Dec 11, 2017, 1:13 am
Last edit by: MaldivesFreak
Here is a link to Hilton T & C on pooling:
http://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/p...money/faq.html
1. What is Points Pooling?
Points Pooling will allow Hilton Honors Members to combine their Points with family and friends to book a stay. With this perk, a Member (and up to 10 others) will now be able to combine their Points. For example, if a group of friends are taking a trip together and individually don’t have enough Points to cover their entire stay, they will now be able to combine their Points, free of charge, into one account to unlock new redemption opportunities.
2. Is there a fee to participate in the Points Pooling program?
No, there is no fee to participate in Points Pooling.
3. How many people can contribute to Points Pooling?
A total of 11 Hilton Honors Members can pool their Points together. One Member initiates the pooling and up to 10 other Members can contribute.
4. Do I need to create a new "pooled" account?
No. Members can use their existing account.
5. How many Points Pools can I be in?
There is no limit on the number of pools a member can be in at a given time.
6. Can you use Pooled Points for just room rates or can it be used for non-room rewards including shopping and experiences?
Yes, once Points are pooled, they can be used for any room or non-room reward product, including the experiences available on the Hilton Honors auction platform, Hilton Honors Shopping Mall and any other non-room reward products.
7. Can you combine Pooled Points with money?
Once Points are pooled they can be used for any room reward product, including a Points & Money Rewards™ reward reservation.
8. What is the minimum/maximum number of Points that can be pooled?
A Member can transfer a minimum of 1,000 Points and a maximum of 500,000 Points into a pool in a calendar year. A Member can receive up to 2 million Points in a calendar year.
9. Are there particular qualifications you must meet to be able to pool Points?
To use Points Pooling, you must be an active Member, be in the program for 30 days, and have a minimum Points balance of 1,000 Points.
10. When will Points Pooling be available?
Points Pooling is now available. Start pooling your Hilton Honors Points here.
11. When will the Points be shown in the other Member’s account and be ready for use?
The transferred or pooled Points will be available for use at the time of transfer, but please allow up to 24 hours for pooled Points to show up when you log in to your account.
12. Where and how do I Points Pool once I have a group of Members that want to combine Points?
All Points Pooling activities will be transacted online via HiltonHonors.com.
13. Where do I go to transfer my Points to the Points Pool initiator?
The Points contributor must access the transfer page through the Points Pool invitation email sent on behalf ot the Points Pool initiator.
14. What’s the difference between Points Pooling and Points Transfer?
Points Transfer is a 1:1 transaction, while Points Pooling allows for combining Hilton Honors Points with up to 10 other people (11 including yourself).
15. After I send Points to a friend for Pooling, what happens if he/she cancels the trip? How can I get my Points back?
If your friend has to cancel his/her trip, he/she can simply transfer the Points back to your account for free.
http://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/p...money/faq.html
1. What is Points Pooling?
Points Pooling will allow Hilton Honors Members to combine their Points with family and friends to book a stay. With this perk, a Member (and up to 10 others) will now be able to combine their Points. For example, if a group of friends are taking a trip together and individually don’t have enough Points to cover their entire stay, they will now be able to combine their Points, free of charge, into one account to unlock new redemption opportunities.
2. Is there a fee to participate in the Points Pooling program?
No, there is no fee to participate in Points Pooling.
3. How many people can contribute to Points Pooling?
A total of 11 Hilton Honors Members can pool their Points together. One Member initiates the pooling and up to 10 other Members can contribute.
4. Do I need to create a new "pooled" account?
No. Members can use their existing account.
5. How many Points Pools can I be in?
There is no limit on the number of pools a member can be in at a given time.
6. Can you use Pooled Points for just room rates or can it be used for non-room rewards including shopping and experiences?
Yes, once Points are pooled, they can be used for any room or non-room reward product, including the experiences available on the Hilton Honors auction platform, Hilton Honors Shopping Mall and any other non-room reward products.
