No the title is not a typo, Hilton is dropping an “H” from the Hilton Honors program. According to multiple reports Hilton will officially change the name of the Honors loyalty program tomorrow. In addition, Hilton is making some fairly significant changes to the Hilton Honors program. Unlike many of the recent changes or “enhancements” to other loyalty programs, these changes actually seem to benefit majority of customers. The changes appear to make the program more attractive and much easier to understand.
No More Hotel Categories
Currently, Hilton assigns specific redemption categories to each property. The number of points per night is determined by the category of the property. As it stands, these rates do not change based on current room prices. Guests may end up overpaying for high category rooms during off-peak seasons and underpaying during peak demand. With the new system Honors points are going to more closely translate to cash and the nightly room rate. Although the elimination of reward charts may trouble some members, Hilton has stated it will not raise rates above 95,000 points. (the highest rate for a Category 10 room currently) This change also means customer could potentially pay less points than the current Category 10 room minimum of 70,000 points.
Since I saw what this change has done to Delta Air Line SkyPesos I worry that this change could make some room incredibly overpriced. It seems however, that Hilton is trying to make the Honors points equal to a specific cash value which could be good for customers overall.
Pay With Cash & Points
Going forward Hilton Honors members will be able to easily pay for hotel rooms with a combination of cash and points. According to a video published by Gary Leff, the Hilton website will introduce an easy to use slider to select the ratio of points and cash for any given stay. Honors points can be selected in increments of 1,000 points to reduce the amount of cash paid.
In the above mentioned video it is interesting to see the breakdown of cash and points. In the first example, at the Palmer House in Chicago, the booking page shows a cash rate and points rate for the room. If a guest wishes to pay for the room with only cash, the nightly rate + taxes and fees totals $215.45. If you move the slider to pay with only points, the room costs just 40,000 points. With this redemption, a Hilton Honor point is worth approximately $0.053/point. ThePointsGuy recently valued Hilton (H)Honors points at $0.05/point which seems spot on!
In the second example from the video, at the Conrad Indianapolis, the room appeared to cost around $500.00, but just 70,000 Honors points. If you booked this room with points each point with be worth around $0.07. Currently, a standard room at the Indianapolis Conrad is just $259/night or 50,000 points for reference.
Personally, I spend more time than the average person researching “good” point redemption opportunities and find it quite difficult. I will find a low category high-end property in a great location only to find rooms are not available for the dates requested. Finding the perfect combination of availability and redemption value is like trying to find a golden ticket. Assigning a de facto cash value to loyalty points just makes life easier for the average customer.
Use Hilton Points On Amazon Purchases
As I mentioned above, it seems Hilton is trying to basically assign a cash value to each point. The hotel chain is apparently in talks with Amazon to allow customers to pay for amazon purchases with points. Given the above information, it seems Hilton will make each point worth less than $0.05 when using points to pay for Amazon purchases. If all else fails this may prove the be a great way to quickly liquidate Hilton points.
Although Hilton and Amazon have not yet announced the official partnership agreement, it is safe to assume points will be worth less than $0.05 per dollar spend with Amazon. Generally, using loyalty program points for purchases are not a great redemption option. I cringe whenever I hear someone tell me about a purchase they made using points. This is not an extremely valuable addition to the Hilton Honors program, but is still exciting.
Combine Points Among Friends And Family For Free
Although often allowed, transferring loyalty program points between accounts can be painful. With the upcoming changes to the Hilton Honors program members will be able to easily transfer or pool points. Although specific details on how this will work were not yet announced, what we know is that this benefit will allow up to 10 members to combine points very easily for free. Each member will be able to transfer out up to 500,000 points and receive up to 2,000,000 points per year.
This is probably the benefit I am most excited about. I have other friends who travel for work and it is always difficult trying to book hotel rooms using points. If sharing a room, one member has to book one night while the other has to book the next. Pooling points seems like Venmo for points among friends. However it is important to remember selling points or using points as cash is still against Hilton Honors policy. Any members suspected of misusing this benefit may have to forfeit their account.
Once In A Lifetime Hilton Honors Diamond Status Extension
One of the worst parts about earning loyalty program status is that each year your status resets. To qualify for Hilton Honors Diamond status you must stay either 30 stays, 60 nights, or earn 120,000 points in a year. If you do not reach those thresholds for any reason, you lose your Hilton Honors Diamond status. Until now there were no breaks for anyone. Hilton has now introduced a way for select members to extend their status in the future. In order to qualify members must have earned Diamond status for 3 consecutive years, stayed over 250 lifetime nights, and earned over 500,000 Honors points. Then if for any reason a member falls short of Diamond status they may extend the status for one year.
I find this benefit to be among the most generous of any hotel program at the moment. A perfect example of this would be a longtime Hilton Elite who has to take a leave of absence from travel. After years of loyalty the hotel would typically simply reset the members status, but now when returning to the road an elite member can choose to extend their status and pickup where they left off. This benefit should help retain members for years to come as it is not currently offered by any other brand. However, the once in a lifetime nature of the benefit could be frustrating for members who have to take a second leave of absence later in their careers.
Final Thoughts On The Updated Hilton Honors Program
Overall, I like that Hilton is basically assigning a cash value to its points. I like that Hilton points even easier to redeem with the Cash & Points option. Using points to reduce the nightly rate opens a lot of doors (literally!). I will now be able to book more expensive hotel rooms when traveling for work without raising any red flags! Although I am not a Diamond member, the status extension offer is a truly generous benefit. It is extremely frustrating when travel patterns change and you lose status. Especially if you return to the hotel chain later. Finally, these changes to the Hilton Honors program all seem extremely positive and I hope other hotel brands follow Hilton’s lead going forward.
