kawoh

if you cancel an online award booking do you have to wait for the poitns to be redeposited or can you get the points straight away so you can book another award with those points?

BigJC

I just cancelled an award reservation two weeks ago. When I hit cancel, I got a message saying the points would show up in my account balance within 30 minutes. Checked back an hour later and they were there.

MIKESILV

This not only works for an on-line award but if you actually have the parper cert you can call in to HHonors provide the CSR with the number and it will be canccelled .. points show up in your account immediately.
Did this twice recently.

mike

fromYXU

Not quite the same success earlier this summer. Cancelled on line, no points deposited. Called a few days later and gave the certificate # and the points were there in no time.

I suggest cancelling on line. See if they get redeposited and, if not, call the desk.

avlff

I recently cancelled an award booking and noticed a couple days later the points were not yet redeposited. When I called HH, they had a record of the cancelled hotel resv but said I didn't cancel the award cert. Apparently the two are separate transactions and a specific request to cancel the award certificate is needed (at least this time) to get the points redeposited. The points were back in my account within minutes after the phone call.

Guess this makes some sense since the award cert is good for a year...but I'd much rather keep track of points in one place.

(I can't remember if the resv or CXL were done on-line or via phone...but I suspect both w/b on-line.)

Eugene

FWIW, you do not have to have points in your account to make an award reservation (e.g., your award cert may be issued in your name from someone else's account).

pdhenry

An online booking issues a cert from points in your account immediately. If your award reservation is made online the cert number is included in the reservation details. Canceling one of these reservations is supposed to automatically cancel the certificate.

If the award is made over the phone, the certificate can be issued at a later time (this used to be the case with online bookings as well until recently) from your account or another account. In this event there is no certificate number in the reservation details and canceling the reservation does not cancel the certificate.

I don't know whether the reservation data is updated to include the certificate information when a certificate is issued some time after making the reservation.

kawoh

hi, just as a finale to this thread, and for future reference.

1/ I booked online
2/ My points were deducted online, instantly.
3/ I cancelled online
3/ My points were recredited to my a/c online, instantly.

I'm not sure if the same will hold true for phone award bookings.

AA since 85

Hilton Awards Newbie question:

From the looks of the website, when you make an award reservation, the points are deducted and a certificate is issued. (Is that right?). Now, is it possible to cancel that reservation? Any penalties? Do the miles go back into the account?

Sorry for what are probably basic questions, but this is my first experience with cashing in Hilton points and our plans may change between now and vacation time.
Thanks
AA85 ^

SeattleD

You do not have to even have the points in your account to make a redemption.....you can just call the redemption desk and make an award reservation, and cash in the points later to get the certificate. You can cancel the reservation usually up to Xpm the day of or day before the reservation (depends on the hotel). No penalties for cancellation. As Gold, I even cancelled a Scandic award stay after that Xpm time the DAY OF my reservation by calling HHonors, with no penalties (you would usually have to pay the rate), because I missed a RyanAir flight out of London Stansted...they will TAKE your 40 pounds to rebook if you dont show up 40 min before your flight!!!!!

AA since 85

Thanks very much. Will call them rather than book online.
AA85

choptliva

If you book a reward online there is no longer a paper certificate issue. Points are deducted right away. But I have cancelled award reservations before, and the points got reinstated into my account almost right away without penalty. Not a problem, from my experience.

margaretlb

I'm also new to HH (Sept'03) and just cancelled an award stay last week. I followed the suggestion of other ftalkers and cancelled using the 800 number. You must cancel both the hotel reservation and the award cert. It took about 2 minutes to cancel and my points were redeposited in 3 business days; very effecient. You can also sselect not to cancel the award cert, in which case you can use it to rebook against. But the cert expires in 1 year and the points lost if not used. IMHO, it's better to cancel the award and redeposit your points.

PapiTheWriter

A friend told me that when he canceled his award reservation the points were credited back to his account. However, I may not be that trusting, so I will stick with calling to make the reservation, cancelation, etc.

PEACE!

alect

If I book a reward, but at a later date need to cancel, do I get a full refund of the points as long as I meet the hotel imposed conditions (eg 24 hour notice)? Or is there another penalty?