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Must Now Have All Points in Hilton Honors Account Before Booking Reward Reservation

Must Now Have All Points in Hilton Honors Account Before Booking Reward Reservation

Old Aug 15, 2007, 12:44 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Kailua Hawaii
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Angry Must Now Have All Points in Hilton Honors Account Before Booking Reward Reservation

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
kailuabeach is offline  
Old Aug 15, 2007, 2:05 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Programs: Starwood Gold, HiltonHHonors Silver, Marriott Silver, Delta SkyMiles
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Bummer. Thanks for the heads up.
Recreation is offline  
Old Aug 15, 2007, 3:17 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Programs: AA EXP, CO Platinum, SPG Platinum
Posts: 111
Wow. I normally stay at Starwood with Hilton as a second choice due to this policy and the ability to transfer from many other programs into Hilton. With this change, it makes me rethink having any loyalty to Hilton...
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Old Aug 15, 2007, 3:18 pm
  #4  
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Portland, OR
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I have mostly used it to temporarily hold rooms while I try and assemble an itinerary to maximize free nights. Lately, my trips have been to places with few hiltons so my points are gathering dust.
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Old Aug 15, 2007, 3:48 pm
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 29
That's a bummer that they took away this feature. Although in my memory I've only used it once but still the flexibility is what we need for those "rainy" days
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Old Aug 15, 2007, 4:09 pm
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Scotland
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Seems like I got in just ahead of the change. I managed it about 10 days ago.

It is a major benefit downgrade IMHO.
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Old Aug 15, 2007, 6:37 pm
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Sydney
Posts: 5,768
I certainly will NOT consider Hilton as my choice of hotel now! it certainly was a fabulous perk that I did appreciate and certainly did not abuse!
Hyatt still does hold reservations for Diamond members without the points in the account and I will take that into consideration especially that I dont ahve to stay till 2009 to keep my status!
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Old Aug 15, 2007, 6:51 pm
  #8  
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
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Color me as someone who didn't know this feature existed. I guess I won't miss what I never knew I had.
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Old Aug 16, 2007, 3:50 am
  #9  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: London, England
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This got me my second GLONP2 stay for my current trip - literally getting the remaining points on a stay just before. It's a shame to see it go (although I still think Hilton has a very good program, and I've always been treated well by it).

-simon
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Old Aug 16, 2007, 5:08 am
  #10  
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Originally Posted by ByrdluvsAWACO
Color me as someone who didn't know this feature existed. I guess I won't miss what I never knew I had.
Moi aussi...
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Old Aug 16, 2007, 5:37 am
  #11  
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: McKinney, TX, USA
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Hilton isn't my 1st choice of hotel chains and I'm definitely not the most knowledgable about the ins/outs of Hiltons program. But I do know a little about Marriott and they do allow this nice feature and I make use of it quite often as it is very helpful in getting an award reservation if I see one available at a possible future vacation time.

With that said, for a Diamond, I wouldn't have thought this benefit would be a big issue. Doesn't Hilton 'force' award availability for a Diamond even if there isn't any available to others? If so, then just wait until you have the points and then make the reservation at that time. No harm done. Now I could see a possible issue with persons who aren't Diamond level. If they have to wait until they have the points to make a reservation, award availability may no longer be available for the dates they need. That could put a damper on your vacation plans.
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Old Aug 16, 2007, 5:56 am
  #12  
 
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Originally Posted by hhoope01
....Now I could see a possible issue with persons who aren't Diamond level. If they have to wait until they have the points to make a reservation, award availability may no longer be available for the dates they need. That could put a damper on your vacation plans.
count me in that group. Just got gold and I was about to book a 5 night stay for next May but only have 3.5 nights worth of points. Trying to decide whether I should go ahead and reserve the 3 nights now, or wait and see. There are two hotels in the city I am staying at, so I will probably keep checking and if one runs out of availability I'll reserve for as many nights as I can at that point.

I also have Marriott points I had planned to use for another city. As a backup, I am making multiple Marriott reward reservations and will cancel as necessary. I have mixed feelings about that though, as I'm not sure if it is unfairly taking up reward space.
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Old Aug 16, 2007, 6:09 am
  #13  
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Suwanee,Ga ,usa
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Doesn't Hilton 'force' award availability for a Diamond even if there isn't any available to others?
Not really a frorce, because there are times that a hotel can say no to the request from the Diamond desk.

The new policy doesn't affect me so much, but we often travel internationally with another couple who only gets points through their HH credit card. In the past they were able to reserve their room when we did ours,although they didn't have enough points.
By the time they would have the points I'm sure they would have had a difficult time getting their desired stay (no status).
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Old Aug 16, 2007, 7:26 am
  #14  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sydney
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Post Registering points stays

Originally Posted by kailuabeach
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
I just booked a stay at Hilton Tokyo a week ago, no problem, I only had 28000 pts, and so tx from my partner acc, then short 1.500 pts , which they just have me
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Old Aug 16, 2007, 7:28 am
  #15  
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I've used it. I'll miss it. It changes how I feel but likely won't affect my choice of programs or properties much.
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