smmrfld

He's not around for a while. Best to use Twitter DM for most efficient response.

beltway

For anyone who’s not aware, William posts in Hilton Honors Ambassador is Out of Office whenever he’s on extended leave.

Eujeanie

Thanks for the link, I've added it to my subscriptions. Looks like he'll be gone until May 17 this time.

Webb Chen

Hi William,

I also run into the same problem and don't know what to do. Can you possibly help me with it?

Best

donasaur

Has anyone been able to able to do any Hilton points transfers in the last week or so? I'm having trouble trying to transfer/pool points with another member of my household.

The error message when I fill out and submit and the points transfer web form is:

Does anyone know what could be the culprit? Thanks!

beltway

There’s a problem with points.com, the Hilton site, or both. I tried a test just now, making certain that all the transfer info was correct, and got the same error.

TLDR: It’s them, not you.

anabolism

I've gotten different answers from Hilton Diamond Desk agents as to what exactly points pooling means. One agent told me that she could book a points reservation (all points, no cash, no FNC) and pull points from both accounts. But other agents tell me they can't do that, that the points need to be transferred into one account and then the reservation booked using that account. When I asked what is the difference between pooled accounts and not, these agents say things that don't make sense ("you can transfer at the same time"). If points must be transferred, and anyone can transfer points to anyone else, then what difference does pooling make?

serpens

Thank you for asking. It was just in the past week that I searched for a thread on points pooling (and subscribed to this one) because I didn't understand the Hilton description. I'm glad it wasn't just me and I hope someone will provide a cogent response.

Andriyko

English is not my native language, but I always thought that 'pooling' meant sharing or combining resources. It's just Hilton giving us an idea of how the points can be used. For the purpose of using points from multiple accounts to make a reservation, it is necessary to pool them in one account. It is not possible to make a points reservation by using points from multiple accounts without first combing the points in a single account. So, pooling is just one of the ways of and reasons for using points. Of course, one can transfer points for any reason not just to stay together at a hotel. The way pooling and transferring works also differs. With the former, you ask others (up to 10 members) to transfer points to you; while with the latter you transfer your points to another member. I don't know why but I always use the 'pooling' option rather than the 'transfer' one even though both achieve the same.

SPN Lifer

Thank you for this succinct explanation of the distinction between Points Pooling and old-fashioned Transferring.

Of course, this should not be confused with the ancient legacy Mutual Fund between spouses (long closed for new sign up).

anabolism

I appreciate that English is not your native language and that you are trying to explain the difference. My spouse and I set up point pooling, which required invitations and acceptances. Fine, so now we have pooled accounts. However, in order to use the points from one account, they must be transferred into the other account. As far as I can tell, it is exactly the same process to transfer points between pooled accounts as between non-pooled accounts. The pooling seems to make no difference at all. Pooled or non-pooled, each transfer from one account to another must be done individually and manually, one transfer at a time. Pooled or non-pooled, there is a maximum number of points that can be transferred in a year. So, I see no difference, and points pooling seems like an idea that was perhaps intended to do what the one agent told me (allow a points booking to be made, pulling points from multiple accounts) but was never implemented, leaving it useless.

Andriyko

But it is not the accounts that are pooled, it is the points. You are right - ‘pooling’ and ‘transferring’ mean the same thing. You can’t pool accounts though. I believe there are some legacy mutual accounts, where points are combined, but those are from decades ago. Pooling basically means asking people to transfer their points to you. It is a one time transaction. Pooling points won’t make your accounts joint in any way.

anabolism

Pooling doesn't seem to be a per-transfer thing, given that it requires sending invitation and the invited people must accept, neither of which has anything to do with transferring points. Transferring points is its own step, and can be done regardless if the pooling step happened or not.

Andriyko

Pooling is exactly that - a transfer of points. I can see now where the confusion is. Pooling is a one-time request to others to transfer their points to you. It is not a creation of a permanent joint account. ‘Accepting’ only means that you agree to transfer points to the member who sent the request and then you decide how many points to transfer.

I, honestly, myself now don’t understand why Hilton offers ‘pooling’ and ‘transferring’ if both are basically the same thing.

SPN Lifer

The latter (transferring) is outbound. The former (pooling) is a request for inbound.