azepine00

Ship Mode: E-Mail

Reward Certificate ID:.xxxxxxxxx

Issue Date:.27-Mar-2013

Expiration Date:.27-Mar-2014

Description:.This reward certificate is valid for four complimentary nights for two for a standard room at participating Category 1 through Category 7 hotels worldwide, subject to availability. This reward is not valid at All-Inclusive or Distinctive properties and cannot be combined with the 5th Night Free benefit or other promotions.

shoreline

Is this an AXON award?

Standard rewards also have a 1 year expiration. Anyone in doubt can make a simple phone call to confirm this information.

can an exception be made, sure; how likely is it, probably not very likely.

LA_FadeAway

#10 in the T&C under "Reward Redemptions" says this:
Travel Rewards are normally valid for one year from date of issuance though Hilton HHonors Worldwide, L.L.C., may, from time to time, offer Rewards with shorter validity periods. Travel Reward validity periods appear on the face of the Reward Certificate.

That makes me real skeptical about booking an award that is more than a year out.

whimike

I quote this in my post 4 posts up.

A "Travel Reward" is not a "Stay Reward".

LA_FadeAway

Ah, I see what you mean now. I just called the Honors customer service desk and the guy I spoke to said that if their web site lets you book it and it deducts the miles from your account then they will honor it. Of course, he didn't sound 100% sure about that either.

travelinfoo

Sorry to burst your bubble. A Travel Award and a Stay award are one and the same. Hilton does NOT issue any other awards besides hotel awards.

Also from my emailed award certificate T&C.

"Reward Certificate expires on the date noted on the face of the Reward Certificate."

At the top of the certificate is the date of issuance. Directly below is the exp dat, exactly 1 yr from then.

All you have to do is look at your certificate (AXON) or as shoreline suggested, call the HHonors desk and ask for the exp date for any other award type (GLON, Standard). ALL award certificates have an expiration date.

whimike

Then what are all the different types of awards they refer to in their T&C?!

There are awards they refer to which involves transportation, which I would consider "Travel Awards", and they specifically refer to "Stay Rewards" as well.

whimike

The person I talked to at HHonors said the same thing.

Chapel Hill Guy

Old language when you could, for example, book a safari award (or whatever it was called) in Africa.

Hilton awards expire in one year, just like all airline awards I'm aware of. If you want to chance it, good luck.

LA_FadeAway

So assuming they are only good for a year, does the stay have to be completed in that year or do you just have to check in before the year is up?

azepine00

Perhaps you are right. But if you are not, the consequences may be very expensive - i would strongly recommend verifying validity with the property prior to travel or even booking smth nonrefundable...

whimike

I come back to this in the T&C:

In the "Hotel Reward Stays" section, specifically section 7 states:

"A Reward Stay reservation is valid for the room accommodations stated thereon at one room at one hotel for one stay (as that term is defined herein) and as provided on the Reward Stay Certificate or Confirmation. To change the location of a Reward Stay reservation, the Member must first cancel the existing Reward Stay reservation and then book the new Reward Stay reservation at the desired property."

Since I booked online I have a Reward Stay Confirmation, as shown as a "Reward Confirmation ID", not a Reward Stay Certificate. As can be clearly seen in my booking there is no reference anywhere to a "certificate" being used:

LA_FadeAway

I just booked a reservation beginning March 27, 2014 for six nights and then called the Honors desk to ask if it is valid. The guy I talked to said it looks fine and he could not find a certificate expiration date. Said I would need to talk to customer service to check on that then transferred me to the Milwaukee City Center hotel, lol! That is not where I booked.

Edit: Just called back and talked to customer service and the redemption desk and they both said it is fine, that as long as the regular web site lets you book it then it's good. I don't know what "tricks" others were trying to do to book further out, but it's letting me book well into April of 2014. I haven't looked beyond that though. They said it could just be this particular hotel that is letting people book further in advance.

Chapel Hill Guy

You're being a bit too literal, I think, to your own detriment. But believe what you will.

If this award is more than a year out, please come back and report whether the reward stay was honored. Good luck to you.

Tennen

I was told the same thing. You can redeem the standard amount of points (or the VIP discount) online, but you can't make a phone reservation more than a year out (which nixes AXON).

Some of the agents I talked to earlier were adamant that properties couldn't load any rooms (paid or reward) into the system more than a year out period. They said that a reservation booked beyond this date wasn't valid. I then asked what would happen if I made a paid non-refundable reservation online for the same future dates. "It's not possible." I'm willing to bet that HH would say "screw you" if I wanted to change/cancel such a reservation...