Hilton Lowering Point Pricing at Several US Hotels
 

FlyerTalk Community—

We hope many of you are as excited as we are to create new travel memories in 2021. To that end, we wanted to share that Hilton has lowered Point pricing at several U.S. hotels to continue offering Hilton Honors members value when they redeem Points for a stay across Hilton’s 18-brand portfolio.

As a reminder, we recommend using the Hilton Honors' Points Explorer tool to search additional destinations and view the minimum and maximum Points needed per night. And when booking with Hilton Honors Points, the fifth night of a single stay is always free, plus Hilton Honors waives resort fees on all Point stays.

Here are a few property examples:

• Mountain Getaway: Take a weekend or extended WFH trip to Hilton Garden Inn Gatlinburg (starting from 23,000 Points per night) or DoubleTree by Hilton Asheville – Biltmore (starting from 25,000 Points per night) to view the autumn leaves, explore the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and drive the Blue Ridge Parkway.
• Beach Retreat: For those who love summer year-round, head to Baker’s Cay Resort Key Largo, Curio Collection by Hilton (starting from 42,000 Points per night) or Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort (starting from 44,000 Points per night) to enjoy the sun, sea and sand.
• City Staycation: Craving a change of scenery, but close to home? Create a whole new meaning of WFH (Work from Hotel) with a reward stay at Hilton Anatole (starting at 29,000 Points per night) in the Dallas area, Hilton Tampa Downtown (starting from 25,000 Points per night) or Hilton Denver City Center (starting from 21,000 Points per night). For members in Southern California, take a road trip to Palm Springs, stay at La Quinta Resort & Spa, a Waldorf Astoria Resort (starting from 44,000 Points per night) or DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Golf Resort Palm Springs (starting from 29,000 Points per night), and explore Joshua Tree National Park, less than an hour from both hotels.

Let us know here if you find any great deals.

Thanks,
Hilton Honors Ambassador

Is it really lowered-is it not due just to lower rates?

Therefore have you disassociated the points price from the BAR at these hotels?

Yes, the point pricing was lowered at several US Hilton hotels. Again, Points Explorer is a great tool to view hotels' min/max points needed per night.

Don't try to ruin good marketing spin, now that Hilton have ventured back onto FT.. :D

But yeah... the only relevant "lower award pricing" would be a return to the old way of doing things, or to consistently give more than 0.4 cents in value with their dynamic pricing algorithm.

[QUOTE=craigthemif;32734867

But yeah... the only relevant "lower award pricing" would be a return to the old way of doing things, or to consistently give more than 0.4 cents in value with their dynamic pricing algorithm.[/QUOTE]

Not gonna happen as they sell their points , no way will they sell them lets say for .005 and let you cash them out for more then that = they lose money. or even at .005, a slong as they can help it

They don't lose money. We have the view that the BAR is pegged to the points but the reimbursement isn't like that. You could be getting way more than 1/2 cent a point and the hotel is getting 15 USD from the stay. What matters is the spread between what Hilton pay the hotel and the value of the points, whether that is sold or earned the usual ways.

I’m surprised that Hilton haven’t lowered their point pricing, or at least tweaked the dynamic structure they use. IHG, Radisson etc have., even Marriott who are usually behind on things have made some steps with block periods of off peak pricing on all properties up to X date.

I was able to find a great deal on the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach for 44,000 points a night down from the lowest I have seen @ 70,000 a night. Not sure I will really be going early next year or will be cancelling due to but that is a whole different story.

Hilton Worldwide (i.e. corporate) doesn't lose money.

They sell you points, then you use them at franchised hotels which are reimbursed peanuts for those award nights. Hilton Worldwide makes huge profits, as they do with credit card points sold to banks / credit card companies...

The ONLY reason that hotel chains don't abuse this more... is the fact that franchisees get very upset with such obvious arbitrage opportunities and can threaten to go elsewhere.

Is anyone able to validate this claim? Are the ceilings actually lowered or is it just a consequence of the dropped cash rate (i.e. misleading marketing)?
I took a look at the Waldorf Astoria La Quinta. Points Explorer says max. 80,000 points, which doesn't look like a discount.

I don’t think the points changed, it’s just due to the BAR. If these hotels the HH staffer mentioned had $25 rates they would sink below the amounts mentioned.

As I said earlier - I was able to book the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach at 44,000 points (rebooked from 70,000). It is now 49,000 - room rates are pretty much what I remember seeing them last year. Just about $400/night. So yes, for some hotels I do think that this is really a lowering of the points required when the room rate is pretty much what it was before.

Are you able to share the dates? I can see Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach at ~50,000 points but the cash rate is just about $200, which is the regular exchange rate.

Is it just me that feels bad using points at the hotels that I like (where I stay often and where I got familiar with some of the staff members) knowing that they get so little money for these stays when they need the cash to desperately...?

They wouldn’t be getting anything from you if it wasn’t a Hilton. Why not offer them something between the reimbursement and the cash rate? A wise manager would accept the offer.