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Back in October I wrote about earning 52 Hilton HHonors points per dollar spent on stays through the end of year by combining:
- Regular points earning
- Elite points bonus
- Credit card earning
- Double points bonus
- A second double points bonus for booking through their app
That was even before Hilton came out with a 5000 point stackable Visa bonus. (And note that the Visa bonus will work even on an award stay as long as something charges to your folio so that’s a free category 1 hotel night or 50% off a category 2 redemption night.)
Rewards Category 1 Hilton Salalah Resort in Oman
The Visa promotion runs through January 31 and registration is required. The triple points promo for stays booked through the app was set to end December 31 but has been extended to January 31. (It requires registration if you haven’t yet registered.)
That means both triple points and the 5000 bonus run through end of January.
Conrad Bangkok
There’s no question that Hilton has been really strong, arguably the most lucrative of the major chains, earning points through stays over the last several months.
I wish they’d revamp their elite program, there were rumors that Hilton is considering a new top elite tier but I’m told that in fact there’s nothing imminent here.
And the truth is that as an infrequent Hilton guest I probably have the best of all possible worlds since I get Gold status through my Platinum Card from American Express (which also offers Starwood Gold which matches to Marriott Gold.
Warning: a recent winter sale night did not earn me any points – at all. I used all the tricks here.
Other non winter sale nights worked.
ROTFLMAO!!!
@Gary continues, oblivious to fact this very post of his contradicts the following worn out canard, at a time when his preferred programs are either moribund (SPG) or will soon be disfigured beyond recognition (HGP cum WOH!): “I wish [HH]’d revamp their elite program, there were rumors that Hilton is considering a new top elite tier but I’m told that in fact there’s nothing imminent here.”
There is nothing imminent or to the rumor because when it ain’t broke you don’t fix it! HGP was broken so they went WOH!
Don’t you get it, man? All the signs are that the HHonors program is thriving because those who KNOW it are filling Hilton hotels as returning guests, and the reason is the all-important metric: customer satisfaction with the loyalty program “AS IS”!!!
As for your absolutely correct statement that “There is no question that Hilton has been really strong, arguably the most lucrative of the major chains, earning points through stays over the last several months” [actually, for those of us who know, HH has been the most REWARDING hotel loyalty program out there for the last 2-3 YEARS — not “last several months”!], here’s a concrete example:
I just completed 5 nights in a paid, 20% discounted, full suite at the spanking new Conrad Chicago (had been open for just 9 days when I checked in) and here are the points that just posted:
Total HH points for the 5-night revenue stay: 80,436
Total eligible spend: 1,973.40
Breakdown the earning:
————————————-
Base Points: 19734 = B
2016 HH3 DOUBLE POINTS OFFER: 19734 = B
2016 HH3 MOBILE APP OFFER: 19734 = B
50% BONUS ON BASE POINTS: 9867 = 0.5B
DIAMOND VIP BONUS – 50% 2016: 9867 = 0.5B
DIAMOND MYWAY BONUS: 1000
AMEX CO BRAND ONLINE BOOKING BONUS: 500
So, the total haul can be formulated as:
B + B + B + 0.5B + 0.5B + 1000 + 500 = 4B +1500HH.
B is simply 10HH/$
So, the total that posted is: 40HH/$ * spend + 1500HH = 40HH/$ * $1,973.40 +1500HH
= 80,436HH (calculates out to exactly what posted)
Still to post are points for paying the folio with the HH AMEX Surpass, which, at 12HH/$, will contribute another 1.2B (excluding taxes, which will also earn 12HH/$!) for a total haul of
4B + 1.2B + 1500HH or 5.2B +1500 HH
= 52HH/$ +1500.
That’s right: from now until January 31, 2017, I will be earning HH points at a brisk pace of:
52/$ +1500
For this Conrad stay, when the AMEX Surpass points post, they will contribute (excluding taxes):
12HH/$ * $1,973.40 = 23,681HH
For a total for just this one stay of :
80,436HH + 23,681HH = 104,116
i.e., enough for an award night at a category 10 Hilton property + change.
