Hilton HHonors global promotion is Double Points or Double Miles for stays January 1 to April 30, 2016. Only base points are doubled, meaning most hotel stays earn 20 points per dollar. Home2Suites stays earn 10 points per dollar with this promotion. Points & Points earners will receive 25 points/$1 or 12.5/$1, depending on brand.
HHonors Points & Miles earners will receive 10 base points per dollar and 2x miles per dollar. If you want double miles, you must have your account set for earning Points & Miles.
Existing reservations for stays from Jan 1 to April 30 are eligible for this bonus.
The main point to know is you can choose to earn double points or double miles, but once selected, you cannot change your earning style bonus during the promotion. I recommend choosing Double Points, unless you are already a happy HHonors Points & Miles earner.
Hilton HHonors Double Points or Miles Jan 1 – Apr 30, 2016
HHonors Points & Miles
Hilton HHonors has 65 airline and travel partners for earning miles from hotel stays, more than any other hotel chain. Many of these partners do not partner with SPG or US credit cards. Hilton brand hotel stays can be a good way to build up miles and points with international airlines.
Nearly all partner airlines offer 1 mile per $1 spend at Hilton brand hotels. Double miles makes this 2 miles per $1.
Earn 10 HHonors Base Points for every eligible US dollar spent on your room
When you stay at a hotel or resort within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio, you earn 10 Base Points for every US dollar spent on your room rate and other eligible room charges, including telephone calls and room service.
Some exceptions apply: At Hampton Innâ„¢ or Homewood Suites by Hiltonâ„¢ hotels, earn 10 Base Points for every US dollar spent on your room rate only. At Home2 Suites by Hiltonâ„¢ hotels, earn 5 Base Points for every US dollar spent on your room rate only.
Assume you spend $500 dollars with Hilton during this promotion.
HHonors Points & Points = 25 points/$1 = 12,500 HHonors points.
HHonors Points & Miles (e.g. United Airlines) = 10 points/$1 + 2 miles/$1 = 5,000 HHonors points + 1,000 Mileage Plus miles.
Spend $2,000 as HHonors Diamond
HHonors Points & Points = 30 points/$1 = 60,000 HHonors points.
HHonors Points & Miles = 15 points/$1 + 2 miles/$1 = 30,000 HHonors points + 4,000 airline miles.
Double Points promotions favor high spend guests
Two weeks ago when I met the Hilton HHonors executive team at the Washington Hilton, one of the thoughts I wanted to share is how I think Hilton needs to diversify their hotel stay bonus promotions away from simple 2x points promotions. The conversation was more focused on elite member benefits than promotions. So here are my thoughts on double points promotions.
I refer to double points promotions as big spend offers. There is nothing inherently wrong with rewarding frequent guests who spend more money with more points, but that kind of promotion has become the norm in the industry. There is little to distinguish a Marriott double points promotion from HHonors double points or SPG double points.
As a leisure traveler, double points is not much incentive. In my opinion, leisure travelers are more likely to stay more with a specific brand when there is a bonus points incentive that brings them closer to a free night for multiple hotel stays, beyond the simple spend type promotion.
IHG Rewards Club Accelerate is an example of how a promotion offer incentivizes more stays, which in theory converts frequent guests choosing hotels randomly based on price and location into loyal frequent guests who favor a specific brand due to the value seen with the hotel loyalty program. It is far more enticing to stay at five different IHG hotels with IHG Accelerate and earn sufficient points for a free night when spending $500, compared to earning 5,000 additional HHonors points for $500 in spend with this double points promotion. $500 in hotel spend at IHG will earn most IHG Rewards Club members a free night anywhere in the world, regardless of elite status level.
$500 in hotel spend for a Hilton HHonors blue (no status) Points & Points earner normally earns 7,500 HHonors points. Double points earns an extra 5,000 bonus points on $500 in hotel spend. 12,500 points is only enough points to book a free night at a few hundred of the nearly 4,000 HHonors hotels. With Points and Money rewards, you might be able to book a discount reward rate night at 2,000 or so hotels. You will need far more spend to earn sufficient points to book a free night or discount night at high end hotels in Hilton Worldwide.
Double Points Promotions are anti-hotel hopping promotions
The competitive advantage with this Hilton promotion is for guests with extended stays at one hotel. You can earn thousands of bonus points with a single stay of five nights. This is nice if you are visiting a place for vacation. Hotel hopping around a city during a trip can be a real drag, but I do it regularly to maximize the value of my hotel stay bonus points and earn free nights more quickly. Double points promotions provide no incentive for hotel hopping. You only earn points based on spend and there is no bonus points advantage to staying at more hotels.
HHonors Diamond members
I am one of the hotel frequent guests who used the current HHonors elite status match to receive HHonors Diamond status based on my Hyatt Gold Passport elite status. You can still submit your hotel loyalty credentials through January 11, 2016 with another program to request an HHonors status match.
Loyalty Traveler – Hilton HHonors Status Match for 2016 (Nov 26, 2015).
I’ll probably book some Hilton nights during this promotion now that I have HHonors Diamond elite status. Diamond elite benefits are my primary incentive for looking to book Hilton brand hotels. This double points offer is the secondary motivation for staying with Hilton HHonors over the next few months in 2016.
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