Hilton’s Response to Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) [updated in post #146]
 

https://outlook.live.com/actions/ei?...3A47%3A29.001Z


Dear George,

In these uncertain times, I wanted to reach out to you personally about what we are doing here at Hilton to support you and your travel plans. As the situation around novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve, we are doing everything we can to ensure your travel safety and provide maximum flexibility.

Your Travel Safety

As it has always been, the safety and security of our guests and team members remains our highest priority. We take great pride in maintaining the highest standards of cleanliness and hygiene. In response to the coronavirus, we have taken additional measures developed in consultation with global and local public health authorities (including the WHO and CDC) to make our cleaning and hygiene protocols even more rigorous:

• Our hotel teams are receiving ongoing briefings and enhanced operating protocols.
• We have increased the frequency of cleaning our public areas (including lobbies, elevators, door handles, public bathrooms, etc.) and have continued the use of hospital-grade disinfectant.
• We will continue to adjust food and beverage service in accordance with current food safety recommendations.
• We have increased the deployment of antibacterial hand sanitizers.

We have activated our regional and global response teams to provide around-the-clock assistance to our hotels and are prepared to act swiftly should we be alerted to a case of coronavirus at one of our properties.

Your Travel Flexibility

We remain committed to offering you flexible booking options. Given these unique circumstances we are making additional adjustments to our individual booking policies to give you extra peace of mind:

• Government Restrictions. In regions affected by government-issued travel restrictions, we will continue to waive change fees or offer full refunds. Please click here for the latest information on our travel waivers.
• Existing Reservations. All reservations – even those described as "non-cancellable" (“Advanced Purchase”) – that are scheduled for arrival before April 30, 2020, can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival.
• New Reservations. Any reservation you make – even those described as “non-cancellable” (“Advanced Purchase”) – that are booked between today and April 30, 2020, for any future arrival date, can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival.

If you need to adjust reservations made via the Hilton website, app or call center, please contact the Hilton Guest Assistance team. If you need to adjust reservations made through another travel site, please contact them for assistance.

Your Points and Status

We know that earning Hilton Honors Points and Status is an important way we show appreciation. We also know the current travel environment may limit your ability to stay with us.

• We will pause the expiration of all points scheduled to expire between now and May 31, 2020.
• We will make updates to the requirements for earning tier status for 2021. Since the situation is still evolving, it is too early to make and announce specific changes. We are committed to sharing details as soon as possible.

At Hilton, we believe it is in challenging times like these that the power of hospitality is needed most of all. Whether you are traveling now or in the future, our team members are ready to welcome you with the Hilton hospitality you’ve come to expect.

https://outlook.live.com/actions/ei?...3A47%3A29.001Z
Chris Nassetta
President & CEO, Hilton

Do I understand correctly that following point

applies to all bookings anywhere?

This sounds promising.

I pretty much do 30 stays per year, of which 10 were planned for end March/early April. As I am no longer going to book these for the moment, I am mildly worried (1st world problem yes) that I might not be able to maintain Diamond if the situation doesn't clear up within 2-3 months.

I guess I would drop to Gold from the Hilton UK Barclaycard even if I had no stays at all, but I like being Diamond.

That's how I read it, although it would be nice to have some confirmation from @Hiltonhonorsambassador. I wonder if this will be able to be accomplished online for advanced purchase or cancellations past the normal cancellation deadline but more than 24 hours.

I notice in the same email there is a policy for future bookings too.

New Reservations. Any reservation you make – even those described as “non-cancellable” (“Advanced Purchase”) – that are booked between today and April 30, 2020 for any future arrival date, can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival

If I have understood this right, I can go ahead and make bookings for the next 12 months using the non cancellable rate, and will be able to cancel for any reason.

That's how it reads for me. I'd imagine the hospitality and travel companies are strapped for cash right now and will take any opportunity to juice their working capital in the short-term (e.g. through advance-purchase rates), even if they have to give it back later.

I am impressed by Hilton's quick response to this worldwide crisis.:tu:

No news from Marriott or Hyatt. :(

Seems to be. Based on this I successfully cancelled a non refundable booking at Hilton MUC Airport today.

How? Online? Or did you have to call Hilton or the hotel?

Well this was by email to the hotel. I send an initial mail to cancel before HILTON send their communications and then send a second one with a quote from Hilton mail.

I am told that the policy for existing bookings applies to all bookings regardless of region up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival.

The call to action says to contact customer service:

"If you need to adjust reservations made via the Hilton website, app or call center, please contact the Hilton Guest Assistance team."

Given the generosity of the policy, I would expect that wait/response times might be longer than normal.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders

Thanks. It's good to see Hilton stepping up and doing the right thing. It helps relieve some of the stress that I can cancel my reservation that has a two week policy when I have no idea what the situation is going to be like in two weeks.

well this is a lie, I asked the Hilton chat to cancel a non-refundable rate in London and they refused. They offered to change the date if I paid 50$ extra for costs!

My apologies for the inconvenience. If you would like to send me the details (Honors account number, confirmation number, etc.) via Private Message here at Flyertalk, I would be pleased to ask customer service to take another look.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders

@ Hilton Representative

1) Is there any possible to extend the expiring of reward weekend certificate . I use it to book two night stay for my coming trip in May. If Corona Virus is still as worsen by the end of April, I may have to cancel my trip ( by 30 days cancelation policy rule ) to get full refund of point.

2) The Hilton current policy is only applied to reservation until April 30 , and my trip begins on May 28th, I do not know from now to end of April , will there be an update from Hilton later. If not, I may have no chances to get my point back before the deadline ( 30 days rule for full refund) .
Any thought of what best option I have . Will I have an option to cancel the hotel booking by 24 hrs before check in? I want to hold on to my hotel booking until l last minutes if possible .