Recently, Hilton set standard fees for late checkout. The goal is to upsell guests – including elite guests – for something that used to be offered to all Honors members for free. Increasingly, the free benefit for elites is disappearing from Hilton’s promotional materials, too.
Hilton Honors offers has offered late checkout subject to availability. It’s not a guaranteed benefit like at Hyatt and Marriott (excluding resorts and casino properties with Hyatt, excluding resorts and conference properties with Marriott).
- Some don’t want to extend complimentary late check-out past 1 p.m., for instance, while others are more generous.
- And any Hilton is permitted to deny the benefit if it isn’t ‘available’.
- Properties are encouraged to sell late check-out during the booking process and in the Hilton app up to 72 hours prior to check-in time.
- Which also means it’ll be less available on-property.
A couple of months ago Hilton removed late check-out as an elite benefit on the posters they provide properties with, and on the benefits matrix on its website (though it remained in program terms and conditions).
In April, Hilton assured me that late check-out remained “a core program benefit offered at each tier from Blue to Diamond” and that selling late checkout to elites wasn’t meant to change that.
Now they’ve further removed mentions of the benefit. Frequent Miler thinks it’ll be cut back even more, though in practice this may mean very little since it’s largely honored in the breach by Hilton properties to begin with.
One Mile at a Time doesn’t see it removed completely because why do that? They are already uncompetitive with the benefit, but at least market it. Why stop marketing it at all and acknowledge how bad your benefits are compared to other chains?
Hilton does not promise upgrades to suites if available. In fact, they do not offer upgrades at all at about half their brands. They try to sell upgrades more aggressively than other chains (and in fact sell upgrades to elites who should be getting them free). Points-earning is less generous than at competitors, too, by the way.
Frankly it’s surprising how bad the Hilton Honors program is, but I think back 15 years to when Jeff Diskin was in charge of the program and he said he realized that Hilton wasn’t getting sufficient credit for being generous so they revamped how the program worked. He was referring to points-earning generosity, but the same principle applies. They could get away with giving members less.
In fact he seemed to lay out a belief that the less they gave, the more members had to stretch to achieve anything. In that formulation, it wasn’t just cost savings it was revenue generation to invest less in customers.
Next, check out will be 8am but for a charge of $25/hr that can be extended until 11.
India is a terrible country but one thing they are good for. Many hotels are for 24 hours. So check in at 5 pm and check out time is 5 pm. That is sweet because if you arrive at midnight, which is common as many flights arrive at ungodly hours, then check out time will also be midnight. That is great when your departing flight is around 1 am.
So far, it is not hard to get 1 hour free late check out, so 1 pm.
If we are going to have all-in pricing to see all of the BS fees, etc., I think we should also see “all in hours” for a one night stay. Between 10am checkout and 4pm check-in, at many properties, you are now only getting 18 hours.
They should transparently list how much it actually costs for a 24 hour stay.
Instead, I am sure they will just start mirroring airline categories:
One Night Basic – non-refundable advance rate
One Night Classic – refundable for credit with the hotel chain, 4pm check in, 10am check-out
One Night Extra – refundable to form of payment, early check in OR late check out included (up to 2 hours)
One Night Extra Plus – early check in AND late check out included (up to 4 hours total)
Coming your way in 2028!
You could try asking Hilton. They’ll confirm that the benefit absolutely hasn’t been removed.
@Ryan – read what I wrote.
I did speak to Hilton “Hilton assured me that late check-out remained “a core program benefit offered at each tier from Blue to Diamond”
I did not say that the benefit has been removed… yet.
It isn’t much of a benefit at Hilton to begin with, and I suggest there’s no reason to remove it completely “Why stop marketing it at all and acknowledge how bad your benefits are compared to other chains?”
It’s clearly being de-emphasized in their promotion of benefits.
Left Honors back in 2017 as a lifetime Diamond. Got fed up with the lack of upkeep of the full service business hotels (Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy) and lack of luxury properties (Conrad, Waldorf) plus a smaller footprint at cities in Italy and Greece where we go often.
Really, the only time I stay at a Hilton property is a Hilton Garden Inn maybe 2x/year at an airport. Hilton lost their way a long time ago and I will never go back.
@ Peter
Just curious what airline was your previous employer ?
Although not ‘creative’ at this point, it certainly reeks of airline established precedent !
lol
Has Elliot Investment Management metastasized to include Hilton already ?
@ryan. I just stayed at two Hilton hotels in Europe. Who told me clearly that there is no late checkout for diamond members. Exec lounges have gone downhill and difficult to get upgraded as diamond and no late checkout so the program is essentially just breakfast. To make when safe to value their points much more than any other program Most of my colleagues and I have switched totally to Marriott and Hyatt. Hilton as last resort.
@ Josh
Which Hilton ‘resort’ are you referring to ??
….lol
@ Gary — I guess even DCS would have to admit that Hilton isn’t so great anymore. Hyatt and IC Diamond Ambassador / Royal Ambassador are by far the best hotel elite programs now.
Marriott aspires to be Hilton. IHG aspires to be Hyatt.
Who is worse, HHonors or Bonvoy? Tough competition. It iseem to be a race to the bottom.
At the Double Tree Albuquerque last week, a downtown hotel, I asked for a late checkout as Diamond for Sunday. The desk agent looked at her computer, clicked here, clicked there, picked up the phone, tried to make a call, then finally said she was granting us a 11:30 am late check out.
Zzzzzzz
Same inane trope trotted out here again and again.
2 facts:
1. Late checkout has never been/is not/never will be a HH benefit. Why not? Duh, because it’s not guaranteed.
Any hotel and/or any desk agent can say yes/no/maybe so/4pm/10am/watermelon/asparagus/sharknado for an answer and it’s all good.
3rd party 3pm checkout on a Monday while grinding a Lifetime Diamond with 1130am on a Tuesday. Why not. It’s all “based on availability”.
2. Even though the upcoming late checkout charges are standardized, what’s not is that properties can choose whether or not they’re participating, what time do they define late checkout to be, what room types are applicable and how many rooms are applicable.
It’s going to be a veritable patchwork quilt of thousands of properties with ?? number of derivatives.
As long as terms are set in-advance, like ‘official’ times, at least we can set expectations accordingly. The other benefits, like Diamond via Amex Aspire, are still worthwhile, including the complimentary breakfasts (where honored), upgrades (if available), spa discounts (‘you do you’), and the early check-in/late check-out… oh, yeah, now I see, it’s all case-by-case. Yikes. Ripe for abuse if they wanna nickel and dime us (which they often do).
@derek — Some airport hotels are like that, too, especially those in-transit, or they charge hourly (if you’re ‘into’ that.) As for India, c’mon… they’ve come a long way, but like anywhere, could always be better or worse.
@The Road Goes On Forever — What is the world coming to when you can’t even get a ‘guaranteed’ sharknado…
Hilton sucks long, hard penes.
@Erect — If the boot fits…