7. Can you combine Pooled Points with money?
Once Points are pooled they can be used for any room reward product, including a Points & Money Rewards™ reward reservation.
8. What is the minimum/maximum number of Points that can be pooled?
A Member can transfer a minimum of 1,000 Points and a maximum of 500,000 Points into a pool in a calendar year. A Member can receive up to 2 million Points in a calendar year.
9. Are there particular qualifications you must meet to be able to pool Points?
To use Points Pooling, you must be an active Member, be in the program for 30 days, and have a minimum Points balance of 1,000 Points.
10. When will Points Pooling be available?
Points Pooling is now available. Start pooling your Hilton Honors Points here.
11. When will the Points be shown in the other Member’s account and be ready for use?
The transferred or pooled Points will be available for use at the time of transfer, but please allow up to 24 hours for pooled Points to show up when you log in to your account.
12. Where and how do I Points Pool once I have a group of Members that want to combine Points?
All Points Pooling activities will be transacted online via HiltonHonors.com.
13. Where do I go to transfer my Points to the Points Pool initiator?
The Points contributor must access the transfer page through the Points Pool invitation email sent on behalf ot the Points Pool initiator.
14. What’s the difference between Points Pooling and Points Transfer?
Points Transfer is a 1:1 transaction, while Points Pooling allows for combining Hilton Honors Points with up to 10 other people (11 including yourself).
15. After I send Points to a friend for Pooling, what happens if he/she cancels the trip? How can I get my Points back?
If your friend has to cancel his/her trip, he/she can simply transfer the Points back to your account for free.
Hilton Points Pooling - Account Closed. Beware !!
Oct 27, 2017, 10:26 am
#271
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA LTG (EXP), Hilton Silver (Dia), Marriott LTP (PP), SPG LTG (P) > MPG LTPP
Posts: 11,329
If only I was smart enough to do so 
Here is the link to the T & C. Scroll about half-way down for the FAQ on pooling.......
http://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/p...money/faq.html
Here is the link to the T & C. Scroll about half-way down for the FAQ on pooling.......
http://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/p...money/faq.html
Create a Wikipost
Give it a shot and get credit for your work.
Oct 27, 2017, 10:34 am
#272
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: UK
Posts: 221
Well I’ve finally had my reply from Hilton.
“Dear gingeola,
Your Hilton Honors account was closed due to an unauthorized points transfer. “
And that’s that. The e-mail goes on to state Hilton’s T&C’s and that they reserve the right to close accounts if they wish.
For the avoidance of doubt, the only transfer I’ve ever made is points pooling with my parents. One parent is Gold and the other is Silver, they’ve had their accounts for a few years and collect points with their respective Hilton Visa’s.
Not sure what my next step is.
“Dear gingeola,
Your Hilton Honors account was closed due to an unauthorized points transfer. “
And that’s that. The e-mail goes on to state Hilton’s T&C’s and that they reserve the right to close accounts if they wish.
For the avoidance of doubt, the only transfer I’ve ever made is points pooling with my parents. One parent is Gold and the other is Silver, they’ve had their accounts for a few years and collect points with their respective Hilton Visa’s.
Not sure what my next step is.
Last edited by gingeola; Oct 27, 2017 at 4:25 pm
Oct 27, 2017, 10:43 am
#275
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,218
Well I’ve finally had my reply from Hilton.
“Dear gingeola,
Your Hilton Honors account was closed due to an unauthorized points transfer. “
And that’s that. The e-mail goes on to state Hilton’s T&C’s and that they reserve the right to close accounts if they wish.
For the avoidance of doubt, the only transfer I’ve ever made is points pooling with my parents. One parent is Gold and the other is Silver, they’ve had their accounts for a few years and collect points with their respective Hilton Visa’s.
Not sure what my next step is.
