Must Now Have All Points in Hilton Honors Account Before Booking Reward Reservation
Aug 16, 2007, 9:57 am
#17
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,752
Aug 16, 2007, 10:31 am
#18
Join Date: Oct 2004
Programs: Darth Vader of AMEX, A ladys best friend of Hilton, Pt78 of SPG, *G ,*S, ANA VIP
Posts: 3,933
not a problem
reservation was made without being asked for the reward cert number
dp
Aug 16, 2007, 10:39 am
#19
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Roseville, CA
Programs: Lifetime Plat Marriott
Posts: 1,358
Major bummer....
Now this affects me big time. I use this feature all of the time.
Currently, I have a 10 night award for Cabo Hilton next February, an an AMEX for four nights in AMS Hilton and they took out the 168,000 for the eight night stretcher for the BUD Hilton, but they haven't taken out the points for the 10 nights @ Cabo or the 125k AMEX award.
I take advantage of this all of the time. This will affect me negatively mostly because I won't be able to take advantage of airfare specials. I have had very good luck with the Diamond Force on awards, but they have never been last minute.
Bummer....big bummer.
Dawn
Currently, I have a 10 night award for Cabo Hilton next February, an an AMEX for four nights in AMS Hilton and they took out the 168,000 for the eight night stretcher for the BUD Hilton, but they haven't taken out the points for the 10 nights @ Cabo or the 125k AMEX award.
I take advantage of this all of the time. This will affect me negatively mostly because I won't be able to take advantage of airfare specials. I have had very good luck with the Diamond Force on awards, but they have never been last minute.
Bummer....big bummer.
Dawn
Aug 16, 2007, 8:20 pm
#20
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Charleston, SC, USA
Programs: Avis Pref+, Hyatt Explorist, Marriott Life Gold, Honors Silver, IHG Plat via MC.
Posts: 6,786
!BTW, what category is your hotel? As a Gold, UR eligible to use a GLON2 award to get 6 nights for 150K (the normal price of 4.3 Cat. V or 5.0 Cat. IV nights! )
Aug 16, 2007, 9:01 pm
#21
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: PHL/EWR
Programs: AA MM; UA-S; HH-D; Marriott-LTP
Posts: 223
Maybe I'm not getting the big picture here as I['m so used to this being standard practice for airlines (o.k., not that that makes it any more palatable).
I don't really have a problem with the hotel chain requiring the amount of points necessary to acquire a reward at the time of booking.
It seems to me that it would prevent people from holding rooms that may otherwise be difficult to obtain. That is to say, perhaps the person who has enough points decides to try to reserve a room but can not because occupancy is reserved for a reward that may or may not be obtainable by someone who doesn't have enough points accumulated in the long run.
Sure, it stinks for us, but its' a no brainer for the hotel.
I don't really have a problem with the hotel chain requiring the amount of points necessary to acquire a reward at the time of booking.
It seems to me that it would prevent people from holding rooms that may otherwise be difficult to obtain. That is to say, perhaps the person who has enough points decides to try to reserve a room but can not because occupancy is reserved for a reward that may or may not be obtainable by someone who doesn't have enough points accumulated in the long run.
Sure, it stinks for us, but its' a no brainer for the hotel.
Aug 17, 2007, 3:02 am
#22
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
I have been doing this for years .... whether the points or certs are there or not. (If you don't like an answer when doing this, there's the old "thank you, I'll get back to you" method.)
Aug 17, 2007, 8:37 am
#23
Join Date: Aug 2005
Programs: DL,HH Gold,SPG Gold, Marriott Silver, Omni SG
Posts: 828
It's Paris, and it doesn't look like either the Arc de Triomphe or the Eiffel Tower properties participate in the GLONP2. I think I will grab what I can, see if I can't get all 5.
Aug 17, 2007, 9:10 am
#24
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Charleston, SC, USA
Programs: Avis Pref+, Hyatt Explorist, Marriott Life Gold, Honors Silver, IHG Plat via MC.
Posts: 6,786
) & B. The trick is finding 6 consecutive available nights!Even if U forfeit the 6th night, 175K < 200K & U already have 140K, so UR closer than U think!
If U actually need only 5 nights, book 6, then offer someone a freebie when U check out & they check in
in a random act of kindness!
Aug 17, 2007, 9:15 am
#25
Join Date: Aug 2005
Programs: DL,HH Gold,SPG Gold, Marriott Silver, Omni SG
Posts: 828
Tfmpa, both of those hotels are Cat. 6, requiring a GLONP2 @ 175K. They do participate, but A. U must phone HHonors to get that rate (doesn't show online ) & B. The trick is finding 6 consecutive available nights!
Even if U forfeit the 6th night, 175K < 200K & U already have 140K, so UR closer than U think!
If U actually need only 5 nights, book 6, then offer someone a freebie when U check out & they check in in a random act of kindness!
) & B. The trick is finding 6 consecutive available nights!Even if U forfeit the 6th night, 175K < 200K & U already have 140K, so UR closer than U think!
If U actually need only 5 nights, book 6, then offer someone a freebie when U check out & they check in
in a random act of kindness!
Aug 17, 2007, 10:47 am
#26
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Programs: UALifetimePremierGold, Marriott LifetimeTitanium
Posts: 71,114
While I currently have enough points in my account I can forsee a time when I might be short but would have them by the time I booked, so for me this is a bummer.
I have used this benefit w/ Marriott. Right now I'm holding an award ressie for my annual birthday trip to London in Feb. I'm currently short of the points required, but will definitely have them by the time the trip comes. If I had to wait until I had them all, then I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be going to London because the properties there book quickly for award stays (especially given the exchange rate).
Cheers.
I have used this benefit w/ Marriott. Right now I'm holding an award ressie for my annual birthday trip to London in Feb. I'm currently short of the points required, but will definitely have them by the time the trip comes. If I had to wait until I had them all, then I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be going to London because the properties there book quickly for award stays (especially given the exchange rate).
Cheers.
Aug 17, 2007, 8:34 pm
#27
Join Date: Mar 2007
Programs: ICH plat RA,HH Dia
Posts: 549
I just found out today from two different phone calls that effective a few days ago, Hilton Honors has changed their reward policy. You can no longer reserve award nights without first having the all the points necessary in your account. In the past you were able to reserve an award without all of the points and as long as you accumulated them by the time you needed the award you were fine. This was always a great benefit and one that caused me to go out of my way to stay at Hilton Hotels. I expressed my dissapointment that Diamond VIPS such as myself were not notified and they replied they are just telling customers when they call in. Their guest assistance people didn't know anything about it. To register a complaint in writing they gave the following address:
755 Crossover Lane
Memphis Tennessee 38117
755 Crossover Lane
Memphis Tennessee 38117
Aug 17, 2007, 9:57 pm
#28
Join Date: Oct 2004
Programs: Darth Vader of AMEX, A ladys best friend of Hilton, Pt78 of SPG, *G ,*S, ANA VIP
Posts: 3,933
well
Aug 17, 2007, 9:58 pm
#29
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: CA
Programs: United Gold; HHonors Diamond
Posts: 314
This used to be true, but no longer. If you're logged in, there's now a way to reserve these awards online. I don't have it in front of me right at the moment, but I DID reserve the ALON2 award online about 3 weeks ago...
Aug 17, 2007, 10:47 pm
#30
Join Date: Oct 2004
Programs: Darth Vader of AMEX, A ladys best friend of Hilton, Pt78 of SPG, *G ,*S, ANA VIP
Posts: 3,933
yep
under rewards, VIP only rewards.
up to 14days.. 350K points.
cheers dp