Comments

1. Last time I tried to use the food and beverage credit at a Hilton (in New York), the food was so overpriced that I did not feel that it was a real benefit as it ended up costing the same amount while using the credit for a meal as I would have spent to get a higher quality meal elsewhere.

2. I have to disagree about the food credit. I view it as a downgrade, but 9/10 times it covers pre-tax breakfast where I stay.

3. 1. I agree that Hilotn is far behind Hyatt and marriott in USA.
   2.But outside USA Hilton provides complete breakfast and I almost always get 4pm checkout approved as well as upgrade to exec room or junior suite (Im hilton diamond). i just got all of that at a Hilotn in France and in Switzerland.
   3. Im surprised you even put IHG in the same class as the others. It is third tier (maybe Accor beats it in being useless).
   2pm late checkout is NOT 4pm. . No exec lounge access. BIG DIFFERENCES!! Upgrades after 20 stays is a joke. i prefer my suite upgrades at hyatt and marriot for the first 20 nights.

   Also Crowne plazas are far inferior to most marriotts or Sheratons who are u are usually in a similar price range.

4. Minor correction: Hyatt elites have an option for a suite upgrade award starting at 40 nights, not 50.

5. At Hampton Inns a so-so all you can eat breakfast buffet with coffee is included at no extra charge. The WSJ published a long story about how great the waffles are; but to me they are nothing special!

6. What’s our professor of radiology doing on a fine Sunday morning on Roosevelt Island?

   He’s going to tell you nothing is guaranteed by any program, and he gets plenty of suite upgrades and late checkouts.

   He’s not going to tell you he’s a 60 year old virgin.

7. Not only does Hilton not routinely offer suite upgrades – we’ve even had front desk staff tell us they were only allowed to give a one-category room upgrade. (we had booked the lowest category room, obviously, and wanted something other than a 1st floor parking lot view. this wasn’t even a resort – I think it was a Hilton near the SeaTac airport). Ridiculous. For this and other reasons, Hilton is now our 3rd or 4th tier program (Hyatt, then Marriott, with Hilton & IHG tied for last)

8. I must just be a lucky Hilton Diamond member. Always upgraded to suites automatically domestically (even lovelier VIP perks internationally), and no issues with early/late check ins. Just spent a great 2 nights over Memorial Day weekend at a Conrad in Fort Lauderdale Beach and was upgraded to a gorgeous ocean view suite. Received $350 in beverage/food credit which was more than enough to cover meals for 2 nights and breakfast. Plus customer service during our stay was outstanding. Can’t say the same for the neighboring AC Marriott which until a few years ago had our loyalty, but no more. Yes we like to maximize our loyalty points, etc, but we also like to feel valued, and Hilton does it better with their staff.

9. Hilton will soon be a /2nd class chain

10. Random thoughts: Hilton’s program has rarely if ever failed me IN EUROPE. Domestically, of course, it’s another matter. The $25 pp F&B credit at the Conrad in NYC *did* cover 50% of the cost of breakfast for my wife and I earlier this month…but a) it was a Conrad, b) in was Manhattan, and c) that (50%) was all I was expecting and so not disappointed. The disappointment came when they cut the free breakfast and replaced it with the F&B credit. The problem is that the “little guy” can’t change the corporate decisions anymore than he can fight City Hall…

    When Marriott took over Starwood, I was disappointed and “hedged my bets” with Hilton. (Why? Hyatt’s smaller footprint.) So I’m Platinum w/Marriott (Lifetime Gold), and Diamond with Hilton. I’m not going to start up with Hyatt now…

11. I’m Hilton Diamond and lifetime Marriott Titanium. I am fine with the benefits I get from both programs. Gary whines way too much. No one is entitled to anything unless you pay for it. If I get an upgrade that is appreciated but I’m not entitled enough to think I “deserve it”.

    Also Gary keeps bringing up breakfast. From his photo I see why eating is important to him but it would be healthier to skip the pig out once in a while. Personally I get more value from the food/beverage credit where I can have a beer or 2 at night then skip breakfast and grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks

12. Choice footprint is bigger than all of these…

13. Also the free night certificates you get from Hilton credit cards/credit card spend are uncapped unlike Hyatt, IHG and Marriott. You can use them at 99% of the Hilton properties in the world.

