Feb 3, 2017, 4:10 pm
Last edit by: paul00
Official link showing the maximum number of points needed to redeem a standard room award after the changes: http://pointsandmoney.hilton.com/
How will standard room rewards be affected by the changes?
Will I earn bonus points on the cash portion of Points & Money bookings?
Although the HonorsRepresentative stated in Feb 2017 that 'you can rest assured about the value of your Points. As we make this transition on Standard Room Rewards, each hotel's maximum Points price is NOT increasing', in June 2017 the maximum number of points needed to redeem standard room rewards at four properties were raised. Furthermore, the HonorsRepresentative stated that:
List of properties which have seen increases in the maximum number of points needed to redeem standard room awards since the changes:
How will standard room rewards be affected by the changes?
Our Points prices will also become more flexible. When demand and room rates are lower, Points prices will flex and go lower than before. As we launch this new benefit, we’re also saying farewell to hotel categories - which will allow prices to go lower than the previous ranges. But you can rest assured about the value of your Points. As we make this transition on Standard Room Rewards, each hotel's maximum Points price is NOT increasing.
For example, today a Standard Room at Category 10 hotels maxes out at 95,000 Points per night. Once the new Points & Money program launches, those hotels will continue to top out at 95,000 Points, and may sometimes be priced lower than the previous category range.
For example, today a Standard Room at Category 10 hotels maxes out at 95,000 Points per night. Once the new Points & Money program launches, those hotels will continue to top out at 95,000 Points, and may sometimes be priced lower than the previous category range.
If you book a Points & Money rate when the new functionality goes live later this month [Feb 2017], the money portion will qualify to earn Hilton Honors Base Points. You'll also qualify to earn Bonus Points through eligible promotions, including the 2K Every Day promotion (note: I posted this update in the promotion thread, as well).
Points & Money stays booked under the current system are subject to the current Terms & Conditions of the program - therefore, you would not be eligible to earn Points on the cash portion of the stay.
Points & Money stays booked under the current system are subject to the current Terms & Conditions of the program - therefore, you would not be eligible to earn Points on the cash portion of the stay.
- Hampton Inn closest to Universal Orlando, US: Cat 3 (max 20,000 points) to Cat 4 (max 30,000 points)
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Hangzhou East, China: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Jiaxing, China: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Wuhu, China: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Shenzhen Longhua, China: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- Doubletree by Hilton Xiamen-Haicang, China: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- Hilton Garden Inn Fuzhou Cangshan, China: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Suzhou, China: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- Hilton Garden Inn Ningbo, China: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hampton Inn and Suites Chicago/Hoffman Estates, US: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- Hampton Inn Lincoln, US: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- Hampton Inn and Suites Las Vegas Airport, US: Cat 3 (max 20,000 points) to max 25,000 points
- DoubleTree by Hilton Ningbo Beilun, China: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hilton Garden Inn Shenzhen Bao'an, China: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hilton Garden Inn Dandong, China: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hampton by Hilton Krakow, Poland, Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hampton Inn and Suites Oxford/Anniston, US: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- Hilton Garden Inn Oxford/Anniston, US: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- Hilton Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- Conrad Macao Cotai Central: Cat 5 (max 40,000 points) to Cat 6 (max 50,000 points)
- Hampton Inn LaGrange near Callaway Gardens, US: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- Hampton Inn Cartersville, US: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- Hampton Inn Fall River/Westport, US: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to Cat 3 (max 20,000 points)
- Hampton by Hilton Minsk City Centre, Belarus: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Ningbo - Chunxiao, China: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hilton Garden Inn Foshan, China: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hilton Alexandria Corniche, Egypt: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hilton Alexandria Green Plaza, Egypt: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- DoubleTree by Hilton Melaka, Malaysia: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hampton by Hilton Swinoujscie, Poland: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to max 15,000 points
- Hampton by Hilton Nizhny Novgorod, Russia: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hampton by Hilton Samara, Russia: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hilton Garden Inn Ulyanovsk, Russia: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- Hilton Garden Inn Volgograd, Russia: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Trabzon (previously Hilton Garden Inn Trabzon), Turkey: Cat 2 (max 10,000 points) to max 25,000 points
- Hilton Salalah Resort, Oman: Cat 1 (max 5,000 points) to Cat 2 (max 10,000 points)
Announcing Four New Hilton Honors Perks
Nov 2, 2017, 3:31 pm
#421
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA MM Plat, UA 1MM, Hilton Lifetime Gold, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold, CLEAR, AS MVP Gold
Posts: 3,614
Sadly I "saved" them for a rainy day and basically they are worth sub 0.5 (typically). My brother has found some deals in Mexico with them and did better (much) and others (as above) seem to find some deals internationally as well but in the US, in metropolitan areas (ie. Boston, NYC, LA, SF) for get them.