“Dear gingeola,
Your Hilton Honors account was closed due to an unauthorized points transfer. “
And that’s that. The e-mail goes on to state Hilton’s T&C’s and that they reserve the right to close accounts if they wish.
For the avoidance of doubt, the only transfer I’ve ever made is points pooling with my parents. One parent is Gold and the other is Silver, they’ve had their accounts for a few years and collect points with their respective Hilton Visa’s.
Not sure what my next step is.
Oct 27, 2017, 10:59 am
#276
Join Date: Jul 2001
Programs: Hilton Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 1,266
"Members who do not have eligible activity as defined in a. - d. below in any 12 consecutive month period may be removed from the Program and are subject to forfeiture of all accumulated Points. At the discretion of Hilton Honors, such Members may be permitted to remain in the Program and removed after five years of inactivity. To keep accumulated Hilton Honors Points, the Member must take one of the following actions within a 12 consecutive month period:
a. stay at a hotel within the Hilton Portfolio pursuant to the terms herein;
b. earn Hilton Honors Points through any third party source of Hilton Honors Point accumulation, including a Hilton co-branded credit card, pursuant to its terms;
c. purchase Hilton Honors Points; or,
d. donate Points through The Hilton Honors Giving Back Program".
Oct 27, 2017, 9:23 pm
#277
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hilton Diamond
Posts: 4,248
The more I read this thread, the more I have the feeling that Hilton did not fully think out the pooling idea after it was most likely presented and approved by corporate as a way to "enhance" member benefits without too much cost associated with it. The following may be completely off base, but it seemed like there was an uptick of "there was a transfer of points from my account that I did not approve" posts close to the time of the pooling policy becoming effective. We are only seeing a very small sliver of what is going on but its possible there significant fraud instances which triggered the actions we are seeing now.
Oct 28, 2017, 8:13 pm
#278
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,753
Seems to me your intention to buy points from another account then pool it to your account so to circumvent the yearly limitation is at High Risk to trigger the closure because, well, intentionally to do so to bypass the limit set.
My guess is, many accounts in Greater China have engaged in the activities you proposed, hence those accounts are closed.
Though I am sure we would love to see you carry out your plan and see if your accounts would survive, given that "SIN is not part of Greater China", so the closures there have no effect on you...
Last edited by Happy; Oct 30, 2017 at 4:11 pm
Oct 29, 2017, 3:05 pm
#279
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, M&M, HHonors Gold
Posts: 1,223
]The three data points we have are 1) an ambiguous story in Polish that was never responded to, 2) someone who seemed to be a longtime troublemaker that Hilton finally disposed of, and 3) what appears to be an error in a fraud detection algorithm that was quickly recognized, corrected, apologized for, and compensated.
Actually there's another story on the same forum, from HHonors member writing that his account was also blocked for points pooling. This is forum member that has large amount of posts and has no reason to come up with false stories. If you wish, you can use translator to read it for yourself.
https://www.fly4free.pl/forum/viewto...=997746#p99653
Last edited by Richmond_Surrey; Oct 29, 2017 at 3:16 pm
Oct 29, 2017, 3:11 pm
#280
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: Formaldehyde Medallion DL DieMiles
Posts: 12,646
This is the response that I got. We sincerely apologize for having closed your account and canceled your reservations due to an error on our part. As compensation for our error and the inconvenience caused by it, we have good willed enough points to your account to cover both reservations. I think the system is still having problems with the pooling feature. My mother in law has tried to pool some points with my wife in the past and it never went through. Both accounts are still open. They never explained what happened but I am glad it is fixed.