14. Per AC “ No one is entitled to anything unless you pay for it.“

    A classic line that’s trotted out all the time (usually by people staying on OPM or people with other agendas) and one that is fundamentally wrong.

    The loyalty programs explicitly set out what their “elite” guests are entitled to. They write the rules. Not the guests. And if the rules say you’re “entitled” to a benefit … guess what? You’re entitled to it.

    It’s not rocket science!

15. I’ve often found Amex FHR offering better benefits than as a Hilton Diamond or the same as Hyatt Globalist.
    I’m a free agent now, and nobody wants to sign me so I’ll stick with FHR . As Expedia is managing it I have to wonder how this isn’t costing the hotel more than to just give the same benefits directly.
    Yes, sometimes the rates are a little higher. Often they are the same.

16. I dont hold top status at any hotel so take this from the “common person” — Hilton just seems alot easier to deploy points and FNC at a good value — def easier than Marriot-……like alot.. Maybe a simple example from my chair: Waldorf Cabo – not too hard to deploy FNC and/or get the room at 120k a night (which is effectively 60k points if u use Amex xfers as a bench mark). St Regis Deer Valley – also not too hard and runs about 100-125k — however impossible to use the Bonvoy FNC, even the top ones. And the point xfer runs the full price of 1:1 if use peg it to Amex or BILT.. Both of these rooms run like 2k to 3k in high season so hard for me not to think Hilton is miles ahead here.

17. One thing that Hilton USED to do somewhat ok was the Executive Lounges. Domestically they were ‘fair’, but now, it’s chips, soft drinks, and a coffee machine. For about 2 hours in the evening there will be something like chips and salsa and cheap wine. Not much better than a Hampton at this point. Internationally, the lounges would most often really shine with great hot meals in the evenings and good offerings throughout the day. Now, even internationally they have cut back so much that it’s not worth choosing a hotel for that benefit.

18. I think this is a little unfair on Hilton. I am LT Titanium and LT Diamond and prefer Hilton as in general they offer a better standard of room for fewer dollars. In addition, redemptions tend to be cheaper and you get better properties for fewer miles than Bonvoy. In general i get well treated as a Diamond, it sucks re the breakfast credit rather than full breakfast but you can use the same credit at the hotel shop or the bar so is more flexible if you don’t want a sit down meal. Hilton generally has more generous promotions so you can rack up miles much faster and has things like 2x earnings rate on standard rates which is wonderful if your company is paying (so I get triple miles on all stays as 100% Diamond and 100% for 2X rate + any promotions). No late checkout is sometimes a pain but I rarely need to stay until 4pm and usually get 2pm without much hassle.

19. Hotel programs are mostly a source of frustration. They rarely engender loyalty anymore. After 40+ years of heavy travel I’m a free agent now, like @loungeabuser, and have been for a while. I prefer independent hotels or those in small chains, particularly in Europe and Asia. Mostly I choose on price, cleanliness and location, having long ago abandoned the fruitless chase for hotel points.

20. The Hilton program has a place in my hotel strategy, but I’m fairly unique in that I’ve lived in hotels for over 10 years. Usually about 50% in the US, typically in extended stays, and the rest abroad in a larger mix.

    Hyatt is by far my favorite program and will be at 100 nights in the next 2 weeks cruising to 150 now that they provide an incentive to do so.

    So… where does Hilton provide outsized value for me? They offer full points earnings for extended stays, or specifically Homewood Suites in the US. 5th night free on points stays. And a much better loyalty experience when traveling abroad.

    I maintain Marriott Titanium status, partially via CCs, but point returns on Residence Inns are pitiful. Same with IHG (Platinum via CC), which also reduces points earned on extended stays.

    Hyatt House is great, but has a limited footprint and previously had no value after 100 nights. Now I can go to 150, which still leaves 215+ nights to maximize return. So for me doing roughly 80-100 Hilton nights in extended stays in the US gets me enough points for at least 15 free nights in Conrads and Hiltons in Asia, Europe, Africa, SA, etc that still provide a solid loyalty experience and exceed what is to be found in the US.

    But otherwise, I do agree that the Hilton program leaves a lot to be desired in many ways and has been downgraded over the years.

    The only program that seems to improve over time or at least make an effort is Hyatt. One of which I am in now, in a suite with a view of the Sea of Marmara. Shouldn’t be too difficult to figure that one out! I’ll admit I’m a total Hyatt homer though, so it’s biased. But that’s exactly what a loyalty program should make you want to be, right?!

