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Hilton Honors announced some changes today. You can read about them by clicking here.
Over the next few days, the InsideFlyer team will provide a more detailed analysis, but for now here’s what you need to know…
Double Dip is Done
Hilton has long been the only hotel chain to offer both hotel points and airline miles for the same stay. This was partially enhanced away in 2014, when the ability to earn a fixed number of miles was removed.
Starting in April, 2018, “Points & Miles” is ending. You will only be able to earn Honors points for your Hilton chain stays.
The disappearance of “Points & Miles” accordingly goes hand-in-hand with the demise of “Points & Points”, where you could choose an additional 5 Honors points per USD spent (instead of miles).
Members with Elite Status Will Earn a Higher Bonus, But Fewer Points
Hilton Honors is increasing the bonus percentages earned by Silver, Gold and Diamond members.
- Silver members will earn a 20% bonus (i.e. 12 points per US Dollar spent)
- Gold members will earn a 80% bonus (i.e. 18 points per US Dollar spent)
- Diamond members will earn a 100% bonus (i.e. 20 points per US Dollar spent)
However, with the disappearance of Double Dip, it appears to me that many members will lose. When choosing “Points & Points”, Hilton Honors members with elite status currently earn:
- Silver members have a 15% bonus, plus an extra 5 points per USD –> a total of 16.5 points per dollar
- Gold members have a 25% bonus, plus an extra 5 points per USD –> a total of 17.5 points per dollar
- Diamond members enjoy a 50% bonus, plus an extra 5 points per USD –> a total of 20 points per dollar
In other words, non-status and Silver members lose out, Golds do marginally better, no change for Diamonds.
Gold and Diamond Members Qualifying the Hard Way Will Earn Bonus Points
Earning status with Hilton Honors is really quite easy if you qualify for a status match or a Gold fast-track. But many members reach Diamond status the ‘hard way’ – by completing 30 stays or 60 nights. Any member staying 40 nights or more will earn some bonus points…
In case it’s not clear to readers, you earn your first 10,000 point bonus when reaching your 40th night. There is then an additional 10,000 bonus points every 10 nights after that, with no cap.
There is also another 30,000 points bonus at 60 nights, though I’m not completely sure whether you also get the recurring 10,000 bonus on top.
Rollover Nights Introduced
Starting in 2018, Silver, Gold, and Diamond members can rollover qualifying nights earned beyond their current elite tier requirement. These extra nights will count towards their elite tier status the following year. Rollover nights aren’t useful for those who earn status through credit cards or fast track offers – or even for those who earn status based on the number of stays accumulated – but for those who spend half of their life staying at Hilton properties, this could prove useful. As a reminder, Hilton Honors requires 10 nights for Silver, 40 nights for Gold, and 60 nights for Diamond.
Gift “Gold” or “Diamond” Status to Somebody
If a Hilton Honors members stays 60 nights in a calendar year, they can gift “Gold” status to a friend or family member. If that same member reaches 100 nights, they can gift “Diamond” status to somebody.
So them’s the facts… What is your impression of these changes? And keep an eye out for an in-depth analysis in the coming days…
Not looking so good for the occasional stayer now, in fairness i can see the business case behind their decisions. Not enough companies look after the loyal customer these days.
So for anyone Silver or no status I’m thinking it may be better to book via a reward scheme booking agency instead of direct unless they up their CB rate.
Indeed, which is interesting considering the focus and investment that hotel groups (including Hilton) have put into getting people to book direct.
It does seem like reasonably joined-up thinking to me. Cashback to compete for the Hotels.com/Booking crowd, paid for by lower points earning. More points for the heavy stayers, but no cashback because they think they’ve already got those types hooked.
Hmmm, I get what you mean, but seems a bit half-baked to me. Once you start trying to split customers into different silos you can end up with a paradox of pursuing individually logical approaches for each segment, that actually end up having perverse effects, because the consumer (somewhat unhelpfully) doesn’t see themselves as part of a clean discrete segment. So, for example, no amount of bonus Points is going to make a Diamond feel good about the fact that a non member or blue can get 8-10% cashback when they can only get 1%. It smacks of spreadsheet economics that doesn’t model emotion and behaviour appropriately. Top elites (the ones who earn status the hard way anyway) should get the best of everything if you want them to feel warm and fuzzy. From a psychology perspective, it doesn’t matter so much what ‘the best’ is actually made up of (as long as it is broadly competitive) – what matters is that your best customers feel/know they are getting the best of whatever is available.
I’m also unconvinced that giving Points to infrequent guests is actually much of a net cost – most won’t use them. That said, obviously there might be better ways to incentivise people to sign up, book direct, and get interested in the programme than the standard earning rate being a bit higher or a bit lower.
I keep living off Fast Track Gold promos, it seem they re-offer it if you drop off and stop saying with them, so it’s one year on, 9 months off (just stay+Pay for 2-4 nights in they year between december and early jan), and so on… Or will they stop this? will be interesting… Meanwhile, i can status match with somebody else for the year i ‘only’ have silver..
The whole 30 x stays to retain Diamond incentive is off key IMO. If you make an effort to stay in one hotel chain to the tune of 30 x stays, then you read that someone can get the same status by providing one night’s stay evidence and similar status in a different hotel and then only be required to make 4 x stays in three months to retain Diamond for a year so for me that fuzzy feeling of being a Diamond would turn my loyalty to look elsewhere.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the status match HH offer is brilliant but would I feel the same if I had made an effort to stay 30 times in a year with Hilton, hmm not sure..
Maybe a really big bonus when hitting certain amounts of stays might be a better incentive to ensure loyalty!
I sometimes wonder what life is like outside of our little travel hacking hobby bubble. (which can’t really be all that big) Does a 60+ night per year road warrior actually notice or care what we’re getting up to? One doesn’t really choose to be loyal to Marriott or Hilton because of elite status benefits – it’s usually because the hotels are convenient and within the budget of one’s employer or client.
Well in the US you can now get free Diamond status just by having the right credit card.