Boraxo

My normal reaction to the category devaluations is - meh - something that is beyond my control and happens across all chains with regularity. I know it's not good to bank points, but I see no reason to use them in absence of a good redemption value, particularly as it takes me some time to accumulate them. And good redemption opportunities are rare for me, with young children and lack of opportunity for the 4+1 (5 night) stays.

But this time it feels different. The HHonors devaluation is massive for the top city properties that I've been looking to visit at some future date. Priority Club is also pretty bad for the midlevel HIX properties that are going from a ridiculous 25k to an absurd 35k/night. So I've decided to liquidate my current HHonors balance of 200k+ and PC balance of 100k+ I'm gonna hang onto Marriott as the increases were minimal for the hotels I plan to visit. Ditto for SPG, not happy about the P+C increases but still leaves a lot of properties within reach.

PC points were easy to use for a nice HIX on the California Coast. But Hilton is a bit tougher - Europe is a possibility, but that would require more logistical planning, you generally would not book rooms before the airfare.

So are you burning any of your points? Which programs and properties?

Mod- please note this is not a "are you abandoning loyalty?" thread and really would like to get opinions across programs rather than transfer this to a specific hotel chain.

PainCorp

I'm probably in the minority, I'm stocking up on HHonors points right now, since I have enough time to do a couple extra cards before my trip, I now have time I can use to gain the additional points I need, that I wouldn't otherwise. Another problem for me is that Hilton is the only one with multiple credit cards that give you bonus points, and just not certificates. I can keep points from expiring, I can't keep certificates from expiring.

The way I see it, if I'm going to be doing the spending anyways, and I'm not going to be using it for something else, why not use it for this, better than wasting it at 1x when not working towards a bonus.

CodeAdam10

I don't know what to do. Like you said, this devaluation is too severe to look past it but at the same time I can't just book when I have nothing planned for HH stays.

A lot of my stays have been paid stays because the nightly rates are fairly reasonable during winter time (also allowing me to maintain my status) and points usually come into the picture for spring/summer, when hotel rates are typically higher.

Anyway since I really don't have anything planned for HH points, and I can't think of anything because of the way my schedule is, I will have to keep the points (but will not attempt to earn any more) and just see what happens.

Schutzee

I too usually accept the ongoing devaluations as a cost of playing the game, but this one was huge. I am burning my 900,000 HHonors points before March 28th. I already made reservations at the Caribe Hilton, Waldorf Astoria Park City, and Barbados Hilton. I will book one more at the WA Park City when I firm up the dates. All vacations I would have taken anyway, but I probably would have spread the stays across several chains. For example, I would have tried the Hyatt Escala Lodge in Park City rather than stay at the WA twice, but Hyatt didn't devalue their points like Hilton.

mrredskin

i'm probably going to burn some with an AXON at barbados, as well

rajin

The biggest change with Hilton is that it doesn't make sense for me to bother earning points via revenue stays anymore. Use Priceline to grab hotels and save more money up front. Credit card bonuses may or may not still be worth it, but with the Surpass earning changes, I was about to be done churning those anyways. Normal spending on the cards isn't worth it going forward, 3 points per dollar is only worth 1.5 cents, and I can get 2 cents per dollar easily in cash.

I'm going to book my summer vacation and burn 400k points earlier than expected, but just a few months earlier. It makes planning trickier since I have to nail down dates now for an August trip.

kiltedflyer

Originally Posted by Boraxo
"So are you burning any of your points? Which programs and properties?"


Yes! Just about totally erasing the 475k HHonors points I'd accumulated...185k for 5 nights at the Conrad Hong Kong & 262.5k for a week at the Conrad Maldives...and I could be happier!

Also doing another 5 nights at the InterContinental Saigon...but not due to devaluation. That property dropped from 30k to 25k/nt. Thanks PC!^

And from now on, I'll be concetratring on maximizing free night certs from the various chains rather than points-earning from revenue nights.

hotelmotel

No, since I don't collect hotel points.

footypjman

I had a fairly small number of HH, Marriott and PC points, but I cashed out the HH and Marriott points, as well as a good chunk of my SWP points, for a trip to Thailand planned for this fall. If I'd had enough HH points for my entire stay, I would've just stayed at that property, but the lack of HH pts + the increase at the Marriott in question led me to cash out Marriott on this trip, too. The HI where I typically stay does not appear to be increasing.

If not for the devaluation, I probably would've let the points sit there and paid cash to stay a few days at local, non-points earning properties (which are priced about 1/4 to 1/2 of the rate of the local Hilton, Marriott, SWP and HI).

The Hilton where I am staying will bump from 35,000 to 50,000 pts per night for the dates of my travel after the increase. Given how infrequently I stay in hotels to earn points and my inclination to save Chase UR pts for business and first class air travel, the 15,000 pts/nt is significant to me.

PaulMSN

Good to know. I can use my free night there and then use points for two more nights.

jmw2323

just waiting for the dates I need to become available in 2014. Will look at HH first followed by marriott. Unfortunately don't have much time for vacations with the wife in school.
In the meantime, adding to the HH haul

BOShappyflyer

I'm actually not burning my HHonors points since I don't currently have specific plans, and it'd be a waste to use them for the aspirational awards when they could still be good for the average award.

Having said that, the devaluation was huge. I probably won't bother sticking with the Hhonors program and won't be investing in earning HHilton points anymore. It's not worth the time and effort, and I will be looking more closely into other programs. I really like Club Carlson at the moment.

benzemalyonnais

It's a fact of this business we are in. The points will pretty much never increase in value, and seem to only be getting easier and easier to come by. These devaluations only further stress that one should just use Priceline if Hilton is in their best interest.

There are still gems out there with IHG for Asia-based travelers, and they of course have the wonderful discount rates for Europe, as does Carlson. Hilton is losing pretty much every gem, and their points can't be obtained as easily as IHGs - you can just buy them any time you want.

These devaluations are massive, and I will burn all my Hilton points. I will also burn them where I can get maximum value. There is no reason for me to keep them, because if I really want a Hilton stay in the future, or discover some amazing new rate, I can just get a few credit cards.

PC points are too easy to obtain to worry about. It's a shame that they just jacked up the rates on any property, good or bad, simply because the words London, New York, or Paris were in the property's name.

I would look at this as an excuse to plan a vacation - there is no real benefit to save the points unless you have no money or time to travel somewhere and use them. Or, in the case of those who redeem for random properties in middle America for good rates which will remain unchanged in the future, they could potentially save them, although I don't trust Hilton going forward.

brettalb

All my currently planned trips already had hotels booked, unfortunately.

outthemirror

I burned my 100k hilton points for two nights at time square. I am not a Hilton guy, but well, anyway, that's the way to save some value. I guess it's time to completely shift to SPG, though their elite status sucks compared with Hilton, guess I have to swallow it though.