My last Hampton points stay, about a month ago, was 20K total for two nights. Trust me when I say that was about right for this Hampton. It is still better than the $120/per night they wanted for the Deluxe King Room to which I was upgraded.

I agree that is a lot for a Hampton unless it was the only one for 50 miles and next to a Stadium for a game/ event. I have seen that in some Collage towns.

This seasonal pricing bit is nutso. I just looked at the La Defense Hilton in Paris and they want 80,000 points a night next May. Holy Mackerel. Maybe some of the folks jumping ship were on to something. Oh....and 204,729 other nights. Jeezus.

Certificate expired
 

Just returned from a P&C stay booked before devaluation. I ran into the issue of certificate expiration of which I was not been aware of before arriving at the hotel. I tried to check-in, but my reservation could not be found. The reservation was still in my Hhonors account, so I thought it should be a mistake which can easily be sorted out. I was wrong. It took an hour of waiting before the receptionists told us that the reward certificate expired. Therefore I do not have a valid reservation. He offered me a room for the best available rate which was about $500 per night.

I called the Hhonors hotline. They first told me that the hotel should let me check in, but after talking to the receptionist they changed their mind. They told me it was my fault as it is clearly stated in the T&C that reward certificates are valid one year only. Therefore the points used for the booking were lost, but I could do a new reservation on P&C. I was struck dumb! It took another hour of discussion on the phone before they offered me to refund the points of the expired certificate and difference between the current and the old P&C rate in the next weeks.

Back home I just read the German T&C and could not find anything about expiring hotel certificates at all.

Welcome to FT!

What sort of certificate was this? I'm just used to booking the room with points and all the rest is behind the curtain. Did you actually change points to a certificate and then book with the certificate?

For discussion of the nature of Hilton certificates (actual? virtual?), at least WRT AXON reward bookings, see post 634 & surrounding discussion from Feb 2013.

Short version: there was a lot of chatter last year about being able to make AXON bookings more than a year ahead. Numerous people, including the post 634 author, warned that reservations of this sort were highly risky & could result in what happened above (showing up to find the room no longer booked/held). And yes, I see that the latest inquiry is about P&C, not AXON, but many of the same considerations/risks apply.

So, I really hate to say "I told you so", but:
Despite what some members chose to believe...
I'm glad to hear you managed to come to an agreeable solution in your case.

Can I use free weekend nights certificates for a stay past the expiration date of the certificate, as long as I book it before it expires?
TIA

An expired certificate will not be valid after the expiration date. I had one booked, but after reading this thread I called the Rome Hilton to ask and was told, NO, the certificate must be valid at the time of the stay.

Thanks.
What a shame I could not use two nights cert due to personal circumstances.
Oh well.....life goes on.

If there's a strong reason (eg bereavement) then Hilton may be able to make some sort of ex-gratia arrangement - no harm in asking in this sort of situation.

Thanks.
Yes, there were.
I PMed the official HHonors Representative without success.
Is there anyone else I should be contacting?.......maybe @ corporate?

If you have status then Diamond Desk - if not then try main HHonors CS or Corporate. You could also try them on Twitter/FB.

Thanks. Will do and report back.

I was able to get an extension of about 3 months, which was to the end of the calendar year, by calling Customer Service. We had to cancel our reservation to use the award near to its expiration date because of a hospitalization. I can't remember if I had to send any verification.