Hilton has released its first promotion of 2024, and registration is available. From January 1 to May 1, 2024, “Points Plus” offers:
- 2,000 bonus points per stay
- 500 bonus points for using digital key
Digital key is a nice feature, and Hilton has a functional app. I often prefer to visit the front desk to learn about any details or nuance of elite benefits, including angling for an upgrade beyond what’s proactively offered automatically, and to ask a person for late check-out which the Honors program doesn’t guarantee to elites.
It’s also useful to hotels because when enough guests skip the front desk, properties can reduce front desk staffing. Even without that cost savings, it reduces front desk lines which is both a better guest experience and an opportunity for the hotel to have that staff member addressing other issues.
You can still check in at the desk with this offer, though! You just need to pull up a digital key in the Hilton mobile app during the stay to earn the bonus. And that still benefits Hilton since it’s getting customers using the app and used to the feature.
I view 2,000 points per stay as worth $8. That’s a pretty weak promotion, because for any stay where room spend is over $200 it’s less rewarding than double points – which for years has been a standard Honors offer and needed because Hilton has used promotions to make points-earning in the Honors program as rewarding at what’s offered by competitor chains.
This is far less generous than the double and sometimes triple points offer that ends December 31, and winter is traditionally a slower time for hotels, so this new offer is disappointing.
At the same time, you should definitely register even if you do not expect any Hilton stays. This promotion ends nearly five months from now, and your plans may change but you will never remember to go back and register later if they do.
Terms and conditons:
Terms & ConditionsOffer valid for stays completed January 1 – May 1, 2024 (“Promotion Period”) at any hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio. Hilton Honors™ members must first register at HiltonHonors.com/PointsPlus prior to completing a stay within the Promotion period.
Registered Hilton Honors members checking in before January 1, 2024, will receive Bonus Points for their stay if the stay is completed on or after January 1, 2024, and prior to or on May 1, 2024.
Registered Hilton Honors members will earn 2,000 Bonus Points per stay during the promotion period. Additionally, 500 Bonus Points per stay are awarded when using Digital Key during the stay. 500 Points are awarded to the Honors member making the reservation, at a maximum of once per stay for one room on the reservation only, regardless of how many times Digital Key is successfully used during the stay. The Digital Key must be successfully issued during the stay to be eligible.
There is no limit to the total amount of Bonus Points that may be earned during the promotion period with this offer.
2K points per STAY? Geez, this is beyond exciting. And the phone/key bonus? Not worth putting everything down in the hallway to drag out my phone and open my door, not to mention packing my phone along every time I leave the room. Short-sighted on Hilton’s part. Not everyone has, nor wants, a phone growing from their hand.
“…. it reduces front desk lines which is both a better guest experience and an opportunity for the hotel to have that staff member addressing other issues”
more accurately stated as…… it allows the hotel cut headcount and then have no bandwidth to reallocate staff to help out when unexpected situations arise
There is nothing or unexpected here because it’s like clockwork: after lucrative 2x, 3x or 2x/3x promos, the program generally offers one of these less rewarding promos, usually in Q1 [ all of the following except the first item is from OMAAT]:
— Points Plus: 2,000 bonus points per stay, 500 bonus points for using digital key January 1, 2024, May 1, 2024
— Multiply Your Points: 2x points on all stays, 3x points on stays in select cities September 6, 2023 December 31, 2023
— Resort To More Points: 2,000 bonus points on all stays, 4,000 bonus points on resort stays May 1, 2023 September 5, 2023
— Double Up & Explore: 2x points on all stays, 1,000 bonus points for each brand January 1, 2023 April 30, 2023
— Double Your Stay: 2x points on all stays, 2,000 bonus points for weekday check-outs September 6, 2022 December 31, 2022
— More Nights, More Points: 2x points on all stays, 3x points on stays of three or more nights May 2, 2022 September 5, 2022
— Points Unlimited: 2,500 bonus points with every stay January 1, 2022 May 1, 2022
— Power Up: 2x points on all stays, 3x points when paying with Hilton Amex September 7, 2021 December 31, 2021
— More Nights, More Points: 2x points on all stays, 3x points on stays of three or more nights May 3, 2021 September 6, 2021
— Points Unlimited: 2,000 bonus points with every stay, 5,000 bonus points after every five nights January 1, 2021 May 2, 2021
What is a continuing disappointment is the near total lack of promos from the so-called “best hotel loyalty program… (making one wonder what exactly makes it “best”).
I should’ve also bolded the following, which would’ve be made the pattern more obvious:
— Points Unlimited: 2,500 bonus points with every stay January 1, 2022 May 1, 2022
“It’s also useful to hotels because when enough guests skip the front desk, properties can reduce front desk staffing. Even without that cost savings, it reduces front desk lines which is both a better guest experience and an opportunity for the hotel to have that staff member addressing other issues.”
This might be the most out of touch thing I have ever read about the hospitality industry.
App use is pushed by the parent companies 100% as a job eliminator, period. The only people that benefit are the property owners & management companies. While it technically could happen, the fantasy that the owner or management company will reallocate a riffed desk staff person is just that, fantasy. I wonder how many housekeepers that were riffed from ’20 onwards were reallocated for a better guest experience or to address other issues? Pretty close to zilch.
When the FTE is gone, it’s gone.
It’s insulting
I do 10 night stays .
Why penalize me for a longer stay.
2000 per night would seem reasonable..
Digital key great till they don’t tell you to get a parking pass or other important information that is not conveyed on the app
I always go to the desk anyway for my Diamond freebies like water and snacks. They definitely aren’t putting those in the rooms at a Hampton.
You can always go back for the Diamond Freebies (I do!). I’ve been on the free hotel shuttle many times to the property and realized that all those people are going to flood the front desk. But, not for me…I go right to the room via the Dig Key and get the freebies after things quiet down.
I get that but if they are encouraging digital and truly don’t care about an.10 water or bag of chips where is the liability when we aren’t informed we need a parking badge.for our car etc….if we aren’t being informed and they aren’t encouraging front desk interaction….
It appears an award stay would earn the 2K points as I see no term requiring it to be a paid stay.
@DJ — Precisely. That is why the number of earned points is so limited. One gets points even if one does not spend a single penny on the property. It’s also why the promo is offered right after year-end holidays when award stays tend to spike (that is always true in my case) compared to revenue stays. By limiting number of points earned on revenue stays, Hilton tries make up for money not earned during the holidays due to the spike in award redemptions.
As for using the digital key, I will use it only if my (suite) upgrade was confirmed ahead of my arrival at a hotel. Otherwise, I will stop at the front desk to request an upgrade.
yes DJ, I was wondering the same thing. I skimmed over all the fine print and did not see anywhere that said points stays were excluded. I guess I will find out, I have a points stay booked for March.
I wonder why the bonuses stay the same while the redemption rates are through the rood. 2000 points bonus? After 30 stays that adds up to a free night at some of their lower end hotels. With low end redemptions at 50k, 2k doesn’t seem like anything to aim for.