21. I went away from being Hilton diamond 5 years ago. I find great value in Hyatt. Recently stayed in Mumbai and not only they upgraded me to a suite but offered free breakfast. I am a discoverist member

22. Hilton is a failure typically in North America without question for 3 star and 4 Star properties
    especially for folks that like full service hotels with good hard benefits
    Hilton Abroad can sometimes actually be superior to the more favored programs
    Their 5 star properties may be good but pricing again absurd.Typically a hard pass
    Sine the pandemic my satisfaction has gone way down in the US with Hilton
    .I rarely stay with them now.Hilton brand standards have dropped along with their poor customer service which seems outsourced some of it
    The reason I don’t stay Hilton in the US simply is they are overpriced on revenue and award redemption & no guaranteed late checkouts. 15 dollar credit barely pays for coffee.I do way better staying at Kimptons and InterContinentals, Hyatt’s.Marriott to abroad is better.
    Love the 4th night free with IHG
    I used to earn my status at Hilton staying but now I just buy the credit card in case I need the status.Why bother staying with them most of the time when you wish you were anywhere else
    Food quality and offerings have really suffered too in US Hiltons
    They suck pretty much suck for folks that have high expectations of quality standards
    They were wonderful years ago.Now they are all about cost cutting and it shows

23. Hope the Make Hilton Great Again folks don’t come after you Gary for posting this thread 😉

24. Lifetime Diamond at Hilton. Rarely, if ever, receive an automatic upgrade and when I do receive, it is not to a suite, it is just to a larger or corner room. I rarely ask for an upgrade at check in unless I am staying multiple nights but even then, I usually just get a larger room. I actually like the food/beverage credit since I rarely eat breakfast. Prefer the flexibility to use at other times. My big complaint with food/beverage credit is many times I get my bill by email and the credit has not been applied, which means a call to the hotel to correct the bill. I have learned to always ask at check in if they have the food/beverage credit applied to my account. This has helped to prevent mistakes but failure by the hotel to apply the credit still happens too often. Makes me wonder if hotels do it on purpose knowing many customers won’t take the time to correct the issue. I have to request late check out but have never been turned down when needed. The Hilton footprint is something I really like, whether I am in a major U.S. or international city or in rural America there is nearly always a Hilton branded hotel.

25. HH Diamond, predominantly US nights. Still annoyed by current F&B credit vs prior free breakfast. Only nice thing I can say about HHonors is no destination fee on award nights

26. Hi Gary. One quick correction: the IHG CSUs do work on award stays. It changed in October 2023. You can find Flyertalk or Loyalty Lobby posts on this and I’ve used it on award stays since then.

27. What keeps me coming back to HH is the ease of earning points, and confirmed connecting rooms. When we travel with the kids it’s almost exclusively Hilton for this reason.

28. @High class professional -To use a lot of understatement, I’m no fan of the guy either. He’s pedantic, incapable of admitting error, can’t fathom the concept that the world is not just black and white, doesn’t know how to cite a source besides himself, is pompous, myopic, and I could go on… In short, he and I ain’t best buds.

    Nonetheless, your taking cheap shots at his age, marital status, job, and personal life overall makes him look good and you look worse than him. I’m not saying don’t take shots at him; I’m just saying to stick to the subject when taking those shots. God knows he sets himself up for it. It’s like Tim Dunn on a bad day. Anyway, don’t give him the advantage of being the victim by going after him on something that’s way off topic. Please.

29. The reason the Hilton Diamond benefits in North America are so poor is that Diamond and points are so easily acquired from credit card status. Basically too many Americans have it and haven’t earn it. In the UK and Europe where there is a cap on credit card commission the give aways are far less generous – this also keeps prices down. USA is now so ridiculously expensive for food like breakfast by the time you add on tips / service and tax; couple this with too many having status has resulted in the meagre offering.

30. Yawn…Planning a major purchase and need to boost your income with more traffic and clicks, ey, Gary?

    For everyone else, here’s the reality about this site’s various bogus claims about the Hilton Honors program that keep getting recycled to drive traffic, despite having been debunked d nauseam. I will debunk them again, one comment per bogus claim, over the next several comments, and will be happy to provide links to chapters and verses that support everything that I write below.

