Hilton has updated its terms and conditions to eliminate redemption options:
- By email request
- By mail
- By fax
This leaves online and phone redemptions as the only options for redeeming HHonors points.
Here’s what the terms now say:
It is solely the responsibility of the Member to be informed about the Program and to request the specific Rewards online or via Hilton Reservations and Customer Care. Rewards must be requested online via hiltonhhonors.com or by telephone. Reward requests placed by telephone will require the member to provide account verification. Some Rewards may be available to print when redeeming online.
Naturally, references to having to provide your account PIN number are gone as well.
Click to enlarge the ‘track changes’ version of Hilton’s terms and conditions:
This all makes good sense. I’ll admit, I didn’t realize that fax and postal mail request options were still available. I’m just glad you no longer need physical redemption certificates!
With the ubiquity of smartphone apps and other personal digital assistants (PDAs), this is definitely good riddance, which Hilton customer support folks will greatly appreciate. This move to a fully internet-based booking is, in fact, in line with HHonors quiet automation of their “Diamond Force” benefit, which has been programmed into the hotel search engine to pop up automatically whenever it is need to “force” the availability of revenue or award stays at overbooked properties for HH Diamond members. The automation of “Diamond Force” makes it an even more powerful perk and convenient because it eliminates the need to call Diamond Desk or to submit “Diamond Special Requests” the old-fashioned way. If that sounds interesting, then just follow the link below to a recent online post that has the goods on the new and improved “stealth” HHonors Diamond Force 😉 :
https://milepoint.com/forums/threads/hhonors-diamond-force-even-for-award-stays-is-alive-and-well-and-better-than-ever.114710/
Also noticed another change…they took away fifth night free when redeem points for all-inclusive resorts. Is this new as well?
I find it really interesting they still had those options available as well. I’d love to know some data around how often people still redeemed awards by snail mail and fax.
@Hans – As far as I know the “fifth award night free” benefit was never good for all-inclusive resorts, which are also usually excluded from most Hilton promos…