Sorry to hear about your loss. What are the cash rates you have historically seem at these 5,000 point properties? Using a value of $.005/pt you've been getting a room for $25 USD.

I'll still primarily stay with my strategy of using point redemptions for 5th night free stays. Have one upcoming in at the Tampa Hampton Inn & Suites that is for 5 nights and the points cost me $600. The other thing I like about point redemptions is that you avoid the 13+% room taxes.

A quick search shows that in Istanbul there are still 3 hotels at 5,000 points a night, so it doesn't look like the 5K hotels have gone everywhere

Easily $60 -$80 per 5K.
I see some other people were taken by surprise when they saw that there is no more 5K, yet Hilton didn`t bother to announce that they were devaluing their program once again. Sneaky!

They are gone - 61 out of 65. And quite a few doubled from 10K.

yeah noticed this as well... luckily i booked some nights for early 2019 already

Not sure where you are searching, but In addition to IST, my quick search found Bali Airport, Hurgahda, Lasi and Sighisora (Romania) and Sharm El Sheikh still at 5K... Not saying there isnt a devaluation happening and that properties aren't increasing the points needed, but 5K properties aren't completely gone

Hilton started this new silent devaluation gradually from January 2018. The last "batch" when 5K jumped to 10K happened around 7-8 of March (of course, without any announcement). Watch out for the remaining few you found, as they will be gone very soon.

Hilton honors representative.....your thoughts please on this?

So is this how they compensate and pay for the new Amex cards with 7x/12x/14x points on properties? I don't pay much attention to HHonors to be honest, but they aren't encouraging me to change my mind.

As a Diamond (by stays), I am about to close AmEx Hilton annual fee cards - considering how often Hilton devalues its loyalty program, there are much better values elsewhere.

LOL, sure.

Huge Devaluation - Marriott Announces 2018 Category Changes - Frequent Miler

https://www.dansdeals.com/points-tra...h-devaluation/

Shame on Hyatt for Latest Petty Stunt - Live and Let's Fly

https://thepointsguy.com/2018/01/ihg...-changes-2018/

Do what you have to do, inly you can judge what works for you and what doesn't, but I find the idea that Hilton's unique in devaluing their program to be pretty risible.

Checked New Mexico last week and again this week and they still have five 10k-properties,

Marriott announced its coming devaluation, so many were able to book upcoming stays. Devaluations are inevitable, but when Hilton does that behind our backs without the announcement, this is very disappointing and alarming.

Some 10K properties are still there (for now, but we never know when Hilton devalues them, too), but 5K are almost gone already.

Exactly my point. OK, so you get notice... the points are still devalued. The properties still get more expensive in points. Notice is only useful if you can lock in stays months in advance. It's better than nothing but it at best represents a few months of grace if you can make it work.

IHG devalued properties I stayed at in 2017 for 2018 (ones that would be useful to stay at). Yeah, I got a couple weeks notice. BFD. Still devalues the program for me (and I'd been willing to accrue in IHG), and now the PointBreaks properties are 5k-15k, not just 5k. I don't really see anywhere to run to- they're all running their loyalty programs the same way Zimbabwe or Venezuela manages their currency. If you can find something better for your stay patterns and better value, good for you. But I don't trust Marriott, IHG, etc. any more than Hilton.