    The claim:

    Hilton: hotels are allowed to upgrade to suites, but are under no obligation to do so. Refusing to upgrade a Diamond member to an available standard suite is not a violation of program terms in any way.

    I have asked countless times, including as recently as a week ago, that @Gary Leff provide a source for that claim, which he has been recycling for years, but I am still waiting. The reason he won’t or can’t provide a link is that the claim was simply made up, or he simply distorted a Hilton Honors T&C to support his biased view. Anyone who believes that there is program out there that penalizes properties for refusing to upgrade elite members to suites is as stupid as the claim itself.

    Here’s the reality:

    While no program can possibly “guarantee” something that is contingent on availability, which is itself at the sole discretion of each property in every program, Hilton Honors is, in fact, the only program that has come closest to explicitly guaranteeing their Gold and Diamond members room upgrades, including to suites, up to 72 hours before check-in, based, of course, on availability:

    November 9, 2021 (link to original available on request)
    With space-available upgrades being one of our program’s most important perks, we launched this benefit enhancement to celebrate our Gold and Diamond members. Hilton Honors elite members are eligible to receive a complimentary upgrade based on a mix of criteria, including their membership status, room inventory at the hotel and length of stay, to name a few. These factors help us award upgrades to make elite members’ stays more meaningful. Gold, Diamond and Lifetime Diamond members are eligible to receive a guaranteed room upgrade 72 hours prior to their arrival based on hotel availability, and member status/tier is the first criteria considered.

    Hotels cannot opt out of providing this benefit>/b>, which is currently available at the Hilton brands where space-available complimentary upgrades are currently offered as a Hilton Honors member benefit.”

    — Hilton Honors Loyalty Executive, November 9, 2021 (link to original available on request)
    

    See “guaranteed” and “Hotels cannot opt out of providing this benefit>/b>” right there, which cannot possibly be misinterpreted and completely repudiate the claim? You hear absolutely nothing on this site about that clear and concise clarification of Hilton’s new and exciting global automated upgrades, which a Hilton executive had issued and was published just that one time by this very site !!! Instead of reporting the preceding, the self-anointed “thought leader” has continued to gaslight the masses with a fabricated claim that he has recycled for nearly two decades even though Hilton Honors has completed revamped how they do elite room upgrades.

    Hilton’s new global automated upgrades work just like airline cabin upgrades. They are prioritized by elite status in the order LT Diamonds > Diamonds > Golds. They work as advertised too. During my 2023 Year-end Asian Escapade(TM), I stayed at 5 Hilton properties over 4 weeks and here was the outcome with respect to my elite suite upgrades:

    — Conrad Maldive Rangali Island: Upgrades at these “resort-on-atoll” properties are rare, but I was upgraded to a villa two levels higher than the standard villa that’d booked (5 nights @ 120K points/night, 5th night free), 2 days before check-in (just check the “My Stay” tab on the HH app to find out). In what was the icing on the cake, a coconut tree with a plaque bearing my name, was planted in a brief ceremony to commemorate my attaining what is now Hilton Honors’ de facto “most elite status”: LT Diamond.

    — Hilton Singapore Orchard: upgraded to a suite proactively (i.e., without asking), fully 3 days before check-in

    — Hilton Pattaya: this was around the New Year festivities and the property, one of the best in the resort city, was fully booked, so I was upgraded not to a suite, but to higher level room with partial ocean view.

    — Waldorf Astoria Bangkok: upgraded to a suite at check-in.

    — Conrad Hong Kong: upgraded proactively to “harbour view” executive suite, 3 days before check-in.

    4 suite upgrades on 5 stays in just one month…not bad for a program that does not “guarantee” suite upgrades! In fact, since making LT Diamond in May 2022, I am perfect on suite upgrades on my limited Hilton stays in the US.

31. Hilton Honors program basically sucks. Mayfair Biltmore London has the audacity to charge 390,000 to 450,000 points per night for a normal room. Total rip off. Disgrace.

32. Breakfast and Gold status was the only thing Hilton had going for it. Key word, was.

33. The claim:

    Hilton: does not guarantee late check-out. Hotels that do not provide it are not violating Honors program terms in any way.

    That claim is a typical example of the type of mindless “standards of excellence” that self-anointed “travel gurus” latch onto and then promote just as mindlessly without regards to consequences, either to hotels or to guests.

