luv2ctheworld

Sad but true... however the reality is that all the hotel chains are on a race to the bottom in terms of rewarding loyalty. Some just have a steeper rate than others Kinda like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, with a 100 foot drops and no chance of it ever going back up

pinniped

All three of the big ones (HH, MR, and SPG) are devaluing to some extent this spring. Either through rules changes or through category changes that are far in excess of global inflationary pressures. But you're right on scale...none seem quite as bad as HHonors.

Starwood's last "big" devaluation was 2007-ish IIRC. That one was a combination of HUGE category changes and the phase-out of some of the primary Platinum promotions (e.g., half off an award, up to Cat 4 5 nights) that made up a large portion of the value of program participation.

Marriott's was 2010-ish but it did include a couple of genuine improvements as well (e.g., adding the MVCI properties to Travel Package eligibility, increasing Plat earnings a bit to reduce a bit of the sting of the devaluation, etc.). They've maintained their same boring promotions that gradually get weaker as the utility of a Category 4 Free Night diminishes to a shorter and shorter list of desirable hotels.

It's pretty bad that HH has felt the need to go through TWO major devaluations when the competition has only done one each going back at least 5-6 years.

azepine00

The difference is that some such as SPG or Hyatt (or UA and AA miles) simply keep up with inflation, economy and currency adjustments. They honor the value of their currency.
Within reasonable inflation I value those points and miles not too far from how I valued them 3-5 years ago (even though elite benefits are deteriorating but that's unrelated).

On the other hand other entities such as Hilton or Delta devalue points and miles year after year. It's no accident - those companies have a well planned goal of making sure a mile or a point you earn today will be worth substantially less tomorrow.

luv2ctheworld

I don't disagree... but I think overall devaluation for all programs have exceeded the inflationary rate (and I do consider benefits as part of the devaluation formula); some have done a better job at honoring the value of their currency than others (i.e. Hyatt more than SPG IMHO).

CrazyFoool

We all assume devaluation would happen but wow I don't understand how the increase in points required is nearly 100 percent.

P D N

Two weeks ago, before the announcement, The Hilton Tel Aviv had redemption point possibility through out the year. Today there are no redemption points available for any date for the next year.

I bet that after 28 March the redemption points will be back at a higher rate.

Is any other hotel doing this?

shoreline

This is unlikely. IF standard rooms are available you can book a reward stay. So, it appears the standard rooms are not available.

If you search for room availability for a revenue stay and it shows availability, you should be able to book a reward stay.

Did you check this out?

msc75

Of course sometimes hotels don't play by the rules and HH doesn't enforce them. I still remember fondly (!) Hilton Bora Bora Nui blocking standard rooms for award redemption in late 2011 when the Hilton website was showing them available to book with cash. I still have multiple emails from the hotel where they were just making up a bunch of BS about how standard rooms were not available blah blah when they clearly were, and HH was telling me that basically the hotel can do whatever the heck they want and I am SOL.

shoreline

I am still wondering if the OP did a search to see if any standard rooms are available?

When I search Sept., I am finding standard room rewards available, but I did not try confirming a reward stay or anything.

So, another question might be, if the OP is logged into their hhonors account and does not have near enough points to make the reward reservation. I do recall people posting that if you do not have the points in your account, and, you are logged in, the reward availability will not show up.

Maybe another FT member can run a simple search to check from insider their account and report back.

cjd

Just tried a couple of dates in July and standard rooms are available and also award availability for those rooms at current 50000 points also available.

b1513

Did a quick check for may 1 to May 8. Rooms available for 37,500 per night.

josephstern

I'm considering making more reservations on a "just in case" basis.

But one night at one property is already absurdly high - the basic rooms must already be booked.

Has anyone ever seen Hilton re-open award availability, either because other award reservations are cancelled, or just because the rooms aren't booking up as fast as they expect?

In short, if a room currently requires 300,000 points for one night, is there any chance it might decrease over time for that one night?

fjfv19

So glad I cleaned out my remaining 150,000 HHonors Points at the Hilton Bentley SoBe in December. I can now finally justify in my head moving all of my stays to Hyatt and Starwood this year.

stifle

Yes. Either more standard rooms may become available, or the price of the premium room reward you see may come down.

josephstern

That's good news. This potential trip isn't until the end of the year so that gives me a lot of time.

As long as I'm getting good news, next question is, is there any website that tracks these things and can send me an alert? Like ExpertFlyer does for award seats?