Hilton Honors is one of the best hotel loyalty programs when it comes to how much they reward members for stays, and it looks like they’re improving that even further.
Hilton Honors is making three positive changes for eligible checkouts as of today, Thursday, January 9, 2020.
In this post:
Earn base points for up to four rooms
Currently Hilton Honors members can earn points for up to two rooms per stay, assuming all eligible charges are on a single folio. Going forward, Hilton Honors members can earn points for up to four rooms when booking eligible multi-room reservations.
This is an awesome development for those situations where you’re traveling with friends or family. I know in the past I’ve decided where to stay with family based on which hotel group would give me the most points, or the most benefits for additional rooms.
No limit to how many base points you can earn
Previously Hilton limited you to earning 100,000 base points per stay. Ordinarily you earn 10 base points per dollar spent, meaning you were only earning base points for the first $10,000 spent.
Going forward, Hilton Honors will no longer have a maximum on how many base points you can earn per stay. Admittedly this doesn’t impact most of us, but I’m sure the Royal Families booking suites for weeks at a time at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills will appreciate this boost to their Honors accounts… or something. 😉
Earn points for incidental spending at all brands
Previously Hilton only let you earn points on the room rate for stays at Hampton Inn by Hilton, Tru by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton, and Homewood Suites by Hilton. In other words, any incidental spending at properties wasn’t eligible to earn points.
Going forward, Hilton Honors will allow members to earn points on eligible hotel incidental spending at all brands.
Bottom line
There’s nothing here that’s a game-changer, though it’s always nice to see hotel loyalty programs make sensible changes that benefit members. These are three positive changes that many members will benefit from, so I commend Hilton for this.
Will you benefit from any of these Hilton Honors changes?
@tda - thanks for your comment. I just went and looked at the actual updated T&Cs. You are correct that the HH member needs to stay, so this won't help non-traveling management and travel staff. I can still see how this could be abused, but I guess so be it -- sometimes I'll be the senior person on the trip and capture all the points.
I’m sure there’s a not insignificant set of long-term occupants who will benefit from the elimination of the earnings cap. I certainly would have appreciated it when I was at the Conrad NYC for six weeks during a trial several years back.
@Flying@MSP - Not sure what your complaint is here. These changes benefit the person staying at the hotel, not the person who foots the bill.
Yeah, I'll earn points for picking up the bar tab and charging it to my room. Otherwise, this is a great boost for companies and travel planners who want to point everything on a single corporate card and steal points from those of us who actually spend the time away from our families on the road.
Hilton honors i have been diamond member for years i had booked and paid for my new year vacation in Seychelles. Booked room on my hilton account. For my surprise they changed my stay on my co passenger name. Neither the points nor the nights are added to my account. This is first time that diamond desk is not reverting on my request abd ignoring my request leaving it unanswered.
I do not like that I do not earn points on special rates-even though I show loyalty to Hilton by staying there- and that I cannot use points for that purpose.
Will Hilton now give elite benefits to all four rooms as well?
Nicely done Hilton.
The biggest issue I have with HHonors earnings is that they don't give points for incidental spending on "non-qualifying" rates. That still seems to be a problem. :(
Do you have to be a room guest to earn points on incidentals like F&B in restaurant ?