    Even though I have never been denied a late checkout request either as a HH Gold or Diamond, I rank the perk very low in relation to other elite perks, and its impact is, at best, YMMV. In fact, and you must really read and think about my rationale below to understand why, Hilton’s policy of not “guaranteeing” late checkout is infinitely more sensible if you know how take advantage of it. Rather than self-anointed “travel gurus”‘s take no prisoners approach to elite perks, the HH late checkout policy is sensible because it tries to accommodate or be considerate to both the guests checking in and those checking out, which, as a result, also benefits hotels — i.e., everyone wins, and here’s what I mean.

    Like I said, I have never been denied a late checkout request and the reason is, quite likely, because I always request late checkout at check-in. It gives the hotel the time to work on accommodating the request and not one has failed me to date. Try it and see. At the same time,. I have gotten checkout requests for as late as 6pm approved where an elite with the 4pm “guarantee” would have been denied (“Sorry, late checkout is good only to 4pm”). At the other end of the spectrum, I memorably had my check-in at Hyatt Regency Tokyo delayed, to the great embarrassment of the hotel staff, because some fat Globalist had been given late checkout to 4pm in the room that I was supposed to be checked into! With profuse apologies, the hotel’s solution was to allow me to wait in the lobby bar/snack shop (till about 6pm) for the room to be ready, with anything I ordered while waiting…on the house!

    The only one the 4pm late checkout “guarantee” perk benefits is the one getting it. The one checking in the same room would have their stay infringed upon, which can be a headache for hotels if the person whose check-in is delayed is, shall we say, “very fussy”…

34. DCS, feel free to start your own site since this one aggravates you so much. And for God’s sake have someone edit your pedantic rants.

    Alfie Katz, there’s is no way in heaven or the other place that Hilton gave you “$350 in beverage/food credit” for a two night stay. Good grief.

35. The claim:

    Hilton: Breakfast used to be the sine qua non of the Honors program, offering it even to mid-tier elites. However elites now receive breakfast or a food and beverage credit depending on where the hotel is located. The food and beverage credit, which covers U.S. hotels, doesn’t usually cover the cost of breakfast. If this were actually about guest choice, rather than a cutback, the could have let elites choose breakfast or a food and beverage credit like my college dorm meal plan used to.

    To inject real signal into the Hilton Honors’ F&B credit brouhaha, do the following:

    1. Go to the Hilton Honors web site and search for hotels after setting your location to “USA”. That’s right, you’ll search for Hilton hotels in the whole country.

    2. Using flexible dates, run the search with the “free breakfast” filter toggled off.

    3. Lastly, rerun the search with the “free breakfast” filter toggled on.

    After you do the preceding, you will get the following incontrovertible data (might be slightly different now compared to when I did the searches, but the point is the same):

    Total number of Hilton hotels in the USA: 5,858
    Total number of Hilton hotels in the USA that offer free breakfast to all guests: 4,146

    What do the numbers mean? Simply that out of a total of 5,858 Hilton hotels in the US, 4,146 or 70.8% offer free breakfast to all guests, while just 29.2% offer F&B credit in lieu of free breakfast.

    Interestingly, you can also run the whole-country search above with the “On-site restaurant” filter toggle on, which will reveal that only 2,007 of 5,858 hotels in the US or ~34% have a restaurant on site.

    Similarly, a whole-country search for hotels with exec lounges will reveal that there are 29 hotels with exec lounges in the US, which you can book right there and then.

    For perspective that pertains to this site’s clams, and as the image at a link that I will provide in the next comment will dramatically drive home, there were only 791 locations with a Hyatt hotel in all of US of A, as of 20 November 2023 when the source data was published, meaning that roughly 5X more Hilton hotels in the US offer free breakfast to all guests than there are Hyatt hotels in the whole country! Think about that and let it sink in…

    …because if free breakfast is your thing, then you are much more likely to get it at most destinations in the US if you book a stay at a Hilton hotel than if you book your stay at a Hyatt hotel. All you need to do is look at the illustration at the link I provide in the next comment that shows the locations of Hyatt and Hilton hotels in the US.

    BTW, long before Hilton implemented the F&B vouchers during pandemic, Marriott Rewards had hotels that offered F&B vouchers, a practice that Bonvoy adopted and continues to implement, but this site has been hyperventilating to make seem as if this were a Hilton Honors invention that’s gutted program.

