jamesteroh

I was at the San Francisco O'Farrell street Hilton for a three night stay this past weekend. The diamond benefit is a pastry, drink and piece of fruit at Starbucks or the continental buffet at the restaurant with a $10 upcharge to the full buffet and for Gold's its either starbucks or $10 to get the hot buffet at the restaurant.

I looked at the menu Monday, and the price difference between the continental and full buffet for someone walking in off the street is $6! There was another property I stayed at recently where the menu price difference between the continental and full buffet was less than what it was for a diamond to upgrade. There is at least one report from a Gold in the breakfast thread of the upcharge being more for the full breakfast than on the menu.

I am very thankful that the SF Hilton gives the continental buffet to diamonds which is very good and that Diamonds have the continental option as opposed to waiting in the long line at Starbucks which has become really crazy the last couple years since Hilton started handing out gold like candy (and I almost stayed at Parc 55 Wyndham this stay due to the property opting out of the quarterly promos but the breakfast benefit was enough to push me to stay there this past stay), but why are properties allowed to charge more to gold's and diamond's to upgrade than someone that is not even staying at the hotel ordering off the menu?

At the SF Hilton, I would always upgrade to the full buffet if it was only the $6 difference that is on the menu.

Hilton Honors Ambassador

Hi there,

Again, thank you for this feedback! These ideas are brought to our attention frequently as something to explore with members. In the past, we have invited local/nearby members to engage in informal discussions with us about the program and individual experiences.

Currently, we do not have any specific plans for this, but if I am provided any insight I will let you know! As always, you can PM any feedback or suggestions for improvement to be addressed during regularly scheduled calls with my team.

Cheers,
Erin

Hilton Honors Ambassador

Hi jamesteroh,

Just wanted to let you know I have reached out to my team for clarification. I will post any updates as soon as I can!

Thanks,
Erin

toomanybooks

This has been suggested many many times over the years, including directly to HH personnel by me, among others.

Never goes anywhere. You'd think it would be a no-brainer.

beltway

Folks,

If you really want to know the policy for walking Diamonds -- or indeed, if you want to know anything else -- FT search is your friend.

There is an entire thread, http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...ve-thread.html, that is easily found by searching the Hilton forum thread titles for "walked." And the last post in that thread provides detailed guidance:

arlflyer

As the gold mentioned by jamesteroh as having noticed this at other properties as well, I too would be interested in hearing about the rationale behind this pricing disparity scheme. It is just very strange and from a brand image perspective it gives a negative impression to be so clearly nickel-and-diming loyal customers.

ptownca

Erin, I too would love to be part of a DO.

I'm relatively recent to HHonors, but generally a pretty happy customer who is in the high spend per night category. I'll hit Diamond by points in the next few weeks and have status at SPG and Fairmont as well, so I can give some insights into their pros and cons.

There are some Hilton properties which are real gems of the brand which I adore and am very loyal too, but keeping me as a Diamond long term might be a challenge....

Hilton Honors Ambassador

^

I'm making a note of this!

Thanks,
Erin

jamesteroh

Depending on when it's held and what city, I would also be interested.

Something Delta did in ATL for some FTer's was allowed them to be "gate agents for a day" I unfortunately wasn't there, but some of the members posted about a lot of knowledge they learned from it and helped them appreciate the things GA's had to deal with such as the importance of a flight pushing back on time. I think it would be great if Hilton did something like that, allowed some diamonds to shadow a front desk agent or maybe the person that handles room assignments. Would give us some good first hand knowledge of how upgrades are handled and some of the difficulties front desk agents and other staff have to deal with.

Blueskyheaven

it is 40,000 or more Hilton points a night for room costing as little as $129. You now have monthly new devaluations. What is Hilton trying to do with these endless mass devaluation of its loyalty program?

arlflyer

Make money, I'd guess.

mirror74

Suggestion: HH could offer Diamonds expedited 2016 requalification, re-run of last years “Status Jumpstart”, where all future stays (not nights) through the end of 2014, in addition to other 2014 stays, would count towards 2016 status. But this time open to all Diamonds. This would give me enough incentive to make extra stays at Hiltons (and not go to the competition with better promotions), as I will hit re-qualification any-day now...

DiverDave

This. I requalified for HH Diamond in early July, and I am now doing stays at IHG due to the "Into the Nights" promotion. It's not tremendous, but two free nights and some points for eight nights will work for me.

David

scubaccr

That does not work either for HH

carrying forward your HH Oct-Dec 2014 nights as a boost, then instead of similarly in 2015 requalifying as HHD around September 28th 2015, you'd renew around 28th June2015 for 2016-2017 HHD AND then have a full 6months Jul-Dec2015 where you would be having the same thoughts but so much earlier in the year.

sethb

It works just fine. When does a company think that far ahead?