Scandic Guest Programme
 

I'm not sure I'd give this a thumbs up.
Take a look at the Q&A:
http://www.scandic-hotels.com/guestprogramme/QnA

Once this take effect, there will be no HHonors earning or redemption allowed.

well, that's obvious isn't it? since they don't belong to hilton anymore.
i would give the "nordic common sense" of this programme thumbs up for sure.

Well, the thing is, as a hotel chain which (due to its inclusion in HHonors) has been marketing to travelers worldwide, this may be a thumbs up for someone like you who is in or very close to Scandinavia, but for those of us on the other side of the world who get to visit Sandinavia only occasionally, it is so far looking like a thumbs down: Given my overseas travel patterns (all leisure), the points I would earn with my stays would expire before I could use them, and so far there's no indication I could use them for anything here in the US where I live (no airlines, no other kinds of transfer partners).

I hope there something further announced which changes it, but for me it's like no program at all, if all the points I earn evaporate before I can use them (because I only visit Scandinavia once every two or three years). :td::td::td:

well the points expire 3 years after not using your account, and no one stops you from staying at hiltons when you're visiting scandinavia :rolleyes:

Yes, someone does stop me from staying at Hiltons in Scandinavia! Hilton!

Maybe someday, when they expand Hilton Garden Inn and/or Hampton Inn in Europe, they'll have properties outside the big capitals in Scandinavia. But me, what I want to do most in Scandinavia is explore Flord country (western Norway), Lapland, smaller towns, etc, and that's where the Scandics (or Riga affiliates) are but Hiltons aren't.

Furthermore, it's too early to see what "using your account" means. Will there be ways of "using your account" without traveling to Scandinavia (such as transferring in or transferring out or buying a small amount of points)? Maybe, but we have to make our decision on Hilton transfers before any of this ironed out. (The Hilton transfers have be done before 1 Jan 2008, but the website clearly says that a lot of info, including new partners, won't be revealed until after 1 Jan 2008.) :td::td::td:

Wow, Hilton stops me even more than I realized.

Not only are there no Hiltons in western (fjord paradise) Norway, there are no Hiltons in Norway period. It's not in their drop-down list of countries!

Meanwhile, I still don't see any news posted about airline miles options in the new Scandic program. (To me, earning miles is the better option in programs where the points may expire before I get to use them.) But the Scandic website above is murky about whether you will be able to earn miles at all, let alone with which airlines, after 1 Jan 2008. :td::td::td::td::td:

Quite ironic, since Conrad Hilton's father, Augustus Halvorson Hilton actually was from Norway, and emigrated to the US in 1870.. Some 15-20 kilometers south of Oslo Airport, you can find the Hilton family farm, And a quick search in "Statistics Norway", can tell that Paris & co. have 122 relatives in Norway..

Hmm if I was previously a member of HHonors, among other reasons, because of the possibility to earn and spend points at Scandic hotels, and if I have status with HHonors and since, technically, the Scandic guest program is, at least as far as the Scandic hotels are concerned, sort of a successor of the previous HHonors program for these hotels - shouldn't I be starting with the equivalent status I had in the HHonors program? Do you think there's any chance they would subscribe to this way of thinking, if only to attract future business? Or that they'd even go as far as converting HHonors points earned into Scandic points, so one would not start with a zero balance? I know, I know...might be far-fetched, but perhaps some still remember the KLM promo, etc... :)

Sorry but you are late. You should have signed up for the Hhonors to Scandic conversion program by Dec 15. Maybe you could still try to ask for a status match.

points + miles, but only two airlines!!!
 

http://www.scandic-hotels.com/Scandi...oEarnMiles.jsp

So now Hilton HHonors will no longer be able to claim they're the only program where you can earn both points and miles for the same stay.

However, the details are again a let-down. Only airline programs based in Scandinavia participate so far: FinnAir and SAS.

So yet another way how (at least so far) this program is of little use to those neither based in nor frequently traveling to the region, no matter how much they liked Scandic while it was part of HHonors.

Also, it's now 5 January and I still haven't gotten the promised new membership number and PIN (I signed up in December). All I got so far was an email that stated: "A confirmation including your new membership number and PIN code will be sent to the following e-mail address". (It also said I'd get a card in the mail, but I wouldn't expect that quickly.)

Notice that it is still 300 SAS EB points (probably extra points) per stay, just the same as it was before.:( At least FinnAir is 500 per night.

I got my email with the membership number and pin December 27th.

^ I got my membership card today along with the membership booklet.

Just spoke to Scandic Customer Service, reg. missing PIN for my wifes account, after which they immediately emailed a new PIN.

Also found out that even though you're still able to book and pay awards in the name of others (to use as gifts etc.), it's now officially the benefits of the status level of the account that pays the award stay that apply.

