Yesterday, Hilton announced new changes for 2018 that will eliminate some aspects of the earning values while making it what they say is “simplifying” the process. They have also announced some new threshold bonuses as well as a couple of other nice perks. Here are the details.
Hilton Makes Changes for 2018 to Benefit Elite Members
Link: Hilton 2018 Changes
What Is Gone?
Hilton used to have an option of earning Points & Miles but they are eliminating that since Hilton says only 1% of members actually chose that option. I am a bit surprised about that number but also not sure that the reason Hilton is dumping it is that it is used so rarely. Since such things are all automated, its not like it makes it any more difficult on the Hilton Honors program to give the options. However, that is gone in the name of “simplifying” the options for members.
The New Earnings for Hilton Honors for 2018
Here are the new numbers for the earnings for Hilton Honor members for 2018 and on:
- Blue members earn the 10 base points per dollar on stays
- Silver members earn a 20% bonus to take it to 12 points per dollar
- Gold members earn a hefty-sounding 80% bonus taking it to 18 points per dollar
- Diamond members earn a 100% bonus to give a total of 20 points per dollar
While all of that sounds really good for higher elite members, it is actually not that much of an increase for those that had chosen the Points & Points option under the old earning rates. Here are the increases from that program:
- Blue members will lose 5 points per dollar
- Silver members will lose 4.5 points per dollar
- Gold members will increase .5 point per dollar
- Diamond members will not change
So the base member and Silver members lose out and not much changes at all for Gold and Diamond members.
The only things of note is that the Tru and Home2 brands will earn half of the new totals.
Other New Perks For Hilton Honor Members
Milestone Bonuses
All Hilton members will earn 10,000 Hilton points for every 10 stays when they reach 40 nights in a calendar year. Having 40 nights in a year would give that customer Gold status so this is again helpful for Gold and Diamond members.
After reaching 60 nights in a year (which would give Diamond status), you would get an additional 30,000 points. That means that achieving Diamond status through nights would also net that traveler a total of 60,000 bonus points (before the bonus kicks in on the earning).
Rollover Nights
If you actually earn elite status with Hilton by, you know, staying at the hotels, you can now rollover your nights after meeting one level until the next year. This applies for Silver members (10 nights), Gold members (40 nights), and Diamond members (60 nights).
Gift Elite Status
If you stay 60 nights in a year (which, again, gives Diamond status), you can gift Gold status to someone. If you reach 100 nights in a year, you can actually gift someone Diamond status! That is actually a pretty nice perk!
When Does All of This Kick In?
These changes will kick in this April. Going by how things rolled out last year, I would expect that to stay pretty close if not to actually roll out on time.
Takeaway
While this is not a nice move for average Hilton customers, this is actually a great move by Hilton to really reward their members that earn elite status.
It is so easy to get Hilton Gold status that earning Gold status (before these changes) was not that rewarding. Now, at least, you will get to rollover any additional nights. Plus, you can earn some milestone bonuses.
