sandylouwho

Very disappointed that we have a 7 night high rate stay starting May 7th, but we won't have the opportunity to receive Double Points for it. We are flying on the 6th (lose the day/night because of time change on our international flight), so can't fit a 1-night stay in before our week long trip...figures, we do have a 1-night stay at an airport hotel on May 5th, before our flight though.

Jamal06

escape4

I love that Hilton's promos have not had any "holes" in between them recently... always back to back to back to back. This promo is not as good as the previous one but if they continue having them year-round I won't complain. Hyatt and Marriott do not have continuous promos, and the day Hilton joins them and introduces a hiatus I foresee some people screaming bloody murder

Regarding the 2nd stay feature, I understand why they do it. Instead of complaining though, the smart thing to do is to anticipate better in the future. I would not be surprised if the "starting with 2nd stay" condition is there to stay in future promos.

I can somehow sympathize with people who booked a long Hilton stay shortly after May 6 thinking that they would possibly earn a bonus in some form, because that's the way it's been working for quite a while now and Hilton never had "2nd stay" in promos. However, now we know so I won't sympathize in September. If you book a pre-paid, lengthy, and expensive Hilton stay starting on September 9th or shortly after, then don't come here complaining next time around if that stay earns nothing. You should have learned your lesson in late April 2019.

I will probably consider a cheap 1-night stay shortly after September 9th in anticipation that the stay won't earn anything, before I can trigger a bonus for subsequent stays. And if surprise surprise the first stay earns a bonus in the next promo, then I still have not lost anything by planning it that way.

sandylouwho

Where Hilton can lose on the 2nd night qualification, is those of us who have a long stay booked at the beginning of the promotion may decide not to spend much on hotel incidentals. If we are at a hotel during a lucrative promotion we are more likely to eat a significant number of meals at the hotel restaurant, and use the hotel spa. No incentive on our upcoming trip to do that.

escape4

Technically yes you are correct. But that is the same as when the bonus is related to stays / nights like the one in effect now, rather than double points. Do people spend less on dining during such promos? I do not have statistics but I would guess it's not very different.

In addition, double points means roughly 5% discount from the value of the extra points. I am not sure 5% will drive the decision to eat in the hotel restaurant very much because once you are there then you might spend there. I think 5% discount on the room rate has more of an impact on where people book their stay, rather than whether they eat in. Just my humble opinion though.

BrlDsguise

In an earlier post Lauren said a stay where you checked in prior to the promotion period would count if you checked out after 5/6 - but she needs to clarify whether that would include a stay where you check out on 5/6.

If a 5/6 checkout didn't qualify sandylouwho could add a day to the airport reservation and check out on the 7th.

DiverDave

Agreed. I had a 43 night stay during the current promotion, so I didn't end up with nearly the points I would have gotten with a double points or night based promotion.

Boy they sure were (AND the free night was good anywhere), but it will likely take another GFC to get something close to that again.....

Oh yes, those lengthy non-participating lists were dreadful!

David

xyc

I'm just as annoyed as many of you are at the new second-stay requirement, but I also just noticed this condition in the faq:

If I have two room reservations at the same time, do both of those rooms count toward my promotion bonus if I am paying for them both?
Bonus Points will be awarded on one room only. However, a Member may earn Base Points for up to two rooms per stay, if all eligible charges for both rooms are paid on one folio.

Is this a new restriction? I have definitely gotten double and triple points for two rooms at once in previous promotions.

FlyingHighlander

what's a GFC?

escape4

Your question was not addressed to me, but I would guess he meant Global Financial Crisis or something like that. Basically a major recession is what it will take for bonuses to become juicy again.

DiverDave

Correct! Hotels are relatively full, and room rates are rising. I'm sure the industry feels no need to prime the pump at this point in time.....

Points Scrounger

I don't see the promo programming being set up (coded) to weed out second-room points like that. However, I did have a two-room stay that failed to post, where the rep refused to post the My Way Diamond points for the second room (manually).

jn in ca

I agree 100% with everyone else. It's such c**p that Hilton has gone to the "beginning on the second stay" language. People in the know simply book a one night stay to beat the rule, and everyone else gets frustrated when missing the bonus they thought they were getting.

I cannot imagine why the braintrust at Hilton thinks this is a good thing.

bse118

I happily continue to sign up for these promos - whatever their details may be.

But they don't influence my booking behavior at all.

Hilton Honors Ambassador

Hi all,

Know there's been some confusion -- so clarifying if you have a stay ending around the time the new promotion will start...

A member can check out on May 6th and that will count towards achieving the first stay requirement for the new promotion.

Thanks!
Lauren