Launches in January 2008

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).

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

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.)

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.

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.

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.