Jake Pugsley

I am having a hard time deciding whether to book 6 nights w/ Costco @ Conrad BB or directly with Hilton.

Costco Price (Sept 4th - Sep 10th) 6 nights. Promotion is buy 6 pay 4 and includes breakfast and dinner and boat transfers = $4840 for a garden villa room. Pretty great deal!

Hilton cost direct is 4709.33 for same room type but no dinner included... dinner can be up to 90 per person per night. 180 x 6 = $1080

However..

- I have the American Express Aspire Card which gives me diamond status w/ Hilton and I would earn approximately 388K Hilton points (valued @ $2,289) when all said and done (Sign on bonus + Points for resort purchases) for the stay using that card. With diamond status and that card you get $250 Hilton statement credit (say you purchase food/drink/spa stuff @ resort) I found out Costco won't let me use the American Express card to book the trip through them so i would lose out on 75% of the above points. Also the conrad doesn't recognize diamond status when booked through a 3rd party. Also with diamond you get complimentary cocktails (1 per person) and Breakfast buffet is included complimentary with diamond.

Probably the biggest miss out of all is that w/ Diamond you can get suite upgrades based upon availability so we'd be missing out on potentially getting upgraded from a cheaper garden room to an overwater bungalow priced @ $1200/night...

What would you do in this situation? Book direct and hope to capture all the glorious benefits? or book costco as you may save more overall and have a possibility of still getting upgraded ?

arlflyer

I am a simple guy and I like rules. One of my rules is that if you care about the trip, always book direct. Airlines, hotels, whatever. Not even thinking about the points, benefits, etc. (which are significant here), when you book direct you become the property's problem. If you book through a third party, you become the third party's problem. And when you're in Location X and the people at the property tell you to pound sand and take it up with Third Party Y, well, it's not very helpful. People will have different perspectives on this, but that's mine.

Jake Pugsley

Thanks for the input, I agree it does reduce the amount of potential problems. I do care a lot about the trip as it will be close to $10K which is a crazy number in my mind lol.

azepine00

You should check on likelihood of upgrade in Conrad bb thread. Also 6 dinners at hotel seems repetitive to me. Basically either way is OK just don't go with expectation of upgrade but in post covid world the chances may improve.

Miesque

I absolutely agree, that is 100% my perspective as well.

arlflyer

I'd also add that, as someone who has been a Costco evangelist for the last decade, they've managed to badly damage a stellar reputation and serious brand loyalty over the last months. Especially with respect to inventory management, rolling delays, poor communication, and nonexistent customer service on online orders. I can't trust them to deliver jars of nuts within two weeks of the promised date or to communicate multi-week delays; not sure I'd trust them with a travel booking, especially since it's impossible to get in touch with a human on their end any more. They used to be all about the customer but seemed to have really burned that bridge in the last couple years (this had started before the crisis, but of course accelerated since March).

Biscoff27

Given the current times, I would definitely book direct. Things could improve a lot be September, or we could have a new wave of restrictions, etc. Booking direct usually gives you the most flexibility.

The one caveat--have you checked whether it is available via Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts? I had a good experience using that program last year. I was able to find a rate at FHR that was just slightly more than the standard rate, and I was able to pay at the time of the stay with my Aspire. This allowed me to get the additional FHR benefits (better than what I would have received as a Diamond member), while earning the full points as a Diamond (from the card, standard Hilton earnings, plus a bonus at the time), plus qualified me for a Waldorf/Conrad Amex offer (which brought the price down below the non FHR rate). Make sure to choose the option to pay at the hotel/resort.

iknowthings

Conrad BB has direct rates inclusive of breakfast, dinner, boat transfer, etc. It's questionable if PMG would work here, but at the very least you could email the hotel to see if they're willing to let you book direct for the same rate (showing proof of the exact booking you want). Most hotels will likely accommodate, since it's more money in their pockets rather than paying commission to an OTA (or in this case, Costco). Worth a shot and would immediately solve your problem.

pauleeepaul

Book direct.

Get points and HH benefits.

If necessary only one neck to squeeze,

beachfan

You have overvalued the points, unless you are also somehow including the resort credit on the Aspire card. And get the ding up bonus even if you don’t stay.you

arlflyer

I couldn't have said it any better myself!