    Bottom line: The brouhaha about Hilton offering F&B vouchers instead of their former artery-clogging “continental” breakfast is utterly mindless, which is why you should not believe most things you read on travel blogs. Remember to check out the illustration at the link I provide in the next comment that shows rather dramatically the locations in the US where you can get free breakfast at Hyatt vs. at Hilton hotels…

    How about overseas where I travel almost exclusively and most coveted properties for redeeming points are located?

    — Hyatt has one of the weakest breakfast offerings of any program: continental breakfast in the club lounge by default or free full restaurant breakfast only where is no club lounge.

    –Hilton offers free full restaurant breakfast by default, whether or not a property has an exec lounge. At properties with an exec lounge, Diamonds and Golds upgraded to the exec floor have the option to have breakfast either in the restaurant or in the exec lounge.

    — IHG offers their top elite free full restaurant breakfast by default, but lounge access has to be earned as a milestone perk.

    –Marriott, as with most of its perks, offers a mixed bag.

36. I am wondering why Gary keeps harping on this particular opinion about inferiority of HH, without adding anything new. I can only again attest that in my personal experience, HH has provided the most bang for the buck/effort. Always gotten the “unpromised” benefits, every single time. Even gotten a few upgrades to suites. That’s never happened as as a Bonvoy Platinum. Never as a Hyatt Explorist. Never been a Globalist because it is impossible to achieve for most which makes it a moot point.

37. The promised link that drives home the rather obvious fact that if free breakfast is your thing, your chances of getting it in most locations or cities in the US are 5x higher if you book a Hilton hotel than if you book a hotel as WoH Globalist. Shown are locations with Hilton and Hyatt hotels as dots on a US map. Go ahead, take a look and be blown away:

    https://imgur.com/Vmv9NW2

    See?

    G’day!

38. Even outside the US the value of Hilton Diamond status has gone down to near-worthless. Exec lounges have either been shut down or watered down. The breakfast benefit is better handled over here, but identical for Gold members so nothing more for Diamond. Earn/burn rate has always been pathetic if you don’t have their credit card. And as for pricing, Hilton has priced itself out completely this year.

    After 10 years as Hilton Diamond I’ve switched to IHG, a program that had been useless since the demise of 5000 point Pointsbreaks a decade ago but now gradually picking itself up with free breakfast, suite upgrade vouchers and lounge “membership” rewards.

39. Stayed at the Conrad London last week as a Diamond and it was unremarkable. So-so breakfast, okay rooms, no upgrade, rotten view. Blackout curtains worked well though and the staff were all pleasant. Still, that’s hardly a rousing endorsement for Hilton’s crown jewel in London.

40. Parting Shot

    This is the last time I, the Hilton “fanboy” who happens to know more about Hilton Honors than every self-anointed “travel guru” or most Hilton employees, will ever debunk this site’s recycled and bogus claims about the program. In fact, the site host knows so little about the program, he still uses bogus claims that he hatched two decades ago to characterize a program that’s greatly changed (e.g., global automated upgrades). If you wish to know about Hilton Honors, then bookmark this page and return to my answers here whenever the site trots out this recycled post to try to increase traffic while gaslighting.

    The site host has a psychopathology that is clear in his anointing himself a “thought leader”, which makes him feel qualifies and constantly compels him to call “winners and losers”, based on self-serving “standards of excellence” that invariably put programs that he favors at the top.

    First, he gaslighted the masses about how SPG, a small and mediocre program with the most expensive high-end awards, was the best thing since sliced bread. Then after Starwood/SPG, predictably, went belly-up, in part because it squandered the opportunity to benefit from its “cash cow” by turning the starpoint into an airline mile instead of being a hotel point, the adulation of the masses was steered to WoH, another small and mediocre program that is racing to the bottom before our very eyes. WoH has been greatly and palpably devalued by making it harder and harder for members to earn significant numbers of points to afford decent awards. With almost no good global promos, no 4th/5th award night free — the single most valuable perk in hotel loyalty — and progressively smaller bonuses on purchased points, WoH is currently the least rewarding program in the business. In what I consider pure heresy, but is being used to gaslight the masses into thinking of it as yet more evidence of the program’s “superiority”, WoH members are almost gleefully having to transfer highly coveted transferable UR points to WoH points to be able to afford decent awards, instead of using UR points to book premium cabin tickets to fly long-haul on some of the world’s best carriers. No wonder the site host needs to recycle his greatest “hits” on Hilton Honors, his bête noire, to distract from WoH’s precipitous race to the bottom…

    G’day!

