PLangian

I used to value HHonors points at about 1/3 of a penny....assuming you could redeem them at all. The one saving grace was the VIP awards.

I'm thinking back to pre war Germany and 20th century Italy where it took wheelbarrows full of currency to purchase a loaf of bread.

The difference between those currencies and HHonors points is that you could always find someone who would accept marks or lire....sometimes you can't even redeem HHonors points!

Hilton has taken a major step back while other programs are moving forward.

Bourne

I still manage to redeem them in the .8 to 1.1 c/point range. I am still waiting for the day when HH would not have any availability in a given geographical area.

TrojanHorse

Worthless; now thats a stretch

however

Worth less; a'int it the truth

satori

I am spending 151,000 points over the next two weeks and saving $1,800 in room costs. The points are still worth a lovely room and a wonderful vacation time for me.

pinniped

Even with the recent devaluation, using HHonors points internationally is still a good deal, considering how easy it is to pile up huge numbers of points.

Use your HH points in a US city that is well-covered by Priceline, and it's easy to look at the points as a .2 or .3 cents apiece or less. But if you have a use for them in Europe or Asia in a city where a decent bed would cost you $125-150 per night minimum, you can still get .7 or .8 cents per point in value, even at the higher redemption rates. Think about how little we have to spend to amass the points - we are still way ahead of Marriott, Starwood, or Hyatt in this area.

Availability is another story that seems to vary widely by the posts I see here, but I've never had major problems with any hotel program getting the free rooms I want. Then again, my big vacations to international destinations always happen off-peak because I want the whole thing including air travel for free, so perhaps I'm not the best gauge of availability.

All depends on your needs and desired uses for the points...

Rut Dog

you might be interested in this discussion talking about point valuation, both before and after "inflation"

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum57/HTML/006202.html

ql2112

IMHO that is obe of the most important factors to take into account. Until now it was (very) easy to accumulate a large number of points, mainly through promotions like CNTU.
If promotions like that will not return in the future most rewards will be very hard to earn. Normally an average hotel stay earns me somewhere between 1500 and 3000 points (depending on all kind of variables). It will take me a long time to earn any worth while reward at that rate.
On the other hand I'm relatively confident that Hilton will continue offering promotions that can speed up the process. If that is the case I have no major problem with the increase in points needed for the rewards.
Like noted in other threads: the old reward levels were to good to be true.

xooz

I suppose this is one way in which Hilton has quieted the many who complained about the influx of elite members who didn't "earn it". With the expected decrease in promos and the increase in points/reward, only the "real" elite travelers will be able to get the primo awards.

Is that what we wanted? I'm getting confused....

Shareholder

Well, in a way, HHonors brought this on themselves by "printing" so many points through the annual 4 stays/Gold+50K bonus promos. One could only give away elite status and points that would put an hugely increased demand on those VIP awards. That destroyed the whole value of HHonors accounts, though it may have made many of us happy in the short term. Raising the key 6-night VIP awards by 25K is upsetting, but given most of us who will redeem these earned one or more 50K bonuses, our tears are somewhat crocodile.

Such inflation or deflation is a fact of life for those of us who have been collecting program miles/points for two decades or more. One airline used to have an award of 4 J/C-class tickets to any destination in the world they flew [e.g. NAmerica to Australia/New Zealand] for a mere 140K! 10 years later, that same 140K got you two J/C tickets. Under its current award chart, 140K will "buy" a single F class ticket to the SPacific or parts of Asia.

So some of us have lived through worse, and I suggest you make the best of your HHonors points, take the VIP of your choice before June 30th, and remember how much you would have had in your account had there not been a couple of those 4 stay/Gold + 50K bonuses.

venk

I suspect HH itself is confused about who the "real" elite is in its program or rather who isn't "real".

The $60/night HI regular with 30 or more stays?
The $200/night business traveler with 20 stays/year?
The heavy credit card user buying groceries and donuts?
Occasional flyer transfering airmiles into HH?

SAN man

If you feel your Hilton points are worthless don't throw them away, throw them my way!

PLangian

I don't throw away anything..who knows, perhaps Starwood will buy Hilton and then the points could actually be redeemed!

------------------
"You continue to persist with the silliness"

Bourne

HOT is hurting right now and hurting bad. Not that it would, but Hilton is in a better position of buying out Starwood instead of the other way around.

FYI

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/021220/leisu...ood_s_p_3.html
....
.....
"Performance of the lodging industry has been weaker than expected in 2002, and Starwood's hotel portfolio, which is primarily comprised of upscale properties in urban locations, has been more deeply affected than the portfolios of many of its peers," wrote S&P analyst Craig Parmelee.

He said Starwood's capital expenses for 2002 are higher than had been expected at the start of the year. Because the lodging industry is unlikely to grow fast in 2003, Starwood must sell assets and shore up its credit quality to preserve its investment-grade rating, he said.
.....
....

AUDirt

This is a question for my own benefit and a discussion topic for the board.

With HHonors becoming basically useless, where should I take my business besides Hilton? I travel to a lot of out-of-the-way places (writing this from Junction City, KS), so many of the chains I hear tossed around like SPG don't help much. Any thoughts on where I should take my business? IHG? Marriott?

And, for the board, where are you going to start staying?

It'sHip2B^2

They aren't worthless. For instance, the Hilton afflilates are the only decent hotels in one place where I frequent. I can buy a lot nights there. And, frankly, I've never been turned down when I've tried to use points. I can't say the same for my very modest (by the standards of many here) Sky Pesos account.

I don't think that all that many are jumping ship. But their are plenty who spread their business around.