Now get this, at 52HH/$, I will be getting 5,200 points for spending just 100 at a Hilton property, i.e., enough for a one-night award stay at a Category 1 property. This also means that I will be earning significant points even on just incidentals during my upcoming award and revenue stays at Hilton Shanghai (award), Millennium Hilton Seoul (award), Hilton Pattaya (revenue) and Conrad Hong Kong (2 nights Visa LHR BOGO + 2 award nights) between December 16, 2016 and January 16, 2017 – the period of my 2016 Year-end Asian Escapade(tm).
Lastly, please do your math before you pay for your stay during this promo period with a a visa card to get the 5,000 promo points, rather than with the HH AMEX Surpass, to make sure which is advantageous. The only visa payment that would competitive is the HH Citi Reserve (possibly also the no-fee HH Citi visa depending on the size of the folio). Paying with any other visa will be a losing proposing.
So, @Gary, you go on wishing that HHonors fulfilled your fantastic concept of what makes a good loyalty program. In the mean time, those of us IN THE KNOW, will continue enjoying the program exactly “AS IS”: the most rewarding hotel loyalty program out there for a good while now.
G’day!
Hi, it would be handy if you included links to sign up for the promotions, even if its just a link to the Hilton Promotions page. All the links back to stories on your site is helpful if you are researching but not if you just want to take advantage of the content shared.
Quite right. In fact, AFAIK, the link to the advertised extension of the 2x/3x promo has not yet gone up anywhere. It means that Hilton has not yet confirmed it.
That’s a great promotion they’re running here. If only they would do a longer one since Im looking to book later.
DCS again? OMG, the rambling “comments” are longer (and much less readable) than Gary’s own postings. Comic relief?
Oh, brother…
Got anything substantive to contribute or to say about the content of the comment?
Maybe Hilton will go full time “on sale” with never-ending promotions…sends a fantastic signal that they can’t operate their business without it
More stupidity..
You obviously lack the business acumen to have a rational discussion about promotions. Unsurprising.
Promos are a great way to spark short-term increases…but once they are full-time, you risk being seen as the “discount brand”.
REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM:
What would one think of a program that does the opposite of what Hilton has been doing since they restructured under their visionary CEO, Christopher J Nassetta, and made their loyalty program, HHonors, the primary driver of revenue, and, as a result, the most VIBRANT and REWARDING hotel loyalty program out there?
Well, I have got the answer for you. Before anyone thumbs their nose at the promos that have made Hilton/HHonors — according to @Gary Leff who is no HHonors fanboy — “arguably the most lucrative of the major chains”, they need to read what’s at the following link:
https://goo.gl/tkWVF6
It’s the very meaning of REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM. To demonstrate that a claim is ridiculous or, euphemistically, absurd, just turn it on its head and contemplate consequences. If turned on its head, the claim that “too many promos” will hurt or cheapen HHonors, which is backed by no credible evidence since the program is thriving, leads to truly ridiculous or absurd consequences, like WOH! Go on. Click the link to find out…
G’day!
I switched the link is. The one above is the basis of the one I meant to direct you to.
If you did not figure it out already from the preceding link, the one below spells out what you were supposed to see:
https://goo.gl/7UhI4S
Amusing threads – Ed Pizzarello (a miles & points godfather who’s forgotten more about the business than you will ever know) rightly calls you out for your lightweight opinions.
It’s funny watching you have a conversation with basically yourself on the threads you start on IF…LOLOL.
Looking for cheap and lame support by invoking an “authority” is another established fallacious or fellatio-us argument that won’t do. Any reading of that exchange would leave no doubt about who “won” it, after the “miles & points godfather” could not back his initial bravado with any hard facts or respond to those at hand.
But that was hardly the point. Did you at least get the ridiculousness and absurdity of thumbing your nose at HHonors’ lucrative offers, when another program — the darling of “miles & points godfather” and other bloggers — is not offering a single one? Not.one in December 2016.
Truly pitiful.
Also, the notion that I am having conversations with myself or that no one cares about what I write here or else is demonstrably silly and you should disabuse yourself of the notion. You see those links in my posts that you click? Well, track is kept of how many times they clicked (not who), and more people click them than do comment in most posts in which I put such links.
That thread where I was supposed to be having a conversation with myself? First, I did not start it, and, second, who do you think the “miles & points godfather” was addressing?
Stoooopid!
I am done here.
G’day
I wish they would revamp their elite program, it really doesn’t look that professional …