arlflyer

It is counterintuitive - I was wondering the same thing at first.

You have to pick a rate and then click through the intermediate screen. The payment screen will show the slider.

And welcome back to Flyertalk! (There's no official salutation for a second post, so I figured I'd make one up )

eefor jfp

Can someone help me understand valuations? Aside from what Delectatio mentioned about constantly changing prices, there doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason with regard to valuations. For some properties, it's nowhere near 1/2 a cent a point (it's much less, especially for premium rooms). Take the DoubleTree Chelsea (Manhattan) for the night of July 21.
Std room is $259 or 62,000 points = .418 cents/point
prem room 1 is $279 or 79,000 points = .353 cents/point
prem room 2 is $299 or 84,000 points = .356 cents/point
prem room 3 is $339 or 95,000 points = .359 cents/point

OK, after doing the calculations I can see that the values for premium rooms are pretty consistent but they seem really low. And on other nights, the standard room varies up to 70K and therefore the number of points required for the standard room could still go higher (up to 70K) on this night to make the rate similar. There were other properties where the differences seemed even more dramatic, but my main question is what is the expected value per point that should be standard?

Looking at this hotel and others, I also always got the highest per night rate for all nights of multi-night stays. Someone up-thread said that was a glitch, but it's been happening to me so far.

jeffandnicole

Probably the same number of people that called to say "Thank you...I just got a great deal on a hotel that used to cost me a lot of points".

What do you think a phone representative is going to say? They didn't make the changes.

Hilton's website has always been like that anyway. If I booked a room and saw the price went down, I could easily rebook it at the lower rate. Would you rather have a system like most airlines where if you book a high rate you're stuck with it?

Duben

I have one stay at Hilton Prague. It was at 20k points and cash 2.026 CZK before Mar 1-st. Now it is the same.

arlflyer

Yeah man, stick it to them and stay at the Red Roof Inn!!! Show Hilton who's boss!

Lots of theatrics on this thread.

sean1231

i'm not a huge poster on here. But my local Hampton Inn Newcastle from a trusty 10,000 points per night is now... up to 79,000 point a night. The cheapest i can find is now 35k per night, but an increase of 69,000 points per night is crazy.

dmarge18

It's not about what the phone representative says. It's a volume of complaints (preferably in writing to customer service departments) that can affect change. If enough loyal customers are making a stink... Look at what happened with Delta last year and their companion upgrade policies.

lkar

It's supposed to be capped at 10k. Are you looking at the calendar that shows only premium instead of searching night by night? Upthread, you'll see there's a problem with the flex date calendar.

scwam

Hilton Improvements, Yeah, some trick-A.s game there. The coconut shell game at full force. Tokyo Odaiba now 46k points or 94k points vs 34k last month and last year. Take your pick, but not the 34k anymore.
Hilton Garden Inn Kauai Wailua Bay now an insultingly ridiculous $109 Cash and 16,000 points vs $65 cash on same stay date for searches last month, and January. All standard base room.

Where's my 'enhancement' there? Hilton, please explain how these examples are benefits. My memory and eyes don't trick me when I'm nearly unemployed with lots of time while checking these things constantly for the past 3 months multiple times each week. Not mentioning I stayed in Odaiba last month.

Evo40

I was skeptical when this was announced, but here's my data point:

BEFORE March 1
Conrad St. James (London): 5 nights in late November was 64,000 points/night (including fifth night free)

NOW
Conrad St. James (London): 5 nights in late November is 48,000 points/night (including fifth night free)

Admittedly, November is definitely the off-season in London, but I wasn't expecting any point improvement, so it was an unexpected decrease.

craz

In short , yes. Its no different then a car rental which rates goes up an down all day long. Now that Hilton has put a value on each pt that results in the amount needed for a stay going up or down every time the rate does, which in most cases is more then 1 time a day

You can always simply book at the prevailing amount and never check again, if the amount being asked is OK by you. I constantly recheck my car rentals up until the time I cant change it any longer. On recent trip to MIA I checked upon arrival and it was $20 less so I CXed the old and rebooked. I didnt have to recheck and many times it doesnt result in asavings

sean1231

Ah yes! Thanks for that information prior to looking up thread. It must be showing the premium rooms, 69,000 points for a sofabed, fantastic

ozztraveller

Sydney Hilton would normaly be 60k to 70k depending on the season. Which was ok if the night rate was high, but now on a low rate night I have seen as low as 26k (or $199AUD rate). In the past on a cheap night the points value was always excessive but now for me in Australia its a alot more attractive.

amanuensis

We stay often at the Hampton Inn Deadwood, SD because Mrs. Amanuensis is from there. Mrs. A spent 120,000 points for a three night stay last October (it was a last minute trip to visit a dying relative), so 40,000 points per night.

Now, Deadwood takes far less than 40,000 points per night for almost all of the dates I checked. During their dead season (just before Christmas), rooms can be had for 7,500 points, which (for a five-night stay) works out to 0.610 cents per point.

Points values are also good during Deadwood's highest of high seasons -- the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. I found a five night stay for Sunday August 6 - Friday August 11, 2017 worked out to 0.809 cents per point for a standard two queen room. (Which, amazingly, was still available.) Usually, area hotels sell out of their standard rooms a year ahead of time during the Rally. So in the case of Deadwood, the points cap works -- assuming you actually want to be in Sturgis/Deadwood/Lead during the rally. Which we DO NOT.

thealphalion

It seems to me that some hotels are playing along with the rules and keeping rates the same or lower, while other hotels are abusing the system and playing hard and fast with the points redemptions.

What HH's IT should do is put a cap / limit on the hotels points redemption rate so that the hotels cannot set redemption rates higher than previously.



TheAlphaLion