HHonors Award Analysis Charlotte, NC

Charlotte is the fourth of five US cities I examined in a survey on the value of HHonors points for hotel award nights.

There are 40+ Hilton brand hotels returned in a search of Charlotte. This article looks at eight of those hotels closely. Charlotte has lower average rates and lower hotel award category on average for hotels than the four other cities I checked. There were only a couple of other hotels offering Points & Money Reward nights among the 30+ Charlotte area hotels not shown in the table.

Charlotte Hilton Brand Hotels Redemption Value

Finally, the Charlotte, NC hotel survey finds the elusive HHonors Points & Money Rewards with high redemption value in the $10+ per 1,000 points range for Hilton Garden Inn Charlotte ($9.92) and Hilton Charlotte Executive Park at $10.75. DoubleTree Charlotte Airport offers a big $13.63 redemption value which is great for a one night stay. Five nights at an airport hotel is extreme travel, but I did read there is a nice shopping mall in the area.

HHonors Points & Money Rewards were found at 4 of the 8 hotels shown. This is a bonanza of Points & Money Reward availability compared to four other cities surveyed.

VIP elite 5th Night Free Reward improves the value by 20% on a five night stay. That is an improvement over standard rewards, but not as good as Points & Money Reward rates found in Charlotte.

• Standard Hotel award redemption average value: $5.98 per 1,000 HHonors points. Only Boston at $7.11 redemption value on HHonors Standard Rewards showed a higher redemption value, although the Boston hotel rates were extremely high making redemption value higher. Charlotte and Minneapolis had the lowest average room rates of the five cities surveyed.
• Standard Hotel award redemption value range: Low – $3.97 per 1,000 HHonors points at Hampton Inn & Suites Charlotte Airport at 30,000 points for a $119 room.
• Standard Hotel award redemption value range: High – $7.45 per 1,000 points at DoubleTree Charlotte Airport for King room at 20,000 points (category 3) for a $149 room rate. 
• 4 of 8 hotels surveyed in Charlotte offered Points & Money Reward.Hilton Garden Inn Charlotte Uptown offers Points & Money for 12,000 points + $50 on a $169 room rate. 12,000 points to save $119 + tax is more than $10 per 1,000 points redemption value. That has been an elusive redemption value in surveys of Boston, Minneapolis and San Francisco.
• VIP 5th Night Free Reward –redemption value in the $7 to $9 per 1,000 points range at 7 of 8 Charlotte hotels. These extended stay discounts improve the value of HHonors points. 
• Hilton Charlotte City Centerhas a decent $9 per 1,000 points redemption value on a VIP 5th night free reward.
• Reward Rate does not necessarily correlate to room rate is shown with DoubleTree Charlotte. King Bed is $179 room rate and a Standard Reward rate = 30,000 points. A Sofa Bed parlor ADA room also has a $179 room rate, yet prices as a Premium Room Reward for 42,960 points per night.

Points & Money Reward Nights charge 40% of the points of HHonors Standard Award cost and a fixed cash amount. Seaonal rates on Standard Rewards means a category 5 HHonors hotel might only be a Category 4 Points & Money Reward night. This new HHonors system is confusing.

• 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 have set rates in their currency. The current strength of the dollar makes the price less at bank conversion rates for many international currencies. Examples are given below.

Note: Hotels listed as HHonors Reward Category 4-10 on the hotel home page do not necessarily follow the Points & Money chart shown here. A category 5 hotel can be a Points & Money category 4 or category 5 reward cost depending on if the Standard Reward is 30,000 points or 40,000 points per night. This is explained in more detail below.

HHonors Standard Room Hotel Categories

HHonors Standard Room Rewards include seasonal prices for category 4-10 hotels. Members can check the reward cost by calendar month to see if a Category 7 hotel is 30,000 points per night or 60,000 points per night.

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

The variable seasonal rate for Standard Rewards also impacts the Points & Money Reward cost. The table and website for Hilton Garden Inn Charlotte Uptown shows a Category 5 HHonors award with a low season Standard Reward at 30,000 points in May 2013. The rate at this hotel is 30,000 points until it rises to 40,000 points for the month of December. While priced at 30,000 points for Standard Reward this hotel prices as a Category 4 Points & Money Reward at 12,000 points + $50 per night. The assignment of this hotel to HHonors Category 5 has little meaning since the hotel prices out as a Category 4 Reward Night for all dates in 2013, except December 2013.

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

• Boston
• San Francisco
• Minneapolis
• Charlotte
• New York (I changed Miami to New York. Lots of high category hotels in NY)

My objective is to see what the typical redemption value is for HHonors points.

Charlotte had the highest redemption value opportunities of the five U.S. cities I surveyed. 

Next up is New York City Hilton Brand Hotels survey.