Adam Burke's response on using "old" rewards chart certificates after June 1, 2003
 

My apologies to the moderators for starting a new thread on this topic, but I believe that it is a very important subject and needs not to be buried in an existing thread.

We are all wondering what are the rules of using "old" rewards chart certificates after June 1, 2003. The contradicting information provided by HH CSR's to various FT members in the last few months prompted me to send an inquiry to Adam Burke to obtain the official answer.

Here's his response:

Eugene,

As always, hotel reward certs are valid for one year from date of issue. So, if you claim a reward cert under the old point levels prior to June 1, you can book a reservation using that cert anytime up to one year from the date of reward issuance.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Adam

Ladies and gentlemen -- start your printers!

Nice job Eugene...thanks for the post

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I can now go about planning a vacation on short notice, like I always do http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif.

Your efforts are appreciated.

Mary

Thanks a lot, Eugene. And now a stupid follow-up question:

Can I just print a certificate online after making an award reservation (that I can cancel or change later)or can I just go ahead and print the thing and make a reservation later, once I know the details ?

Some award certs can be printed online, some (e.g., VIP-only awards) can not.

I was thinking about a GLON (100'000 points), I I do have to call Customer Service and make a reservation that I can change later (after June 1), right ?

And: has the question been answered what happens if a hotel is "Classic" pre-June 1 and "6" after June 1 ?

[This message has been edited by huegli (edited 04-10-2003).]

According to Adam's response above, you don't even need to make a reservation when claiming the cert. Since GLON can not be printed online, you have to call HH and request it to be faxed or e-mailed to you.

It is my understanding that Adam's response applies to this case as well (meaning that you'd be able to use a Classic-level award after June 1, if you have a Classic-level award cert issued prior to June 1).

Eugene. My oh my. This email really has excited you! Posted to 2 existing threads on the specific GLON/ALON subject, and creating a whole new one just in case we somehow missed the other 2 posts a short time earlier. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I personally feel that the response fscher got (below) and posted here from Adam's office a couple days ago stated it all VERY clearly, and in far more detail. It is in writing to a FlyerTalker, and I had no feeling Hilton would ever not honour it on that basis.

Once a certificate is extracted from the account you have one year from the date of extraction to use it. It is necessary to deduct the certificate that you want to use from your account prior to June 1 2003. After June 1 2003 certain certificates will change and certain hotels rewards will be at a different point total.

You do not need to have a reservation in order to deduct a certificate from your account. You do though; need to have a reservation to use a certificate. The reservation does not have to be made before June 1 2003. The hotels will accept the certificates that were issued prior to June 1, 2003 as long as they are not expired and are of the same class as the hotel.

For information on the location and classification of certain hotels contact: HHonors Customer Service Center at 1-800-HHONORS

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~ Glen ~

Come visit HERE the most ** FRIENDLY FORUM ** on FlyerTalk. No flame wars, no personal abuse, no substance abuse. Not much of anything really!


[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited 04-10-2003).]

Glen -- I've seen fscher's post in another thread, and commented on it there:

No disrepect to Mark (the person from HH responding to fscher), but I want to be armed with the written statement by someone with authority at the HHonors program (i.e., Adam Burke) if I have to fight in the future to get this position affirmed by HH.

Based on numerous posts and e-mails by FT'ers, they seem to agree with that and are thankful for my posts on the subject.

Now, about starting a separate thread... I already explained my reasoning in the opening post. And this thread is very clearly titled, so everyone who doesn't want to read it, can simply skip it altogether. You could have easily done the same, just like I do when I see your multiple posts on the same subject, in multiple forums to boot. It's a very simple concept. Really... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

IMHO, flaming is not a nice thing to do here. This forum has been pretty much flame-free for a long time. Please do not attempt to change that!

Good news on two fronts, good for using less points and good to hear from Adam. I had not heard/read anything lately about him and thought we no longer had his presence here.

The thing I'm wondering about is: I have a GLON issued prior to June 1 (can be used for 6 nights in all hotels except premium).
Now after June 1, the hotel I would like to stay at will no longer be a "classic" (for which I could use a GLON) but will be a "premium". Can I still use the GLON at that hotel after June 1 ???

Same answer as to same question by KathyWdrf on a nearby thread. Why not phone and try to make the booking? I would be very surprised if you phoned and booked now and got a booking number there would be an issue at all. You are home free then. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

The problem with phoning:

1. You will (almost certainly) get different answers from different CSR's.

2. The answer won't be in writing (except that you can get a faxed or e-mailed reservation confirmation, but that doesn't necessarily "prove" that the cert, which is separate, is good for the particular hotel).

3. In my case, I don't have specific dates in mind and really don't want to book any award stays just yet. (I know -- I could book some and then cancel; not sure I want to bother with that though.) I DO want to get one or two or three GLON certs issued before May 31 (and am wary of waiting till the very last minute in case the phone lines are suddently jammed!).

This does seem like VERY GOOD NEWS, though. Sometime in late May I expect I'll be phoning to get my certs! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


Kathy