Points & Money Rewards in the new HHonors

Points & Money Reward Nights charge 40% of the points of HHonors Standard Award cost and a fixed cash amount.

Not So Simple in Reality.

HHonors Rewards are much more confusing now since there are seasonal rates on Standard Rewards. A category 7 hotel might be 30,000 points or 40,000 points or 50,000 points or 60,000 points per night.

Points & Money Rewards are 40% of the points for the Standard Reward. HHonors Points & Money Rewards are dependent on the Standard Reward price.

A category 7 hotel with a Points & Money Reward might be 12,000 points + $50 per night or 24,000 points + $100 per night depending on whether the Standard Reward is a low 30,000 points or a peak 60,000 points per night.

The HHonors Hotel award category master assignment has a vague meaning with seasonal reward pricing. A category 7 hotel does not really mean much when it changes throughout the year in reward cost.

[Update April 4, 2013: Two Hilton hotels in Munich provide a good example of how the HHonors Hotel Reward Category assignment has little meaning. Both hotels in Munich are listed as HHonors Category 8, yet for HHonors reward nights these hotels are only category 8 hotels for the month of September 2013 when Oktoberfest happens (Sep 21-Oct 6)and Standard Reward rates are 70,000 points per night. Every other month in 2013 these two hotels assigned to Category 8 are effectively Category 6 hotels with reward nights at 50,000 points per night.

The new HHonors category assignments have little meaning since hotels drift in reward cost month to month. To determine the reward cost of a hotel requires checking the monthly calendar on this HHonors tool. Shifting your travel dates to Munich from September to October can mean a difference of 20,000 points per night for HHonors rewards.]

Here is an example of variable reward cost at  two category 5 hotels in the Los Angeles area:

Hilton Garden inn Montebello is listed as HHonors Category 5.  May 10 Standard Reward rate is 30,000 points. Points & Money  rate is 12,000 points + $50. Published rate is $119.

Hilton Glendale is listed as HHonors Category 5. May 10 Standard Reward rate is 40,000 points. Points & Money rate is 16,000 points + $65. Published rate is $125.

HHonors Points & Money Rewards price in points and cash co-pay.

• Category 1 Points & Money = 2,000 points + $30.
• Category 2 Points & Money = 4,000 points + $35.
• Category 3 Points & Money = 8,000 points + $40.
• Category 4 Points & Money = 12,000 points + $50.
• Category 5 Points & Money = 16,000 points + $65.
• Category 6 Points & Money = 20,000 points + $85.
• Category 7 Points & Money = 24,000 points + $100.
• Category 8 Points & Money = 28,000 points + $125.
• Category 9 Points & Money = 32,000 points + $150.
• Category 10 Points & Money = 38,000 points + $200.

These rates are USA hotel copays.

Other countries may have set rates in their currency. The current strength of the dollar makes the price less than shown here at bank conversion rates for many international currencies. Examples are given below.

Category 1-3 hotel awards are fixed at one award price.

• Category 1 Standard Reward = 5,000 points.
• Cat 1 Points & Money = 2,000 + $30.

I noticed the Batang Ai Longhouse on the big island of Borneo, Malaysia is a category 1 award at 5,000 points per night. The published room rate is 200 MYR ($62 USD per night). That is aspirational redemption value for HHonors points.

• Category 2 Standard Reward = 10,000 points.
• Cat 2 Points & Money Reward = 4,000 points + $35.
• Category 3 Standard Reward = 20,000 points.
• Cat 3 Points & Money = 8,000 + $40. London: 25 GBP = $37.77 USD. Tokyo: 3,576 JPY = $38.29 USD.

HHonors Category 4 awards introduces variable rate.

• Category 4 Standard Reward = 20,000 to 30,000.
• Cat 4 Points & Money = 12,000 + $50 (USA). London: $50.31 GBP = $46.83 USD. 37 EUR = $47.46 USD.

Category 5-7 jumps in range by 10,000 points at each higher category.

• Category 5 Standard Reward = 30,000 to 40,000.
• Cat 5 Points & Money = 16,000 + $65 (USA).
• The Category 5 Points & Money Reward is based on 40% of peak rate.
• Category 6 Standard Reward = 30,000 to 50,000.
• Cat 6 Points & Money = 20,000 + $85. London: 53 GBP = $80.06 USD. Munich: 63 EUR = $80.80.
• Category 7 Standard Reward = 30,000 to 60,000.
• Cat 7 Points & Money = 24,000 + $100. Beverly Hilton Los Angeles: $100. London: 62 GBP = $93.65 USD).
• Points & Money Rates are variable too, Hilton Tokyo is category 7 hotel with 50,000 points standard award or Points & Money 20,000 points + 7,600 JPY ($81.37 USD) which is the Points & Money category 6 rate.

Category 8-10 are the new award rates that are significantly higher than 2012 award rates.

• Category 8 = 40,000 to 70,000. Cat 8 Points & Money = 28,000 + $125. (London: 78 GBP = $117.82)
• Category 9 = 50,000 to 80,000.
• Cat 9 Points & Money = 32,000 + $150 New York: Millennium Hilton or 80,000 for Standard Reward. London: Hilton Park Lane 80,000 points or Points & Money Reward for 32,000 HHonors Points + £94 ($142 USD).
• Category 10 = 60,000 to 95,000.
• Cat 10 Points & Money = 38,000 + $200 at Hilton Maldives Iru Fushi Resort & Spa for a published rate at $486 USD or 95,000 points for standard reward April 2013.
• Rates for London area hotels provided GBP rates. Rates in Europe provided EUR rates. Tokyo for Japan rates. xe.com used for currency conversion.

HHonors Standard Room Rewards include seasonal prices for category 4-10 hotels.

Members can check hhonorspointssearchtool.com to find a calendar of months for HHonors Standard Reward Rates at hotels in a geographic location.

Five U.S. Cities Hilton HHonors Rates and Rewards Survey

I checked random dates over the next three months for Hilton brand hotels in five U.S. cities.

• Boston
• Charlotte
• Minneapolis
• New York
• San Francisco

This series of posts examined five U.S. cities to determine the changes to HHonors Rewards with the March 28, 2013 changes to a 10-category hotel award system.

• Seeking a redemption value for HHonors points in the $800 to $1,000 range for 100,000 HHonors points is a challenge for US Hilton brand hotels under the new system. The Five Cities survey looked at over 100 hotels across the USA for dates in April, May and June, weekdays and weekends, and found fewer than 10% offering Points & Money Rewards.