Hilton HHonors started their winter 2009 promotion yesterday. I received an email which outlines quite clearly the earning structure for this promotion. Normally double base points would not be confusing to calculate, however, Hilton HHonors Points & Points or Points & Miles earning preference for members complicates the calculation.
January 13 Update: On January 12, 2009 I received a reissued Press Release from HHonors stating the press release from January 7 was incorrect. Points and Points earnings are actually 10 base points + 15 bonus points per $1. Apparently, even HHonors is confused about how their Points & Points bonuses are calculated.
Hilton HHonors Offer: Double Base Points at more than 2,400 properties globally.
Registration required: Promotion registration link
Reservation Dates: All stays between now and April 6 are eligible for double base points once member has registered for promotion.
Double base points are eligible with first stay after registration.
Participating Hotels: Since Hilton claims 3,000 hotels and this promotion states available for over 2,400 hotels, then about 20% of Hilton family hotels appear to not be participating in the double base points promotion.
Here is a list of participating properties: My quick look over the list shows the Conrad Singapore missing and the Waldorf-Astoria New York are not listed. Check the list before planning your 30 points per $1 earnings.
Calculating Double Base Points: Text is from HHonors press release dated January 7, 2009.
“HHonors members enjoy the flexibility of earning Points & Points or Points & Miles. With this promotion, HHonors members staying at participating hotels during the promotional period will be able to earn double Base points no matter which earnings style they choose.
HHonors members choosing the Points & Points earnings style─the fastest way to a free night─will earn 10 Base points and 20 15 bonus points for every eligible dollar spent during the promotional period. Outside of the promotional period, on an ongoing basis, members earning Points & Points receive 10 Base points and 5 bonus points for every eligible dollar spent.
HHonors members earning Points & Miles during the promotional period will earn 10 Base points and 10 bonus points for every eligible dollar spent plus miles. Outside of the promotional period, on an ongoing basis, members earning Points & Miles earn 10 Base points in addition to their mileage earnings.”
Loyalty Traveler Analysis: I like to evaluate promotions based on the potential earnings when 5 to 10 hotel nights can be planned during the promotional period. One consideration to keep in mind is this promotion favors Points & Points earning preference for any stay over one night since the miles earned with Points & Miles will not change whether you stay one night or 7 nights. Rather than earning 500 miles for a 7-night $1,000 stay, the HHonors member with a Points & Points preference would earn an extra 5,000 points.
5-night Stay at $100 base spending per night = $500 or 5,000 base points.
Assume a $100 night room rate (taxes paid do not earn base points).
Points and Points earns 5,000 base points + 7,500 bonus points = 12,500 HHonors points.
Points & Miles earns 5,000 base points + 5,000 bonus points + 500 miles (for most airlines).
Another point to understand is only the actual base points count towards VIP elite status qualification. Besides hotel stays and nights, HHonors elite membership can be earned when the member earns 60,000 base points for Gold and 100,000 base points for Diamond VIP elite during the calendar year. The additional points earned for the double base points promotion are considered bonus points and do not apply to elite qualification. In both examples shown above for Points & Points or Points & Miles earned, the HHonors member only earns 5,000 base points toward elite qualification based on $500 in hotel spending.
30 25 HHonors points per dollar in hotel spending rivals some of the deals IHG Priority Club members receive through multiple combinable promotional bonuses for hotel stays.
Hilton HHonors has made a strong statement to its members that 2009 will be a rewarding year for HHonors loyalty.
Note from Loyalty Traveler regarding edits to this post on Jan. 13: The numbers used in this post have been edited to reflect the actual 25 points per $1 earning with the Double Base Points promotion. The original HHonors Press Release from January 7 stated Points & Points preference members would earn a total of 30 points per $1 in hotel spending. The reissued statement from January 12 corrected that number to 25 points per $1 in spending.
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