Hilton Honours ??

[Deleted User]

I've been travelling a lot for work recently and usually stay at the Conrad Hilton in Dublin. I just got my Silver HHonors card and this took a couple of months to get (i usually stay 2 to 3 nights a week). I found that 3 nights would typically get me about 5000 points. You need 30-45K of points for a free stay.

Once you become silver, you get 25% more baseline points, at gold I think you get upgrades and 50% more points.

I know guys with 200K+ points... even they don't always get upgrades - In my opinion the hilton brand is way over-rated. I just stayed 2 weeks in a Quality Hotel and really enjoyed it. I missed my points though

If you get a Hilton American Express card I think you can collect quite a few more points.

waster_2

moonrakerz wrote:

I've always been very sceptical about these types of card. To get much out of them you normally have to pay full price - and often ! If your company is paying for your travel they may be worth having, if you are paying out of your own pocket - don't bother.
I recently stayed in the Sheraton at Heathrow (booked over the net) at half the price of two American colleagues who had booked on their Sheraton cards.

The same thing applies to regular traveller airline miles. If you pay full fare you get miles, if you get a discounted fare on the same aeroplane, you get yards.

Hilton guarantee that if you book through them you will always get the lowest avaialble rate then on offer from anyone. You do not even need to use your HH card when booking to get the points. You just produce it a check in.

It is a loyalty type card and if you use it often you'll accumulate reward points. If you use it in the US there are more than just Hiltons where you can accumulate points and ofetn you can get additional points on promotion.

But like any good Money saving expert look for the best deal and not the tempters.

moonrakerz

The bottom line is that loyalty cards are basically a way to get business men to use a particular hotel chain or airline.

If you look at the figures - ringo's example above - he estimates he has to stay 18 to 27 nights to get a "free" stay - the cheapest room (I've just looked) is £120/night - that is, spend £2160 to £3240 for a "freebie". Who would do that out of their own pocket ?
I used to fly to Germany business class, 6 return trips would earn me a free (short haul) flight - in economy. Over £3000 for a flight that Ryanair and Easyjet are giving away.

These so called up-market hotels are really VERY poor value for money. Last year I was in the same hotel as the England cricket team when they won the ashes (did they look rough the next day !!). The rate was nearly £200 per night, breakfast was extra, half of my colleagues were complaining their TV didn't work, the door lock wouldn't work etc,etc. AND the bills were wrong when we left.

The REALLY up-market hotels don't offer loyalty cards because thay know they don't have to. Their clients come back again because they get what they pay for. To try and pretend that you offer luxury for £120 a night is little more than a con. I would rather stay in a Travel Inn for half that - and the room is usually bigger ! And with the £60 I've saved I can get a much better meal than in the over priced hotel restaurant.

I bet Richard Branson doesn't carry loyalty cards !!

ronnie_2

The hh honors that the hilton does is ok for the business traveler who will be staying at a hilton branded room 3-4 times a week. The bronze & silver cards are not really worth much to anyone as apart from gaining the points towards your free stay your not getting much else with it, and do you really want a "free" night if your spending thousands just to get it although if its through work then hey thats different but i guess if you spend that much time in a hotel room your hardly want to do it on holiday etc.

I was very lucky and that i got handed a gold vip hh honors card a couple of months back, have used it now for about 8 different stays in hiltons here in the uk and once abroad. Every time without fail ive been automatically upgraded to the executive lounge and had access to a free bar & breakfast each morning, to me this is the only worthwhile card to have.

I am also a member with the priority club and ive found that its very very easy to gain points and get free nights accomadation quickly and cheaply too.

supersaver1000

Thanks for all this. I've just joined my oh up to Hilton Honours as he's always getting me to book his hotel stays for work. The points don't look as good as the intercontinental/holiday inn points - I think it will take me forever to save up for a John Lewis voucher - but I've discovered that booking through Quidco gets me nearly £6.50 in addition for each night he stays there and I've made nearly £20 on quidco through this in the last week - I'm calling that my booking fee!!