jeff191

Sorry if this has been asked before, I couldn't find it during search. I have a Citi HH Reserve card and am trying to figure out how to confirm that I'm getting credit for using it at Hilton properties. My spend is relatively constant and usually I only use it for a night here and there so the 10 points per dollar at Hilton properties would be small enough that I wouldn't pay much attention to it. I always assumed it was just being put into the Citi Reserve Visa Bonus line item on my HHonors account.

But recently, I stayed for a week at the Hilton Prague and upon statement closing, points equating to the regular 3x, but not the 10x. The Hilton bill made up most of my spend on that card this month so it was noticeably absent. I see that the disclaimer says allow for up to 4-6 weeks. But if that is the case, then would I have not seen separate line items for my past Hilton stays instead of just seeing 1 line for the monthly bonus? I do have a random line item for Citi Premium Visa Bonus which I have never seen before, but it was for a random 616 points and I can't figure out what it is tied to.

On top of that, my Prague nights aren't showing up on my summary. The points for the stays themselves were credited and the nights were reflected in the totals, but it's not showing up in past stays. I spent a night at the Hilton Dresden as well and that stay has shown up in my history.

jerry a. laska

Look at this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...erve-card.html
At least one person had to request the extra points:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/21934924-post514.html

jeff191

Thanks for the pointer, I'll look there more. I've already reached out to Citi and am awaiting response.

Daveyb101

on your statement from Citi (the top right corner of page 2), it will separate out the standard points earned (3p/$) and the category bonuses (additional 2 or 7 per $), but otherwise still lumps it all together, leaving it up to you to make sure the amounts add up. I too was skipped over for the category bonus on a fairly pricey stay, such that it was easy to notice that I had been shorted several thousand points. a quick SM to citi had the deficiency corrected on my next statement. the next charge from that same property (the first charge was the prepayment of the room, the second was the incidentals, etc., upon checkout) was processed correctly. FWIW, the stay was in the Seychelles, where they don't see a lot of Americans, and so likely even fewer Citi/HHonors cards -- It may just require one person being shorted their points to bring attention to the fact that the charges aren't being coded correctly. But that's speculation on my part. All of my domestic stays have been credited correctly.

Either way, the accounting offered by Citi isn't as comprehensive as it could/should be, and so you should plan to double check to ensure that you're receiving the category bonuses.

jeff191

Awesome! Never knew that the breakdown was on the 2nd page. Upon further review, it does look like I was getting the extra points in the past domestically. This is the first time I have used the card for an international stay, so you may be right as to the cause. The strange thing is that I have already been credited with the points for the actual stay on the HHonors side, just not for the spend on the card side. And the stay is still not showing up in my HHonors history. To add to the confusion, I have been credited with 616 bonus points which doesn't tie to anything. On the HHonors page, it shows as Citi Premium Bonus Points and normally, the Citi spend shows up as Citi Reserve.

The Hilton Prague seemed very familiar with the program, the Gold membership was recognized and room upgraded, all that. I've sent a response to Citi to clarify the situation, they sent a very generic response to my first request basically confirming I was in the program (of course I am, it's not optional with the card). Thanks for the help.

tcollins33

Some people, such as myself, have had issues with European properties showing up as being Hilton spend on our statements. Check your statement to determine how it showed up.

For me, my stay at the Prague Old Town in May showed up as such:
Hilton Old Prague Praha CZ - Lodging - HOTELS,MOTELS,RESORTS LODGING

Where my stay in Vienna showed up as this:
HILTON VIENNA WIEN AT - Lodging - HILTON INTL

The difference is that Prague showed up as any old hotel, where Vienna showed up as a Hilton. As such, I had to fight for the extra points from Prague. It's all in how the hotel codes itself. I've always had this same issue with a few properties in London.

jeff191

I just looked and you are exactly right. It all makes perfect sense now. The Prague stays are coded as Lodging - HOTELS,MOTELS,RESORTS LODGING

The 616 points I did get were from the Hilton Dresden which shows as Lodging-Hilton. I used points+cash and my room bill was roughly $88 since I added a few things. The additional 7x points on $88 is exactly 616.

Update: How did you fight it? I was using online chat w/ Citi and they say I need to get the merchant to recode. Is that the only solution?

Daveyb101

I assume that "Hilton" appears as part of the merchant name for the prague stays? That alone should seem to suffice to convince Citi to post the additional points (worked for me).

From the T&C:
Thus, they've reserved the "properly coded" argument as it relates to the 5p/$ categories, but there's no similar protection for a Hilton charge. This seems like a pretty simple correction for them to make. You just got a bad CSR. Try again.

Bowgie

I booked a four-night stay as all prepaid and my current Citi statement had a charge for the first night. No bonus points, just points on my current statement. The Citi service rep said that they will post on the following month's statement. I will be checking the upcoming statement for the bonus point plus the bonus points for the rest of my stay.

jeff191

I ended up calling and the phone CSR was much better, I'm starting to wonder if the live chats and email responses are coming from a robot. They're very canned and don't actually address specific questions. Anyways, Citi CSR ended up transferring me to Hilton rep who I guess works on card issues. She didn't understand why the Hilton Prague was coded that way but stated it was obviously a Hilton and should count for the bonus. So she's submitted requests for the credits to be added. We will see what happens in a few days once it works through the system.

jeff191

Final update on the situation. So the bonus points were credited to my account and should show up today or tomorrow.

So lesson learned, never assume the system is perfect and always make sure to check. No one could give me a reason why the Hilton Prague is coded that way for purposes of CC. According to the Hilton CSR, their system shows no difference between Hilton properties. She couldn't see why I got points for Hilton Dresden, but not Prague. But they are coded differently so in the future now I will be very careful to check for international stays whether or not they are coded properly on the CC side. It's an easy enough fix, but still a hassle to have to call.

smooth

I am in the middle of a similar discussion with City. The only difference is that it is related to missing bonus points for a domestic stay at Homewood Suites. There must be some kind of a glitch in the City credit card program that does not recognize some of the Hilton properties, either domestic or foreign.

smooth

The missing bonus points for Homewood Suites got posted 2 weeks after my phone call to City. They also followed up with a letter stating: “This can happen when a charge is not categorized by the merchant as being a qualified Hilton HHonors property”, whatever that means .
My other stays at (3) European Hiltons have been credited correctly: 10 points for $1 spent.
Lesson learned: pay closer attention to the points posted on every card statement.
On a different subject, a promised $100 Welcome Bonus for spending $100 or more at Hilton hotels was credited promptly. Also, as promised, I got (2) weekend night certificates after spending $2,500 on “eligible purchases”.
All is good.

etpuis

I am having the same issue, too. The CSR keeps saying he can't verify that Hotel Maya in Long Beach, CA is a Hilton property.
I told him to google it, but he insisted on me sending in a proof (which is a copy of the folio with my HH#) myself.

YariGuy

This is where the Chase Hyatt card is superior. They instituted (I think this month?) a feature where every spend line item has the associated bonus points, and to what category it belongs. For example:

Much easier for me to keep track. I wish the Hilton card would do the same.