Hilton has a new property system coming onboard to merchandise various aspects of your stay. One of the things they’re standardizing is how hotels upsell late check-out. The price for a confirmed late checkout will be set by brand.
Currently, Hilton Honors offers elites 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).
Different Hilton properties take their own approach. 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’. So elites take note, too.
- Late check-out will be for sale during the booking process and in the Hilton app up to 72 hours prior to check-in time.
- Hotels do not have to offer this, and can restrict the days on which it is offered. However, “the default available number [of late checkouts] has been set at 20 at full-service hotels and 10 at select-service properties.”
Here are the prices (excluding tax):
| Brand | Fee | |
| Hilton Garden Inn | $40 | |
| Home2 Suites | $40 | |
| Homewood Suites | $40 | |
| LivSmart | $40 | |
| Spark | $40 | |
| Tempo | $40 | |
| Tru | $40 | |
| DoubleTree | $50 | |
| Motto | $50 | |
| Signia | $50 | |
| Tapestry Collection | $50 | |
| Canopy | $60 | |
| Conrad | $60 | |
| Curio Collection | $60 | |
| Hilton Garden Inn | $60 | |
| LXR Hotels | $60 | |
| Waldorf Astoria | $60 |
Crockfords Las Vegas, LXR Collection
Loyalty Lobby notes that
The late check-out benefit has been removed from the benefits posters that Hilton provides hotels with, and it was already removed from Hilton’s elite benefits matrix a while back.
It is still, however, noted on the Hilton Honors T&Cs, and also on the app if you look at tier benefits at each level
I have asked Hilton to confirm that they intend to keep late checkout as a benefit for Honors elites, such as it is, and they offered:
Late checkout is extended to Hilton Honors members as a complimentary benefit based on availability at the time of the request, a core program benefit offered at each tier from Blue to Diamond. This is not an update to the existing benefits but simply enables guests to guarantee a late checkout at the time of booking.
Nonetheless, proactively selling late checkouts will make it less ‘available’ for elites seeking it complimentary. And Hilton’s late checkout benefit already lags competitors since Hilton wants payment for what Marriott and Hyatt offer their elite members for free.
This ounds analogous to what the airlines are doing with first class. Selling to the hoy palloi inventory that they use to offer free to elites.
No different than paying for an upgrade in advance even if you are supposed to get one (if available) due to status. Personally, I don’t have a huge problem with either. Businesses get to monetize people’s preferences and if you want to ensure you get an upgrade (or late checkout) you pay the fee to lock it in. Personally, as Marriott Titanium and Hilton Diamond, I never assume I will get early check in or late check out. I ask nicely and usually am accommodated. However, I also usually only ask for noon (if 11 AM) or something like 1 PM so am not pushing the envelope.
Welp, kiss any hope of complimentary late-checkout goodbye, even as a Diamond. Sheesh. It’s gonna be ‘pay the bribe/upgrade/gratuity’ or get out!
Same story as the airlines IMO.
You keep devaluing your program benefits AND the value of the points loyalty members get, then more and more people are going to become a free agent and buy from whichever company is selling the combination of benefits they want at the cheapest price.
You didn’t say until when you get late checkout or did I miss it? 1pm vs 4pm is a big difference.
So do we pay $40 plus $60 at Hilton Garden Inns?
I’d be curious to hear the DCS take on this as he has always been a passionate Hilton supporter
Myself I see it as away to get rid of elite requests and further monetize the system and get guests to give up on free elite requests
Looking back Hilton has lost hundreds of thousands worth of my business to other
chains that offer the benefit for free to too most top tier elites
Why should any loyalty program for any company matter? They don’t care about loyal customers.
@Beachfan — We don’t know yet, but I would set low expectations for this. I’d expect it’s likely to be property-and-availability-specific.
So, let’s say it’s $60 for $1,000+/night room at a Waldorf-Astoria for 4PM late-checkout; that’s fine value. But, $50 for a 1PM ‘late’ checkout at a random DoubleTree off I-95? Nope. No way.
As far as the industry ‘best’ is concerned, nothing beats that Fine Hotels + Resorts (or equivalent programs) ‘guaranteed 4PM late-checkout’.
@ 1990 — May be time to cut our household Aspire cards down to one. It seems so amazing on paper, but we always find ourselves planning a trip to some place we wouldn’t otherwise go, just to use the resort credits. This card definitely falls into the “effort-exceeds-the-annual-fee” category.
@ Dwondermeant — As the world’s most important Lifetime Dimaond Hilton member, DCS is always granted whatever checkout time he wants. It will remain free for him because Hyatt sucks and Gary is gaslighting.
@Gene — Bah! I know, I know… I’m still a sucker for those cards. $550 (two times for us). Ugh. Free Night. $50/quarter United Travel Bank (at least that’s how I use those silly reimbursements). I still feel like I’m at least breaking even on them, but if they increase it any further (like $695!) I’m done. Yes, it does start to feel like I’m forcing trips to ‘burn’ those free nights appropriately. Oof. Maybe I’ve been gaslighting myself!