Oct 31, 2017, 8:27 am
#281
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Back in Hell
Posts: 4,178
Oct 31, 2017, 9:57 am
#282
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Back in Hell
Posts: 4,178
In all honesty I think that Hilton IT's algorithms are probably not the most well-written and/or are in overkill mode. Opening one or more new accounts, buying points or earning points through CC signup bonuses etc with these new accounts and then transferring them to an existing account (using the same IP and having the same cookies on your PC) to try and bypass limits is most likely going to get both your accounts flagged. Accounts in mainland China and other places like Russia, the Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe with histories of hacking and internet fraud will be watched/monitored/checked more carefully and/or have different sets of algorithms applied to them. And finally, those accounts that were hacked some time ago when Hilton had a breach (last year I think it was) will most certainly be on a blacklist and some of them probably restricted in what they can and cannot do (hence some users here reporting their accounts being unable to send/receive points). And don't believe for one minute that Hilton would have told you that your account was hacked if it in fact was and you were lucky enough that the hacker, for whatever reason, did not change your account's password and your account was left untouched. We can assume that a lot of accounts were hacked and members just don't know about it even to this day.
Here's what I suggest. Have every active account holder in the pool, i.e; everyone who is going to either send and/or receive points, email and call Hilton and state their intentions to pool points. When each member is on the phone to them they will have their voice recorded so the fraud department will have different voiceprints to examine if there is any investigation*. Mention politely that this is a service which they have implemented and advertised and that all parties involved will be on the phone to their lawyers/small claims court/fair trade association or whatever is applicable for your location if things go wrong and points and accounts are arbitrarily deleted and closed. Furthermore, ask for a note to be put on each account saying that you (each member) has authorized the upcoming transfer of points and preferably set a date or timeframe in which you will complete the transfer(s) and adhere to that timeframe. Then, and only then, will you have something substantial to fall back on to back up your transfer and prove it is not fraudulent.
* Chances may be slim that they will go to that depth but it wouldn't hurt to ask them to do it anyway if push comes to shove
And on another note I have updated the wiki for clarity. Thank you milesmilesmiles for the contribution. ^
Here's what I suggest. Have every active account holder in the pool, i.e; everyone who is going to either send and/or receive points, email and call Hilton and state their intentions to pool points. When each member is on the phone to them they will have their voice recorded so the fraud department will have different voiceprints to examine if there is any investigation*. Mention politely that this is a service which they have implemented and advertised and that all parties involved will be on the phone to their lawyers/small claims court/fair trade association or whatever is applicable for your location if things go wrong and points and accounts are arbitrarily deleted and closed. Furthermore, ask for a note to be put on each account saying that you (each member) has authorized the upcoming transfer of points and preferably set a date or timeframe in which you will complete the transfer(s) and adhere to that timeframe. Then, and only then, will you have something substantial to fall back on to back up your transfer and prove it is not fraudulent.
* Chances may be slim that they will go to that depth but it wouldn't hurt to ask them to do it anyway if push comes to shove
And on another note I have updated the wiki for clarity. Thank you milesmilesmiles for the contribution. ^
Last edited by MaldivesFreak; Oct 31, 2017 at 10:10 am
Nov 1, 2017, 12:51 pm
#284
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Chicago Illinois
Programs: 1MM UA
Posts: 1,753
... Mention politely that this is a service which they have implemented and advertised and that all parties involved will be on the phone to their lawyers/small claims court/fair trade association or whatever is applicable for your location if things go wrong and points and accounts are arbitrarily deleted and closed.
The idea of calling in advance seems like a good one. The idea of mentioning small claims court in this context does not.
Nov 2, 2017, 8:57 am
#285
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Back in Hell
Posts: 4,178
Yeah, it needs a bit of work, maybe something like "I expect this to go smoothly and the upfront and precautionary measures that I have taken, for your (Hilton's) benefit I might add, to be duly noted and taken into account by your anti-fraud department when the pooling is processed. After reading multiple instances on the internet where members doing legit pooling have found their accounts being closed on a whim and their points taken away from them, I really don't want to be having to get a third party like the Fair Trade Commission to investigate why my legitimate pooling has gone awry." Anyway, you get the idea.
Last edited by MaldivesFreak; Nov 2, 2017 at 9:23 am