mnredfox

I’m very well aware Hyatt is 3x a Hilton point. But Hilton having a 3x promo doesn’t make earnings equal to Hyatt without promos. Earning without promos already bakes that in as earnings for Hilton is faster and higher than Hyatt. My point is this, if Hilton has a 3x promo and Hyatt does not, on a purely points or value basis Hilton is way better. Say I’m going to spend a $200 night somewhere as a base rate (assume $50 taxes for simplicity). Here’s the breakdown:

9000 Hilton points for stay as Diamond (2K base, 4K for triple point promo, 2K for Diamond 100% bonus, 1K for Diamond MyWay).
3500 Holton points from Aspire (14x250)
Total Hilton = 12,500 = $75 at 0.6 cpm

Vs

1300 Hyatt points (5x spend of $200 plus 30% Glob bonus)
1000 Hyatt points via WOH card (4x$250)
Total Hyatt = 2300 = $41.40 at 1.8 cpm

Even if I throw in 500 points for app it’s only $50.40.

So my point is valid even accounting for Hilton VS Hyatt.

I suppose this is all irrelevant now though. Hyatt 3x promo VS Hilton 3x is more of a toss up. I agree Hilton dynamic redemptions are worse (though you can find bargains) and Glob treatment is way better. Then again, if location contrains me would I rather stay at Hilton with a lounge or HP? Tougher call.

joe_miami

You had to cook the books by overvaluing Hilton (more like .4 or .5 cents each) and undervaluing Hyatt (more like 2 cents each) in order to make your argument work.

When I see Hampton Inns at 50,000 points per night, it’s hard to take Hilton’s program seriously.

txhyattlvr

Of the "Big 4 in USA Chains" (if we can even include Hyatt in that group - IHG/Hilton/Hyatt/Marriott) it strikes me that Hilton is trying to be the value leader in terms of greatest % return in points.... BUT as you've alluded Hyatt is trying to be the service leader and, generally, the most premium, especially for its Elites.... For me it's no contest where the best personal value exists as I value premium service, and Hyatt certainly doesn't need to be all things for all people...

joe_miami

That's not at all what Hilton is doing. Hilton has no choice but to give mountains of points. Hilton's points have been devalued to the point that Hampton Inns can go for 50,000 points per night.

mnredfox

I didn’t cook any books. I think that’s fair, and If you read FT, loyalty lobby, TPG, etc you’d realize mine is pretty much in line.

joe_miami

No, most people use the numbers I used.

MarkOK

Let's just keep in mind that pt valuation arguments come up quite a bit on FT and in the end, you have to just recognize that pt valuations vary based on people's travel patterns. I burn points purely when the cash rate for a hotel is high, and WoH points are easy for me to give a nominal value of 2.0 cent/pt because I nearly always get at least that (though, once this year I needed to convince the wife to go on a trip and burned pts at 1.7 cent/pt just to make it a 'free' trip). There are people though, that have a much higher ratio of work travel to personal travel, with the work travel always accumulating points and the personal travel always using points. For these people, the value of points is purely based on what they end up burning pts at when they go on personal travel, which can easily average closer to 1.2-1.7 cents per point, especially if they are going to Cat3-6 hotels where cash rates have a wide fluctuation and pts redemptions can often be pretty sorry.

As for TPG et al., their hotel valuations I feel lean a little low for WoH compared to what I get out of pts. But their airline pt valuations are laughably inflated for me since their valuations are usually biased towards premium cabin long haul travel, but that valuation is useful to some people.

txhyattlvr

Exactly. The points are worth what they are worth TO YOU, and everyone is different. It's quite possible to get 1 cent per point for Hyatt and I'm sure people do it all the time. Similarly, there are sweet spots with Hilton if you are strategic, but how many people truly are? I'm sure Hilton has (even proportionally) way more travelers who are, for whatever reason, not terribly strategic in their redemptions (they are just happy to get something/anything for "free)" and for those less sophisticated travelers, they offer something very compelling.

Hilton gives gobs of points which some people (probably a lot of people) find appealing regardless of what the maximum value is you can get per point. It just sounds good. They also literally give away all levels of elite status with minimal investment, and provide benefits which are perceived as pretty awesome by a large segment of the public (who doesn't like the sound of free breakfast even if the food is garbage or free access to lounges even if they're (slowly) closing all of them in North America). For me, I realize that Hyatt benefits are vastly better than Hilton but if I didn't have the financial ability to attain Hyatt status, I'd consider Hilton to be better than nothing (and very easy to get)... and obviously Hilton is after people who feel that way, whereas Hyatt is less so.

Sophoclefr

It worked thanks!

Martellus

Does having 1 night on points and then 5 nights on cash count as two separate stays for the purposes of this promo? I know that if both are on cash the hotel will combine them, but I'm wondering if having an award booking first will change things up.

txhyattlvr

That will not count unless the hotel makes some sort of mistake (possible). You have to change locations. One night in one hotel, and one night in the hotel across the street WILL count.

Visconti

In the eligible stay portion of the T&C, "redeems a free night award for at least one night" means either stays redeemed via points and the Cat 4/7 Free Promo Nights?

joe_miami

Right.

Visconti

Many thanks, Joe. Gotta hand it to you, when it comes to knowing the ins & outs of WOH!

jasonvr

Got kinda lucky on this one. Already had a stay booked 9/16-9/20, but it turns out I have to go one day earlier, so I booked a different hotel for the night of 9/15 which will be the first stay. Then I get double on the already booked stay.

This means I've got promos going on all 3 of my primary programs

Hyatt - 2x/3x
National - 12F
WN - 2x in CA and 2x on AT/BS fares

Not too shabby