Late Check out guaranteed is a main reason I stick with Marriott and Hyatt for loyalty. Hilton just doesnt get it, so they don’t get my money.
Not clear as to what time the purchased late checkout is granted.
Marriott late checkout is usually not an issue to get, though some of the Fairfields have been a problem. If I need 1pm, I ask for 2pm. At one, left the room at 12:15pm for a 1pm checkout to find a surly housekeeper standing there telling me to get out of her way when I paused to checkout online. At Marriotts and Sheratons, they tend to say they can do later if needed.
I suspect one motivation for Hilton was to reduce the hours they employ housekeeping. Or at least a few paid late checkouts can pay for extra housekeeping hours.
This might also result in fewer early check-in available rooms, another thing where status helps. But airport-adjacent hotels are usually the most accommodating.
Hilton are getting sneaky with the room upgrade charges too. Several times I’ve gone to check in on the app only moments before arriving and they still want $20 for a room upgrade to a slightly bigger room/higher floor. Then I go to check in at the desk and supposedly there aren’t any available for diamonds, yet you’ll happily sell my one minutes before on the app. Likewise often you can run a search for the night you’re staying and still book suites but they’ll never offer you one. Between that, the no longer free breakfast (the amounts they set, what a decade ago have not risen but inflation certainly has all it might cover half your breakfast cost these days) then getting stingy on a couple of hours extra in the room is another reason to start booking elsewhere. I’m up to 55/60 nights needed for Globalist already, so far 2/60 for Hilton.
I had to drop one of the big hotel groups. Hilton Diamond for years. But Hilton kept voting for themselves…to be cut…so that was that. This fits right into that pattern. Top status on Marriott, Hyatt and IHG still. Marriott has started to petition for being dropped but not happening yet.
I’m with @Dwondermeant.
DCS has been laying low for a while and I’d genuinely be interested in hearing his defense of the awful new policy. Perhaps I’m just missing how this will improve loyalty.
They are just pushing everyone to get the Aspire and call it a day. Anyone who still earns status the old fashion way with Hilton is just wasting their nights. I keep the aspire because the Crockfords Las Vegas makes the most sense when I go there for conventions at the LVCC plus the Hilton is a resort so between the credits and the Loop it just makes the most sense but I would never stay at a Hilton if there’s a Hyatt or even IHG property that works. As more stations come online for the Loop it will give me more options to book away from Hilton. The encore station just opened up so you can now book the Wynn via FHR and get guaranteed 4pm along with all of the property credits and breakfast for the same rate a Crockfords.
Lol, late check out used to be 2 or 3pm. Loyalty now scribbled on 1 ply rolls of rough tp. Keep pushing it Hilton and you’ll be pushed aside the way Marriott has. Hyatt and small chains are looking better and just partner them with a general visa card.
As Farnorthtrader pointed out, Hilton Garden Inn is listed twice.
Once showing late checkout costs $40 and once showing late checkout costs $60.
Hampton Inn is missing from the list so maybe it’s one of the Garden Inn entries?
@TheJetsFan — Good point. It’s probably because even Hilton corporate knows that no one, reasonably, wants to remain later than they absolutely have to at a Hampton Inn… /s
One of the best things I’ve done in the past 7 years is give up on hotel status. I reserve the best hotel for me in the most convenient location at the best price. I don’t miss the rapidly disappearing “benefits” much and no more mattress runs or having to stay at a crummy property out by a suburban shopping mall just to keep it with my brand. Very freeing – highly recommend.
A regional hotel brand in Europe where I have guaranteed late 6pm checkout as an elite status benefit sort of cut back on the late check-out benefit for most of its elites when it put in place a system to sell late check-out online directly to its direct booking customers. Coincidence or consequence that now those customers who have a late check-out elite status benefit subject to availability are more likely to face increased friction when asking for late check-out — and knocks on the door from housekeeping — than a once-a-year tourist paying for late check-out by the hour via a direct distribution “pay-to-stay-longer” option?
This kind of thing is going to sort of play out like it did with “tens of dollars” upgrades for domestic US flights did where the elite status upgrade benefit got watered down that way.
ATLJono makes an excellent point.
When a hotel brand where I was putting in 60+ nights a year in Europe started to show its intent to slash on elite status benefits and the points, I shifted to being more of a free agent. As a result, I upped my stays at Best Western and other hotels within a 10 minute walking distance of where I was staying anyway and decreased my hotel costs by about 30-70% on many nights.
I also had done sort of the same thing by shifting to IHG hotels as their rates are lower on average for me and the cash-back portals tend to be richer for IHG than for the other major hotel brands.
Free agency is generally more financially rewarding to consumers than brand loyalty.
Just another confirmation that it is not worth anything to pay for status, or to seek status on Hilton anymore. Has been this way for many years.