PhilC

Ditto to both.

srouyuptf

Good for Hilton. Those who take rooms out of inventory without having the ability or actual desire to use them are doing a disservice to those of us with a need WITH the points.

andrzej

so please explain the difference, because perhaps I'm missing something....

The old policy - Let's say I have 50K points that I want to use towards a 100K point award 3 months from now. The cancellation part is still the same, usually 24 hours. They take my CC number in case I don't show up. I call them 25 hours before to cancel and no damage is done.

New policy - Same idea. I make a res for the same exact dates, same hotel, 100K points which I have in my account. They also take my CC number to guarantee the res.

Now I cancel 25 hours before arriving. In the first case, nothing happens, no more button pushing necessary, no certs being issued, etc...

In the second case, it seems to me that it will cost Hilton some extra $. They need to redeposit my cert, meaning that some res clerk has to spend few minutes punching keys on their computer.

Either way, whoever else was waiting for an open award res, they would still be screwed.

Unless we are coming to a new era of redepositing certs for a fee, this does not make sense.

AA will allow you to hold a res for 24 and up to 72 hours, depending on the res with a a fare guarantee on a revenue ticket, yet, they will give you 2 weeks to hold an award ticket. Why can't Hilton come up with somewhat similar policy?

If your res is 9-12 months ahead you have up to 6 months to book it, 6-9 months, you have up to 3 months to book it, 3-6 months ahead, you have a month to book it, anything less, you need the points at the time of booking.

derpelikan

i dont get it anyway.

you reserve a full flexible booking for the days you need.
after you have enough points in your account, you check if there is award availability.

if yes, book it online on points,
if not, make a diamond force and let them change the paid booking to an award.

if someone is blocking a room one year in advance even he/she doesnt have the points, its unfair to others who have the points and can book right away.

there are still enough ways to get around this, so i dont get the problem here!

dp

hhoope01

I think the issue is in your 'old policy' scenario you only have 50k points in your account but will still be able to make the reservation. In the new world order, you won't be able to make that reservation which is why in your 'new policy' scenario, you had to state that 100K points were available in your account.

So unless you are a Diamond elite, there is a definite possibility that the award room you see today, will not be available in 3 months when you will have the points needed.

Granted there is a different issue about "blocking" rooms and then not using them. And possibly that is the reason for the change in rules. The end result is that with this rule change, some may not be able to get awards they could have under the old rules. Whether that is a good thing or bad, depends on your point of view.

YesHyM

This is how the Hilton desk explained the new policy to me: You can make a
future reservation, and when you have the points required you can call and request an award certificate IF the hotel has award inventory available at that time, and at that time you cannot make a Diamond force even if there are rooms available--inventory must show award availability.

SuperSnoop

So, basically, you can make an award reservation when you have enough points. Please don't make this more complicated than it is.

Flying Lawyer

Exactly, this is what it is: It is taking away benefits from not so frequent or sometimes not even frequent travellers (Gold) and making clear that there is a difference between Gold and Diamond. I had talks with Hilton Corporate and there is more to expect. Gold benefits will go down, Diamond benefits will go up and there might be something beyond Diamond at the end of the day - I appreciate it.

pinniped

Marriott does not charge to redeposit traditional awards - what they don't let you do is redeposit the hotel portion of their main awards (the Travel Packages) for full value. (In fact, they may not let you redeposit those at all - I think you used to be able to do it for 40-50% value or something.)

I can appreciate why Hilton has tightened the restriction, as long as you can still cancel the award for free per the normal cancellation rules of the property. It would also be nice if HH had a short "hold" feature similar to the airlines - long enough to complete an AA->HH transfer, knowing that when it completes you can finish booking your award.

samikitty

When I book a paid airline ticket, I pay for the ticket in full either at purchase time, or within a few days before it is ticketed... even though travel may not be for a few weeks or months into the future.

When I book a paid hotel stay, I pay nothing, only a commitment that I will abide by their cancellation policy if I choose to cancel. My room is billed each night as I stay.

In other words, don't compare full-points airline tickets (prepaid reservation) to a full-points hotel stay (pay per night). It's two different business models!

ExCrew

Ok...so I just busted my a$$ to become a Diamond, and now can't book award stays without actual point availability? And I can't use a Diamond force? Why did I push so hard for Diamond again?
Back to Marriott I go...

derpelikan

the diamond force was never a benefit of diamond if you tried to book an award.

diamond force is officially only for a paid stay, and the diamond force for award rooms is a bonus which is still applied.

i just forced an award room (via diamond force) so please do not post incorrect information that a diamand force is not possible.

to force a diamond award room you have to reserve the room (paid stay) and when you have the points you have to call hilton to force the award if not availalbe.

this still works.

dp

MIKESILV

Nice neat little example to fit your line of thought isnt it?

Question:
Ever book a hotel room at the Internet No cancel rate you pay in full at booking no stay - no refund?

KaBoom goes the "little logic"

mike

tkegimp

I think that there may be something like this already behind the scenes. i.e. where not all diamond members are treated equally. I can't say for sure, but I've been a member of the HiltonHonors program for many years, and I think that I get rewards I seek much easier now that I stay 300 nights a year (will hit 400 this year) than I did when I just cleared 60. It could just be all in my head, but this past year I called for a hotel room for New Years Eve in Times Square at the end of September and got it no problem (after the CSR originally chuckled at the idea).

I don't know if they need a level beyond diamond, certainley earning and using 1M or more points a year if you greatly exceed the 60 nights is reward enough for me. Remembering the days and thinking to the future when I traveled less and in the future when I will travel less, I think Hilton should be good to ALL their customers.

v1rok

400 nights in one year? And I thought there were only 365 nights in a year! (Just kidding. I do realize some people book more than one room at a time...)

Anyway, at this rate, wouldn't it be better to just buy (or get a permanent lease) the damn Hilton hotel room?