Nov 2, 2017, 4:11 pm
#422
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,635
This was a huge stealth devaluation, Hilton should be ashamed of themselves...
Not to mention the devaluation and the mess they are now creating with the Reserve card, truly shameful stuff, and whoever was in charge of these...
Not to mention the devaluation and the mess they are now creating with the Reserve card, truly shameful stuff, and whoever was in charge of these...
Nov 2, 2017, 5:17 pm
#425
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA MM Plat, UA 1MM, Hilton Lifetime Gold, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold, CLEAR, AS MVP Gold
Posts: 3,614
Nov 3, 2017, 9:11 am
#427
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: flyover country
Posts: 2,430
Have you reserved any stays since the change in how the Fifth Night Free points are calculated? It would be heartening but surprising if you still got 0.7 cpp under the new system.
Nov 3, 2017, 9:20 am
#428
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,635
Nov 3, 2017, 10:03 am
#429
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: HH Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Gold, Hyatt something
Posts: 33,528
An upcoming stay later this month is $790 net for 5 nights. Or 80k for the same 5 nights. Not a real hard decision to make whether to burn points or not.
Nov 3, 2017, 12:29 pm
#431
Join Date: Aug 2011
Programs: Hilton Honors Diamond, IHG Spire, Marriott Titanium, Wyndham Diamond, Caesar's Diamond
Posts: 536
If you are using them at 0.3 to 0.4 cents per point, you are wasting your points. I have booked 3 hotels in Italy and Austria for this month, which is pretty much as off season as you can get and have gotten 0.59, 0.63 and 0.95 cents per point. Being able to use cash and points under the old system might have allowed me to leverage for higher values if it had been available, but I still would never use points for a stay that only got me 0.3 to 0.4 cents per point.
Nov 3, 2017, 4:47 pm
#432
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: MCO, YEG
Posts: 1,179
That's a generalized statement based on your specific experiences. For those of us who don't travel to Italy or Austria, we may not be able to get the same redemption values you do. The other factor is the longer we hold points, the more their value decreases (much faster than the rate of inflation of the USD), so there's an incentive to burn them when it makes vague sense to do so. I value these points at 0.35 cents per point. If I happen to get 0.5 to 0.6, I'm very happy.
The statement that I was responding to was very much a general statement without any examples of the poor valuation. To be sure, there are lots of opportunities to redeem between 0.3 and 0.4, but there are also better opportunities probably at least 25% of the time. If you spend your points on the 0.3 or 0.4 opportunities, I stand by my statement that you are wasting them when you could use them the 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 times that they would be more valuable. On this trip, I happened to find 3 opportunities to get more value and one location where Hilton does not provide value (and two where there isn't a Hilton).
In Vienna, the Hilton properties are not great and any centrally located Hiltons have a value in the 0.35 to 0.5 range, so I am using other points, rather than wasting Hilton points at average or less than average values for mediocre hotels or taking a hotel in a worse location, even though the value is well in excess of a penny a point (Hilton Garden Inn Vienna South).
Whenever I talk or write about points, I stress that diversification is key, so that you don't have to choose between a median or worse redemption value and cash, you can choose whichever kind of point will give you a top quartile value, preferably a top decile value. If you don't get a top quartile value, I think you are wasting your points. If you have massive piles of some points (and I think some people are in that position with Hilton points because they are so easy to earn), then wasting them for median value may not be a bad thing, but if the resource is limited, don't use them for any less than premium value.
For someone that isn't experienced in redeeming Hilton points and comes on here and sees that someone thinks that they are "steadily" only worth 0.3 to 0.4 cents (and sees others agree with it), I believe it is a disservice to them not to advise that there is better value to be found.
Dec 22, 2017, 8:10 am
#433
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 812
More unannounced devaluations which I've just added to the wiki – 3 properties in China (Hilton Garden Inn Shenzhen Bao'an, Hilton Garden Inn Dandong and DoubleTree by Hilton Ningbo Beilun) have moved from Category 1 (max 5,000 points) to Category 2 (max 10,000 points).