In HHonors you could issue an award certificate in an other persons name and use that as payment for any award booking in the same name. I've used that to pay with points from my wifes account and still get top-tier benefits by booking in my name. But that is no longer possible. On the other hand it should now be expected that award stays gifted by a top-tier member will receive top-tier benefits with any discussions.

I got a card indicating Top Floor status, but no pin. My HH points transferred in error and I'm waiting for the HH DD to straighten out this mess. I hope to visit Scandinavia in the next 3 years, but I want my HH points back.

I did a comparison of the Scandic and Hilton programs in this thread. May be of interest also to someone just interested in the features of the Scandic program.

Thought this might be an appropriate 1000th post as well... :)

the reason that you didn't get your pin might be that your profile contains your e-mail adress in capital letters and their systems refuse to send pins out to e-mails in capital letters. so that would need to be changed by their csrs.

i hope hhdd does their very best...

they still convert hilton honors points into scandic points and they will probably do so until about june

Any way to transfer points or convert to AF miles?
 

Hi guys,

I am going to Stockholm in a couple of weeks, and I will be staying at a Scandic Hotel. I would rather stay at IC and get points on priority club, but the rates are above my travel policy limit :(

So I am considering to open a Frequent Guest account with Scandic Hotels, but I have seen that the points expire in 3 years, and I am not sure I will use my account before that...

Does anyone know if there is a way to convert the points, or to trade them for Air France miles?

Thanks in advance ^
P.

Sorry, but I'm quite sure it is not possible. In addition to Scandic points you can get Finnair or SAS points, but it is double dipping so you will always get Scandic points as well. If you stay five nights then you will already get one free night although not in any big city. Still maybe something for a tour of Scandinavia sometime ...?

Thanks for your reply.

I have signed up for this program anyway, if I am lucky I might return for business once or twice per year, and in the long term it might give me a free night...

When you say that I can get SAS points as well, that's in addition to the Scandic points right?
When flying SAS you can credit miles to Lufhtansa Miles and More; by staing at Scandic Hotels can I also get miles on my Lufthansa account? When registering at Scandinc I entered my Miles and More customer number as SAS loyalty program, but I am not sure this will work...

Cheers
P

Sorry, don't think so. So I guess you have to join SAS Eurobonus as well. :D

We were walked to cheaper hotel
 

Hotel Scandic Victoria was overbooked due to a Scandic IT-glitch and were walked to cheaper hotel (Scandic St. Olavs plass). I cheked the prices for a reservation one months ahead; 1599 NOK vs. 1199 NOK.

We arrived to the second hotel only to discover there that they have booked us a single room! The clerk kept repeating that this is not their fault. I was with my spouse at the check-in of the first hotel, so it was quite obvious that there were two of us.... They were also fully booked and said that they (neither) don't have a room for us.

I asked that are they kidding and they called to the original hotel and somehow managed to arrange a double room for us. At the check-out they also tried to charge us + 15 % more that what was originally in my reservations statement. At no point was any compensation beeing offered. I have a Scandic Friend' 3rd-level status, so apparently this is the Scandic experience what they "offer" to a loyalty program member. I can't imagine what the treatment would have been if the stay would have been booked throught Booking.com (without status).

Nice going Scandic!

Checked what I wrote in this thread in 2010. Have to make an update regarding collecting points to SAS EB. It isn't double dipping anymore, except at times they have had this as a promotion. Now it is either SAS OR Scandic points. That's why I credit to Finnair which is still double dip.

Beeing a "frequent guest" before the original Scandic Club emerged, one would get a card where stamps after 9 paid stays led to a free stay, no matter the cost of paid stays, nor of the free night redeemed. Later, replaced by a Scandic Club, with 5 levels, with different benefits, earning/redeeming were basically left unchanged.

After going public, frequent stayers were offered shares in the company, which after some years was judged prosperous and led to beeing bought by Hilton. This was the best period in the Scandic history, where an over-all guest satisfaction was the leading object, the influence of an international major hotel operator was clearly visible. The possibilities of booking rooms all over Scandinavia (and some select European destinations) on the Hilton website was definitely benificial for international guests booking.

With the take-over of hard-core risque-capitalist management by EQT, a Guernsey-based Holding company ensures no tax is paid in any country the Scandic chain operates a hotel, the main object is cost-cutting, to pay the 16.5% interest on the 3 Billion SEK loans from the Holding Company, still owed after going public again, but with major holding stakes by EQT.

Scandic beeing the franchisee of the 3 Helsinki and the Stockholm Hiltons, are presently downgrading many of the previous offered services in these hotels. Together with finishing the building/renovating of at least three central Stockholm Scandic hotel locations my bet is Scandic leaving the Hilton franchises, beeing run-down, but still making more money out of Scandic guests, and hidden in Guernsey/BWI funds/banks