Hilton this week posted upcoming changes to HHonors award prices. While such announcements are almost never good news—and are sometimes positively gut-wrenching—this round of changes is so modest in scope that it’s practically a non-event.
On July 13, just 33 of the company’s 4,600 hotels will be recategorized, with 13 moving to a lower category, requiring fewer points for a free night, and 20 moving to a higher category, requiring more points.
Related:75,000 Points – Best-Ever Bonus for This Hilton Credit Card
With more increases than decreases, the net effect is negative for the program, and for HHonors members. Still, it’s as minor as a negative effect could be. In fact, it’s so minor it could be considered a positive, given the alternative.
As always with award-price changes, program members should peruse the list of affected properties, and book hotels that will decrease in price after the change, and do the opposite for hotels that will increase in price.
And they might also offer up a prayer that Hilton’s next round of award-price changes is as benign as this one. Again, given the alternative.
Reader Reality Check
Relieved?
More from SmarterTravel: Keyless Entry Now Offered at 160 Starwood Hotels $35,000 for Unlimited Biz-Class Flights to London, Paris. Deal? Coming to a Chipotle Near You: Free Burritos
After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.
We hand-pick everything we recommend and select items through testing and reviews. Some products are sent to us free of charge with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions and do not accept compensation to review products. All items are in stock and prices are accurate at the time of publication. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.
The website maxtravelz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
With no published award-price charts to refer to, members of Delta’s SkyMiles program don’t know when award prices are higher or lower than normal. That’s because there is no baseline to use as a reference point; there is no normal. Or rather, normal is whatever Delta chooses to publish as the price for an award ticket on a particular flight.
It’s a fact of loyalty-program life: Airline and hotel programs periodically adjust their award prices. Of course, those adjustments amount to price hikes more often than not. And, all things being equal, higher award prices amount to an overall devaluation of the program.
As changes to hotel-program award prices go, the latest for InterContinental’s IHG Rewards are decidedly modest: Prices for award nights at 400 hotels will change by either 5,000 or 10,000 points, half moving up, half moving down. If it were just that 50-50 split, Rewards members might dismiss it as a wash and count their blessings. After all, “It could have been worse.”
A key selling point of rideshare services like Uber and Lyft is their transparency. Users know where their ride is, how soon it will arrive to pick them up, and how much the fare will be to their destination.
Hilton announced early this year that there were significant changes coming to the Honors program, set to take effect on April 3. This is a reminder of what’s coming, and how it’s likely to affect you.
Hilton titled the news release announcing upcoming changes to its Honors loyalty program as follows: “Hilton Honors Delivers Even More to Its Members in 2018 with Industry-Leading Earn Rates and New Benefits.”
Are you a current or prospective Hilton loyalist? If so, a credit card linked to Hilton’s HHonors program is a no-brainer. And, for a limited time, one of the HHonors no-annual-fee cards comes bundled with a particularly generous sign-up bonus.
Marriott has just published its list of award-price changes for 2016. As Marriott Rewards members have come to expect from these annual pronouncements, the news amounts to yet another decrease in the value of their points.
I’m not a fan of flash sales. If a company discounts its product or otherwise adds value to a purchase, then it should allow sufficient time for the offer to be widely communicated, considered, and acted on. “Snooze you lose” has always struck me as disrespectful and a bit nasty.
Overall, Delta’s SkyMiles program has established itself as one of the industry’s least generous loyalty schemes. To play, you’ll pay. But with this limited-time award sale, you can at least pay less.
Update from IHG, including effect date for new prices: “All reservations booked beginning Jan. 16, 2018, will use the new Reward Nights point prices. This is part of an annual review into the number of points needed for a Reward Night, and we’ll communicate to members through our regular channels, including email and our website.”