Earning points on a mixed award and paid stay
 

Sorry I couldn't find the clear answer to this, especially after the revised T&Cs of March 1, 2017.

I have a 7-day paid stay, and I want to add a 1-day points stay right before it at the same hotel. Two separate reservations, but back to back, continuous. Does this mean that I won't receive any points for the 7-point paid stay? I know that in the past the answer was yes, no points for the paid nights. However, the March 1, 2017 Hilton T & Cs state the following:

"Hilton Honors Points (or stay credit) may not be earned (including as a My Way benefit) for or during ineligible stays, including without limitation, folio charges incurred during ineligible stays. If at least one night of the Member's stay is consumed with the use of Hilton Honors Rewards Points, the entire stay is considered a "Reward Stay" and Hilton Honors Points may be earned. Participating hotel will determine whether incidental charges incurred during either of those stays are eligible for Points, except that Points will not be earned for incidental charges at Hampton by Hilton™, Tru by Hilton™, Homewood Suites by Hilton®, and Home2 Suites by Hilton®."

So, now it say points may be earned for reward stays, but it doesn't specify if it refers only to incidental charges, or if it includes the paid nights of the total stay. What do you guys think? Can anyone provide a link with a definitive official answer to this?

I don't really want to book a separate hotel for the points night but also don't want to jeopardize the approximately 30k points that are at stake here.

Nobody knows the answer to this?

Bueller? Ben Stein? Hilton Representative? :)

It has been reported many times in this forum that you will not receive any points - I'm not aware whether this has changed, but I wouldn't risk it. Book the last night as a revenue/paid stay.

The term you refer to concerns incidentals charged to the room during stay, not the hotel rate itself.

Will booking a points and pay stay help.

I did exactly this last year and after kicking myself thinking I punted away a pile of points on the paid stay the points posted.

But I suppose I was lucky.

Personally, I wouldn't risk it and having to fight to get the stay credit later. IF you are travelling with someone, make the point stay in their name and the paid stay in yours. Make sure you choose the same room type on both reservations. Mention the following reservation when checking in and ask if you can be assigned the same room. Yes, you may still need to "check out" of the point rez and "check in" for the paid, but it keeps everything separated and no reason for them to mess it up (although they may). If, you travelling alone, you can book the point stay using a nickname or some such to keep it separate (your HH number will still be attached for the points).

Following the revised Honors rules dated March 1, 2017, any combination of points and money now earns Honors points on the cash part of that reservation. You've actually provided the link to the rule which states that. It's also been confirmed by Lauren, the Honors Representative, that this is now the case, whereas previously, according to the old rules, no points were awarded for the cash part.

You appear to be confusing two entirely separate things.



Not sure what the T&Cs said before but the current version is very ambiguous. We know the situation before was that you usually wouldn't earn any points for the nightly rates at all, although sometimes you would get lucky. Hilton has not said it would change this.



I would follow RogerD408's advice except that it's not the name that matters, you just cannot have your HH number in the points night. If the same HH number is in both the paid and reward reservations, then it is possible that they will be linked together, regardless of the name.

Now that free points transfers are possible, the solution is to transfer the points to a different HH account, either your travel partner's account, or a new account in your nickname, and then book the points stay from there. But you won't get any status benefits.




Another solution, now that Points&Money nights count as Paid nights and not Reward nights, is to book the final night as Points&Money but using money instead of the final 1000 points. So you will end up paying almost as many points as making a full redemption, plus about $5.

The downside to this is that all sorts of taxes might be charged on the $5 and some hotels add a service charge which could make it go up to nearly $15, however it should all be disclosed at the time of booking and when averaged out across the paid rates it should not really matter that much.

Ok, thanks all, I think the very last suggestion may have been a reasonable option, however, this is a tricky situation overall for a variety of other reasons so I opted for a separate reservation in another hotel. I'd rather not mess with this. Plus the miles and points rates are now expensive, 45k/night, not worth it. I booked the extra night in a comparable property with breakfast for $80, way less than half the value of the points.

I agree the current rule is confusing and have e-mailed Lauren, the HonorsRepresentative asking if she can clarify the situation when adding an Award stay onto a Paid stay. The rule did change because previously, it said points would not be earned and now it states they may be earned, not will be earned. That is rather vague.

Yes, moving the points to another account would be more precise, but since you are able to gift a point stay, it should have the same effect. However, I do believe they will leave your HH number tagged to the rez so they know where to pull the points.

And with the T&Cs being as they are, I can see a property getting confused and not posting the stay. I have found properties that will flag a stay as non-earning and had to fight to get the points due.

Hi all,

Thanks for flagging this question/scenario. Any "Money" or Paid portion of a stay will earn Points with the new updates. Any "Points" or Reward portion will not. So even if you combine Reward with Paid, you will still earn Points on that Paid portion of the stay.

Let me know if that makes sense/if you have any other questions.

Thanks!
Lauren

What about airline miles?
 

Lauren, could you clarify if airline miles would credit too if earning choice is set to points + miles with the new variable points plus cash option ?

Many thanks in advance.

Hi MANtraveller,

Yes, the same would hold true - you would earn airline miles if your earning choice is set to Points + Miles for the paid portion of the stay.

Thanks!
Lauren

Anyone actually done this since May and gotten the points on the cash nights? (not that I don't trust Lauren I just want some DPs).