Hilton HHonors members can earn double points or double miles for stays from April 1 through June 30, 2012.
HHonors Promotion registration is required. Promotion FAQ link.
HHonors Points & Points Earners with Double Points
Double points means 20 points per dollar for all brands except Home2 Suites where double points is 10 points per dollar. A Points & Points earner gets 25 points/$1 and elite bonuses are on top of that.
- HHonors Silver = 26.5 points/$1.
- HHonors Gold = 27.5 points/$1
- HHonors Diamond = 30 points/$1.
HHonors Points & Miles Earners with Double Miles
Most US airlines earn 500 miles per stay at most Hilton HHonors hotel brands for Points & Fixed Miles earners. Double miles is 1,000 miles per stay.
The main thing to remember with double miles is the low earning rate with most airlines for stays at Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn and Home2 Suites typically at 100 miles per stay for Points & Fixed Miles earners. You are not allowed to switch to Double Points once you have chosen Double Miles, so keep in mind that Double points are likely much higher value than Double Miles if your stays will be heavy on Hampton and Homewood.
There are some exceptions like bmi miles where members earn 1,000 miles per night for up to three nights. That can be 6,000 miles per stay. The problem is bmi airlines is in the process of being sold and there is uncertainty about the mileage program. I have not been following the bmi story closely, so I have no real insight into that issue.
Points & Variable Miles is usually the best miles earning preference for guests on extended stays.
HHonors airline partners and miles earn rate link.
Non-participating hotels are almost all in USA
This is a global Hilton HHonors promotion, however, there are about 325 non-participating hotels in the USA. There are only 6 hotels outside the USA opting out of double points/miles, so there is little concern for international travelers.
The number of hotels opting out of HHonors quarterly promotions has become a major issue with Hilton HHonors promotions in the past couple of years.
My rough estimate indicates 325 hotels is more than 10% of all USA Hilton brand hotels. And with 100 or so Hampton Inns out of 1,800+ opting out of this promotion, then about 1 out of 6 hotels in all the other Hilton brands in the USA have opted out of this offer. That is a huge number of non-participating hotels.
SFO Airport Hotels – only 4 of 9 hotels participate in Q2 promotion
The non-participating properties at San Francisco Airport include both Embassy Suites, both Hilton Garden Inns and the Hampton Inn SFO North. This leaves the Hilton, Doubletree and Hampton Inn in Burlingame, south of the airport out of five hotels and Homewood Suites north of the airport out of four Hilton brand hotels for a total of 4 out of 9 participating hotels in this promotion.
San Francisco Airport has five non-participating hotels for double points/miles while the entire list for all countries outside the US consists of six non-participating hotels.
What’s up Hilton?
Conclusion: This is a decent promotion for Hilton loyalists staying at participating hotels. Even non-elite members earning 25 points/$1 will earn 50,000 points after $2,000 in hotel spend; sufficient for a high-level category 7 hotel reward night that might have $400 per night rates.
HHonors Diamond member with a Surpass American Express card can earn 39 points/$1 with this promotion. That makes a significant rebate if you are staying at the participating hotels.
We should know soon enough what other chains have for frequent guests as the beginning of the year promotions expire soon for most major chains.
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