Matt4200

So I’m running into several issues with booking Hilton. I’m a Gold Member and trying to book a points stay.

I’m looking at 1/11-1/14 at either Hampton Inn & Suites Chicago Downtown or Doubletree Magnificent Mile, but both give me issues.

Hampton Inn (the downtown location on W. Illinois St.) shows a points rate of 29k, I click through that and confirm the room for the 29k Points then on the final page it gives a rate of 97,000 points for a 3 night stay when it should be 87,000.

Doubletree Magnificent Mile shows a Cash Rate of $119 or a points rate of 32,000 points per night however once I click through neither of those rates are shown anywhere and I’ve looked 5 times on multiple devices.




Can someone replicate this to make sure I’m not just doing something wrong?

I even called their customer service (which appears to be based in India) and they said (for HI) okay it’s 29,000 points average rate per night and the total is 97,000 points. I asked them to do 29,000 x 3 and they would get a total of 87,000. They couldn’t explain the issue and refused to transfer me to a supervisor.

Then I sent the issues to their twitter team and they basically sent a generalized response not addressing me at all.

writerguyfl

One of the bad things about the Hilton website is that it doesn't handle rate changes appropriately. If you pull up the detail by clicking on the Standard Room Reward link, you'll see the following. (NOTE: This is on the full website. I don't have the app nor do I use the mobile version of the site. So, this level of detail might not be present except on the full website.)



Same situation for the DoubleTree Magnificent Mile, except it's two nights at the higher redemption rate.



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Although it wasn't the case here, my first thought was that this was going to be related to Accessible rooms. Sometimes, the cheapest rates are only available on an accessible room. Since those are hidden by default, it sometimes looks like false advertising. You have to click the "Show Accessible Rooms" box (on the full website) to check and see if the cheaper rate is for that room type.

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No excuse for the Call Center staff for their failure. That's embarrassing.

jerry a. laska

Looking at both hotels using the app, Writerguyfl is correct about the rate change for the Hampton. Indeed The rate shows the dreaded “*” which means “*There’s a rate change during your stay.” When selecting a cash rate the different daily rates are displayed.
For the Doubletree, as Writerguyfl surmised, the lower points rate is only available for “1 king mobility access w/ roll-in shower” and even then there is a rate change for the 3rd night.

Matt4200

I guess I’m just not understanding how they can show an averaged rate for the cash rate but not for points. Hilton is one of the top hotel brands.

Even on their commercials they say to use their app that it’s where you’ll get the best rate.

A rate change should be in the price they’re advertising. For the Doubletree it should show that they’re lowest Room is 42,000 per night. That’s a huge let down as it’s an extra 28k points which is essentially the cost of a 4th night.

Are you able to replicate the cash rate shown of $119? I can’t find that anywhere for Doubletree. I went on the mobile website and clicked to show hidden rooms as well.

This was their response from their Twitter Team when I sent them two video’s of their website trying to get these rooms at the advertised rate:

”Hi Matt, we're sorry to learn of your experience with the phone agent. Please kindly note, the app states "rates from", meaning that rate is a starting point and based on availability, room type, etc. the rate may go up from there. We apologize for any confusion this caused. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. Kind regards. - LE”.

writerguyfl

I'm not saying it's acceptible. I'm merely reporting how it is.

It's not rocket science. I agree that Hilton really should fix this issue.

By the time I checked, the rate was what it is now: $153/night. Just a guess, but there might have been only 1 room at that $119 rate and someone else reserved it. Or, the hotel's revenue management software ran and decided to raise the rate.

Matt4200

I’m checking in the Hilton Mobile App right now and it still shows 32k points or $119 as the averaged daily rate.

Matt4200

I’m checking in the Hilton Mobile App right now and it still shows 32k points or $119 as the averaged daily rate.

birdiedouble

I'm not sure what's causing what you're seeing, but you can book the 11th and 12th for around $105/night as single nights. The website won't allow the 13th to be booked as a single, in fact the 13th, 14th and 15th are not showing available as single nights. Maybe there is a large group reserved around that time that the app/website is having trouble working with your three night request. If you're set on trying to stay here, I would book the 11th and 12th as single nights and keep checking on the 13th. I'd also have an alternative booked somewhere else paying attention to cancellation policies for both.

Matt4200

Thats really strange.

What I did was go to the Hilton App, signed in as an Honors Member, then type in Magnificent Mile, IL in the search bar. From there I hit 2 Adults then also check the bar that says “Use Points”. That’s all I did. Maybe if you try that you’ll get the same results?

Thanks for the advice it’s for a birthday trip my birthday is 1/12 and my SO’s is 1/13 so checking out on 1/13 would be a tough sell if it were just for a normal stay we’d definitely consider that.

birdiedouble

I'm seeing the same thing you are in the app. When I look at single nights on the website this is what I get:

10th 27000/$99-$103 Semi Flex/Flex

11th 27000/$99-$103 Semi Flex/Flex

12th 27000/$87/$101-$105 MVP/Semi Flex/Flex

13th Diamond Guarantee for sold out hotel $199 (I'm guessing this is what's causing the issue in the app)

Based on that view, if you have flexibility in your dates, I'd stay from the 10th to 13th and pay cash. You're probably looking at a cash price including tax of $335 (that you'd get points on) vs using about $400 worth of points. You could always celebrate both of your birthdays a day early. 2020 is a leap year btw.

Have you tried to call the hotel directly, maybe during regular business hours?

Matt4200

Shouldn’t they honor the advertised rate? And in theory since it’s better than the rate being given give an additional 25% off due to the BRG.

I tried and they said anything to do with points call customer service. I asked their Twitter team to forward to hotel management.

Its just crazy how they’re so booked on a random Monday. Not just them but a lot of Hiltons.

I checked availability for 1/11-1/13 and a lot more properties show up than do from 1/11-1/14. Homewood Suites is available for 25k a night whereas it’s completely unavailable when I choose 1/11-1/14.

Depending on the hotel’s response I may just do 1/11-1/13 then I have a Hyatt Category Certificate and use that on the 14th. It would be a little inconvenient, but much more luxurious being a Hyatt Globalist vs. Hilton Gold.

birdiedouble

Considering the fact you're celebrating a couple of birthdays and the only room available for the lower points for any of the nights is an accessible room I'd just move on.. I've stayed in one at a HGI in Tampa (only room available when I arrived) and I thought the shower was especially awkward. Personally I don't think you'll get anywhere on the false advertising claim, especially using points and also given the fact that you're dealing with a hotel that appears to be sold out/limited availability for your last night. Good luck with whatever you decide and hope you enjoy your birthdays in Chicago.

Matt4200

Considering I’m Gold wouldn’t they upgrade me to the best available room (Referring Only to DoubleTree as they only have One Category Upgrades)? There are other rooms, they just aren’t the lowest priced rooms.

Also, considering the $119 rate isn’t available anywhere even though it’s being advertised on their app they should do something.

Adam1222

I have no idea why you think Golds are entitled to be upgrade to the best available room.

Matt4200

This ^^^