Cathay Boy

I was scouting for future vacation hotels and when I did that as a SL it told me 80K points, but now as GO status it's reduced to 50K and more dates are open.

is this how Hilton works? higher tier = more reward dates open and lesser points per night?

CPRich

Cathay Boy

But I make the exact same dates requests as SL and as GO and got different results. Maybe it was just coincidence. Thanks

PeS

What is the stay length?

BrlDsguise

Maybe the hotel changed the month you were looking from peak to off peak due to low demand.

Need

Maybe the original award was a premium award for 80K, and later when you checked it as a gold, some standard rewards opened up and standard reward is 50K.

You could just log out (no status) and check it again. It will probably show 50K also.

LMG0910

I'm guessing this may be a LOS (length of stay) and/or arrival date issue that is being overridden by your Gold status. Are you being quoted 50,000 vs 80,000 points for the exact same room, bed type, view, etc.? I'm guessing that "standard" rooms (for points purposes) are sold out to non-elites.

There are many other reasons why this could be happening, but my guess is still a LOS and/or arrival date issue.



Even if it's not a LOS issue, here's a quick note explanation length of stay and arrival requirements for other people reading this who may be unfamiliar with the concept. This same issue could arrise from a LOS issue so this is good information to know. Keep in mind that this is a quick, dirty, and informal explanation since this is Flyertalk, not Cornell...



Many hotels sometimes have length of stay requirements and/or arrival date requirements to expand the usability and profitability of their inventory according to demand. Properties do this, for example, because they know that the demand for more room nights (i.e. two or more) may be higher than or at least the same as the demand for less room nights (e.g. one night). Since hotels have a fixed inventory (number of rooms), they are either going to set aside as much of their inventory as possible to serve the equal or higher (and more lucrative) demand for multiple room nights, or they will increase the price for a single night to try to make up for the difference. (This is also one reason why the nightly rate may change when you are booking more than one night at a property.) They also have arrival requirements for similar reasons - they know they can make more money off of selling a room for, say, an arrival on Monday who will check out on Thursday rather than selling that same room for just Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Why is this important? Let's say that a hotel only has one room left for an entire week (Monday through Thursday night). The hotel has that room available for Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and Thursday night - so essentially four times. That last room can be booked for just Wednesday night, but that leaves at least two issues for the hotel to work out. One issue is that the hotel must now try to sell that room three more times or else the inventory (the room) will expire without bringing in any money. Another (and more important) issue is that the hotel will now look completely "sold out" to anybody who wants to book the room starting Monday and checking out on Friday.

Cathay Boy

LOS same - 4 days, 3 nights
Seasonal same - week before Memorial day
Dates same

Room same, it's a Hilton Suite property, so all rooms are the same (suites)

jerry a. laska

What is the property and dates? Even Hilton Suites properties have different levels of suites.

LMG0910

+1

Also, it could still be LOS. See if a 5 night stay prices out at 50,000 per night without status... or 6 nights... or 10 nights... . Their LOS requirements could be pretty significant.

I'm curious to see what this is!

kmwjes

I am experiencing a similar issue but with a Cat 4 Hilton. I booked 1 Double Hilton Deluxe and 1 Twin Hilton Deluxe room for 20,000 points each. I need a 3rd room and the exact room types are now 30,000 points and the one room lower is even 30,000 points.
I thought that points vary in the range for Seasonal Pricing but this is the exact date, the season is the same.
"Where there is a point range within a category, hotels may have seasonal pricing. The number of HHonors Points may vary depending if the stay is during a peak or off-peak period."
Cat 4 -20,000 to 30,000 Points
Seems to me that this hotel is not following HHonor Rules. HHrep, can you look into this?

MD/DC Flyer

It might be a timing issue as well. The hotels might not loaded the correct rates when you have made the booking.

For example, I have made a booking a year in advance in a hotel I know should be 40,000 points at that season (middle of the winter), but the only room available were 60,000 points. That was the case until about 8 months prior to the stay when the nights reverted to 40,000, as expected. Of course, I had to rebook them at the lower rate.

jerry a. laska

Did the hotel adjust its category? For example, see this post describing a similar pricing action:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24646461-post36.html

kmwjes

Hotel category has always been a 4 but it may be as mentioned by MD/DCflyer that the hotel may not have loaded the higher seasonal points when I booked my first rooms. Anyhow, HHonors Customer Service very generous and gave me 10,000 points and booked it at the higher 30,000 rate yet my outlay was 20,000 points.

Thanks for your replies!