Hilton HHonors Rate Analysis for Points & Money and Premium Room Rewards

Hilton HHonors announced new reward options for Points & Money and Premium Room Upgrades five weeks ago on April 4, 2011 . The new rewards are rolling out in 2011 and so far the rollout looks pretty slow. FlyerTalk members have only reported two locations for Premium Room Rewards with Hilton Airport Copenhagen, Denmark and Hilton Singapore. Points & Money Rewards are also available at Hilton Simgapore. I did not locate any additional hotels offering these new reward types after trying a dozen other cities.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis of Points Upgrade Rewards in Copenhagen

Hilton Copenhagen Airport Hotel, Thursday July 21, 2011

King Hilton Guest Room =

• 1,795 DKK (US $344.20) Standard Rate (BAR) or
• 1,495 DKK (US $286.78) Advance Purchase rate (nonrefundable) or
• 40,000 points Category 6 Standard Reward. 

This is a high value reward redemption at $8.61 per 1,000 HHonors points for a refundable rate. I base the reward rate redemption value on the flexible BAR rate rather than the lower nonrefundable advance purchase rate since a reward can be cancelled and points returned to account.

King Deluxe Room standard rate  

• 1,995 DKK (US $363.31) Standard Rate (BAR) or
• 1,695 DKK (US $324.94) Advance Purchase rate (nonrefundable) or
• 63,808 points for Points Upgrade reward night.  

The Points Upgrade reward is extremely poor redemption value at an additional 23,808 points for only US $19.11 more in room rate.

Seriously, offer the desk clerk 100 or 200 Kroner to upgrade you rather than wasting that many points at a reward redemption value of $5.69 when you have more than 50% better redemption value for your points with a Standard HHonors category 6 reward night ($8.61 vs. $5.69 per 1,000 points).

King Executive Room standard rate  

• 2,645 DKK (US $507.76) Standard Rate (BAR) or
• 2,345 DKK (US $450.17) Advance Purchase rate (nonrefundable) or
• 84,598 points for Points Upgrade reward night.

This is a better value reward redemption at $6.00 per 1,000 HHonors points for a refundable rate. But is this upgrade worth the price of a free standard night at 44,000 additional points?

Presidential Suite Splurge in 1,722 square feet of hotel rooms.

• 13,495 DKK (US $2,589) Standard Rate (BAR) or 
• 431,630 points for Points Upgrade reward night.

Points redemption value remains at $6.00 per 1,000 points when blowing loads of points for the best of the best in hotel rooms. This is not a particularly attractive redemption value, but certainly not a poor value either for HHonors points. This is equivalent to spending 50,000 points for category 7 hotel night that would cost $300 to buy. For the right occasion this could be a reasonable return on HHonors points.

Points & Money Rewards and Premium Room Upgrade Rewards at Hilton Singapore

King Deluxe (344 square feet) – Thursday, July 21, 2011

• 395 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $320.27) Standard Rate (BAR) or
• 335 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $271.61) Advance Purchase rate (nonrefundable) or
• 40,000 points for HHonors category 6 standard reward night. Redemption Value = US $8.01 per 1,000 points.
• 20,000 points + $88 SGD (US $71.35) Points & Money Reward night. Day of arrival cancellation with no penalty. Redemption Value = US $12.45 per 1,000 points is 55% better value than standard reward; $12.45 vs $8.01 per 1,000 points.

King Deluxe Plus (344 square feet)

• 445 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $360.80) Standard Rate (BAR) or
• 378 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $306.48) Advance Purchase rate (nonrefundable) or
• 59,762 points for HHonors Premium Room reward night. Redemption value = $6.04 per 1,000 points. 

King Executive Room with HHonors Lounge Access (344 square feet)

• 495 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $401.31) Standard Rate (BAR) or
• 420 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $340.51) Advance Purchase rate (nonrefundable) or
• 66,476 points for HHonors Premium Room reward night. Redemption value = $6.04 per 1,000 points.

King Executive Plus Room with Balcony and HHonors Lounge Access (398 square feet) 

• 545 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $441.84) Standard Rate (BAR) or
• 463 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $375.37) Advance Purchase rate (nonrefundable) or
• 73,191 points for HHonors Premium Room reward night. Redemption value = $6.04 per 1,000 points.  

King Executive Suite with Lounge Access (581 square feet) 

• 745 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $604.03) Standard Rate (BAR) or
• 633 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $513.22) Advance Purchase rate (nonrefundable) or
• 100,051 points for HHonors Premium Room reward night. Redemption value = $6.04 per 1,000 points.

Presidential Suite with one bedroom, living room, kitchenette, 2 bathrooms and lounge access.

• 1,995 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $1,617.53) Standard Rate (BAR) or
• 1,695 SGD Singapore Dollars (US $1,374.30) Advance Purchase rate (nonrefundable) or
• 267,922 points for HHonors Premium Room reward night. Redemption value = $6.04 per 1,000 points.

Important to note is the stability of the redemption value for Premium Rewards correlates directly to the standard room rate at $6.04 per 1,000 points. This value does not account for 17.70% Singapore room tax which effectively increases the Premium Reward redemption value from $6.04 to $7.11 per 1,000 points.

As an aside I absolutely loved the rooftop pool at the Hilton Singapore when I stayed there about ten years ago. It was one of the deepest hotel pools I ever swam and the air circulation on the roof is comforting against the Singapore equatorial humidity.

 

Loyalty Traveler Conclusion

Points & Money looks to be a high value reward option for Hilton HHonors program with the sample shown here offering a redemption value over $12 per 1,000 points. Premium room upgrades appear to be fixed redemption rates centered around US $6.00 per 1,000 points. Hotel room tax, over 15% in some locations, takes redemption value closer to $7.00 per 1,000 points. This is a fair market value for Hilton HHonors points that is about average or even better than average compared to redemption value for HHonors standard rewards.

$6.00 redemption value for HHonors standard reward nights and equivalent room rate

HHonors standard reward for one hotel night:

• Category 3 = 25,000 points ($150 room rate = $6.00 redemption value).
• Category 4 = 30,000 points ($180 room night)
• Category 5 = 35,000 points ($210 room night)
• Category 6 = 40,000 points ($240 room night)
• Category 7 = 50,000 points ($300 room night)

If you are willing to trade 40,000 points for a room that cost $240, then the value of Premium Room rewards should be an acceptable redemption rate for HHonors points.

Hopefully these reward options expand to other hotels worldwide soon.