reduced by approxmately 40%.

Can confirm devaluation at lower end properties..

e.g doubletree johor

Before: 4k points + 151RM
Now: 5k points + 170RM

Hit and miss for higher end properties.

I did an update on an existing money and points reservation, and instead of being charged only the difference between the two I was double charged, has anyone had that happened to them? Check your points deductions carefully...

Overall, in my experience the new rates are about the same, some slightly better, some slightly worst.

Ok, I am finding some good deals on weekends in the D.C. area using M&P. The per night cost in points is a lot cheaper on weekends than it used to be, with some locations below 20K per night. That combined with the slider and you can get a good room at one of the Hilton's for around 12K per night plus $50 or so. Not bad at all for D.C. area (mostly NoVA or southern MD).

Example: Hilton Dulles 26-29 May

24K Points + $153.36 for the entire stay.

The slider does not seem to let you select even dollar amounts, so you just get close.

Wow, if you hunt around there are some incredibly insane deals on both the high and low end. Yes, I said low end. Look around and use the "View Available Dates" search to scroll through weeks at a time. Unreal prices and I am booking like crazy.....