41. Qapla!

42. @DCS
    You might want to research the definition of the word “may”.

    “Diamond Hilton Honors Members MAY receive upgrades to preferred rooms, based on availability at the time of arrival. Upgrades for Diamond Hilton Honors Members MAY include upgrades up to “junior”, “standard” or “one-bedroom” suites. Upgrades exclude executive suites, villas and specialty accommodations/floors/towers (which may include, but not limited to, “Vista,” “Villa,” or “Club” accommodation types), subject to the discretion of the hotel”

    The language is very clear, unless you’re being willfully ignorant.

    On the other hand, it’s clear with Hyatt that if a standard suite is available for the duration of your stay, you are entitled to that upgrade. They might not offer it proactively, but that’s why I check availability to book when I’m checking in.

    Now go back to your fantasyland.

43. I made Lifetime Diamond just before the pandemic and don’t think I have spent 10 nights since travel reopened at Hiltons (versus over 200 at Marriott). To me, the late checkout benefit is everything, as a Marriott Platinum I get 4PM guaranteed and if I am lucky I will get an extra hour at a Hilton. I have specific examples of getting chewed out by a front desk manager for asking for a late checkout, a Homewood insisting on a late checkout fee when I asked for a single hour and most recently eyerolling and grudging approval of another hour. The breakfast benefit is a joke ad in addition to never covering a full meal, I have had to call to remove the charges multiple times. I have some favorite properties I still use but only if there is nothing else and never if I think I might need an extra hour or two.

44. A few points

    1) It is hilarious that this post is adjacent to a post pushing a “massive Hilton bonus” via credit card

    2) I have never understood Gary’s point about Hilton being weak on the earnings side. The fact is that anyone reading this blog should at least be a Hilton Gold via a credit card (Amex Platinum, or even the Surpass). As a gold, you get 18 points per dollar spent – assuming a 0.5 cent per point valuation,, that’s a 9% return on spend. I see similar returns on Hyatt Discoverist (around 9.5%) and Marriott Gold ( around 9%) by my math.

    3) The other aspects of the Hilton program – mainly benefits earned through the credit card – are very good. So it is a balance. I don’t really care about elite benefits when I can redeem a free night at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills or one of the Maldives hotels every year just by holding an Aspire.

45. Meanwhile Hilton has been a laggard for years. They keep hinting at finally getting on the benefits train, for instance seven years ago they considered a new top tier above Diamond and four and a half years ago they were testing confirmed suite upgrades. They never actually do it. Even their earn and burn proposition is less generous.

    Those two bolded claims, which I also previously debunked, are way too stupid for words!

    seven years ago they considered a new top tier above Diamond… but they never actually did it.
    That is simply false. What does the “thought leader” think the sudden visibility of and emphasis on Hilton Lifetime Diamond status, with the clear fast-tracking to the LT status of Diamond members on cusp with promo that ran for 2-3 years, whereby all bonus points earned on any AMEX HH card counted as base points toward elite qualification, including LT Diamond status, was about ?!!! Duh, the long promised status above Diamond, Gary, is the LT Diamond, a brilliant move that rewards members who have been loyalty to Hilton for years without having to create yet another status like Bonvoy did or altering program rules. In fact, it is not even subtly at all that LT Diamond is now Hilton Honors de facto “status above Diamond”, because those who make the LT Diamond status are welcomed to “our most elite status. But, of course, @Gary would not privy to emails welcoming LT Diamonds to the status because he is too busy fabricating bogus claims about the program!

    a half years ago they were testing confirmed suite upgrades… but they never actually did it.
    What does the “thought leader” think Hilton Honors new global automated upgrade” scheme, that confirms rooms, including suites, automatigically, up 72 hours before check-in is ?!!! Unlike WoH’s so-called ‘confirmed’ suite upgrades that members must jump through whoops to, well, “confirm”, HH room/suite upgrades are automated globally, which potentially takes individual hotels out of the equations. Hint: HH global upgrades are like airline upgrades, complete with automated notification email, and LT Diamond, the “status above Diamond”, getting highest upgrade priority, which is likely why I have cleared every suite upgrade but one since making LT Diamond in May 2022.

    Is it clear now, dear “thought leader”, that the claim that

    ….seven years ago they considered a new top tier above Diamond and four and a half years ago they were testing confirmed suite upgrades. They never actually do it.

    which I previously debunked, remains just as bogus as those that I debunked earlier?

    You simply need to give it a rest and focus on catching your beloved WoH as it races to bottom.

    G’day!

46. @DCS I am amazed by your knowledge and your willingness to defend my favorite chain!
    (guys, choose Hilton in Dubrovnik, Sofia or Belgrade and you will understand why)
    By the way Hilton and Delta are Gary’s black sheeps.

47. @Mantis sez:

    @DCS — You might want to research the definition of the word “may”.

    “Diamond Hilton Honors Members MAY receive upgrades to preferred rooms, based on availability at the time of arrival. Upgrades for Diamond Hilton Honors Members MAY include upgrades up to “junior”, “standard” or “one-bedroom” suites. Upgrades exclude executive suites, villas and specialty accommodations/floors/towers (which may include, but not limited to, “Vista,” “Villa,” or “Club” accommodation types), subject to the discretion of the hotel”

    The language is very clear, unless you’re being willfully ignorant.

    At Mantis — you might want to read the T&C of World of Hyatt on the same type of upgrades, and then search the meaning of “may” yourself:

    Globalists will receive the best room available at the time of check-in at Hyatt hotels and resorts, including Standard Suites and rooms with Club lounge-access. The best room available will be determined by the applicable hotel or resort in its sole discretion and may vary from stay-to-stay. The “best room” may, but will not necessarily be, of a room type/category higher than that booked by the Member. Best-room-available benefit includes only Standard Suites (where available), which are defined as rooms within each participating hotel’s or resort’s introductory suite category.

    SPG (R.I.P) T&C on upgrades, at the time when the bogus claims about Hilton Honors’ were hatched, said exactly the same thing (as, in fact, do the T&C on upgrades of all the major hotel loyalty programs).

    On the other hand, it’s clear with Hyatt that if a standard suite is available for the duration of your stay, you are entitled to that upgrade. They might not offer it proactively, but that’s why I check availability to book when I’m checking in.

    Now go back to your fantasyland.

    Another kool-aid drinker. No elite is “entitled” to upgrades, because all upgrades (at 10 months or 72 hours before check-in) depend on availability, which is itself at the sole discretion of individual properties. However, hotels would be more reluctant to clear suite upgrades weeks or months before check-in when the likelihood of selling suites for cash would be high compared to, say 72h, when the occupancy is clear or the hotel is eager to finalize it.

    Let me know when you have stopped drinking the kool-aid and thinking or yourself.

    G’day.

48. @DCS I am amazed by your knowledge and your willingness to defend my favorite chain!
    (guys, choose Hilton in Dubrovnik, Sofia or Belgrade and you will understand why)
    By the way Hilton and Delta are Gary’s black sheeps.

    @Pascal — Thanks! This is a fight a relish because having patronized Hilton Honors long enough to earn the LT Diamond status, while playing the miles/[points game with a “full deck”, tilts the odds vs. self-anointed “though leader in travel” in my favor. I do not drink the kool-aid or get easily gaslighted:-)

    I am planning a month-long “Escapade” through Bucharest, Sofia, Belgrade and other “Orient Express” or nearby cities.

    G’day!

49. If your thing is a free breakfast and Amsterdam is in your plans, try the Doubletree at Amsterdam Centraal train station. Excellent “free” breakfast. (free in quotes since Doubletree room rate for Standard room is $500 =/- or 60k Hilton Points.)

50. Here is thing that I just can’t get past and has me constantly shaking my head as to why I stay with Hilton. (Yes…that part’s on me)

    The utter and complete lack of the Executive Lounge in the U.S.

    How is this not a mandatory requirement of every property Hilton and above? Each and every Hampton Inn is required to offer free breakfast. Each and every Embassy Suites is required to offer breakfast and the evening reception. But, the lounge? No such requirement. In fact, they’re disappearing faster than they’re appearing.

    Outside the U.S. is the complete opposite. Almost every property has the lounge. In the U.S. you simply cannot find one and I’ve started to book accordingly.

    Bottom line…go look at the list of Diamond benefits on the Hilton web site. They proudly list Executive Lounge access. Yet, this benefit remains specious at best.