Elite Status Hotels Travel News

The New Hilton Honors Is Here – And It Is Both Bad and Good

new Hilton Honors
Written by Charlie

The new Hilton Honors redemption system is here. The new system is both bad and good, depending on when and where you travel.

Yes, I did say the new Hilton Honors. Of course, today is also the day of the new World of Hyatt but it is also the day that the first major change to the award system with Hilton Honors is put into play.

The newest “feature” of the Hilton Honors is here – the new mix of cash and points. I have been playing around with it a bit and have already found some good and bad about the new program.

The New Hilton Honors with Money and Points

First of all, what Hilton has said about this new switch is that it is a variable program, based on the cost of the room for the night. This can be a good thing if you would rather use points than cash but can also be a bad thing, depending on the season.

Another feature is that you can mix the amount of money and points you want to pay with which can help if you are short on the points and you do not want to actually buy them the regular way.

Finally, we also know that there is no such thing as Hilton reward categories anymore. They give a range and say that a given hotel price will not go above the top price but the category redemptions we are used to are no more.

new Hilton Honors

Examples of the new pricing structure for awards

The Good

First, the good news! I played around with many hotels in New York City as I am quite familiar with pricing options there and there are an abundance of Hilton hotels there.

new hilton honors

A pretty good award price for a Manhattan hotel!

On cheaper days (like many weekend days), the prices in points is actually quite incredible, for a Manhattan hotel. I was seeing prices as low as 26,000 Hilton points on some nights/hotels! That is quite a steal for a Manhattan hotel!

new Hilton Honors

More New York City hotels on weekends

If you want to mix cash and points, you will be paying tax on the cash portion, so something to keep in mind. If you pay with points, it wipes out the tax involved so your value may be a little better using points.

new Hilton Honors

The new slider for choosing money or points

The Bad

Ok, here is the bad part. There is no fixed redemption rate for the new system. I found regular rooms switching from .38 cents per point to .49 cents per point. That, to me, is a negative. I would prefer to know that I can get the same rate for my points if they are going to float them around that much.

new Hilton Honors

The max price on a hotel for several days

Also, suites used to price for lower than the actual category amount on some cheaper nights. That was an awesome way to get under the required award amount for that category and get a better room at the same time – while getting over .5 cents per point in some cases. Well, that seems to be gone as well. I am seeing some pretty poor redemption rates at the same hotels that I had just checked yesterday on the suites.

Of course, this all could differ quite a bit based on where you are looking and the taxes for the area you are booking in. But, at first glance, there are some negatives to this new redemption system.

new Hilton Honors

The max price for many days at the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem

Another point to add – Hilton made it sound like that maximum price would not be something that you would often see. Ahhh, that is not the case at many NYC properties for middle of the week. I am seeing several hotels at their max price on a lot of days! That is certainly bad news, especially since those dates were not peak times under the old chart.

Takeaway

This is just a quick look at what the new redemptions look like. There are a few nice things about it – if you are traveling someplace during low demand. If you are traveling to an upscale hotel during peak (or even non-peak times), prepare to pay the new maximum in points. At least you can help to offset that with cash, if you need to.

The good news is that, even with the maximum, it appears that you can still easily get .5 cents per point. So, even though the maximum may be the set amount on many days, you still may be getting a better value than if the price was lower and you are paying the variable rate.

What do you think about the new Hilton Honors redemption system?

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About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.

10 Comments

  • I’m glad I booked my reservation in Ohio last month… the hotel went from 20,000/night on the old system to 24,000/night now for the same period. Category remains unchanged.

  • I was looking to book a spring break trip in Pensacola and decided to wait for this change and I should have booked earlier. Points went from 30k up to 34k a night.

    I also noticed that some hotels that already offered the points / cash option switched to this new system and the value went way down. For example, the discount used to be worth up to .8 cent per point and now they are all right around .45 to .5 cent per point. Bad news.

  • If you’re interested in boosting your Hilton Honors points, you’ve got a couple options currently. RWM posted about this a few weeks ago.
    No annual fee AMEX has 75000 bonus points right now: https://goo.gl/EqZWBj
    75 Dollar annual fee AMEX is giving 100,000 Hilton Honors Points! : https://goo.gl/JB9tsZ

  • Thank you for this post, it is informative. You may also want to mention that resort fees are not charged if it is an all point booking, so taxes/fees can be a big additional value in all point booking.

    Cheers,

    PedroNY

  • I’ve noticed a new change in attitude and accommodation at a lot of HH hotels. These are the same hotels that have always been friendly and welcoming. Their new line is we use to do that but now we can’t! I was just told at Double Tree Orlando International Dr that being a HH rewards member doesn’t really afford you any privileges at his hotel now that there’s changes. He stated he would get reprimanded if he gave any special treatment at all. What happened to HH executive floors etc? He said I was no better than to have a ground 1 floor. Well why should I always honor your hotel and not choose another chain? I’m so disappointed with this hotel brand right now. It’s probably better to honor another rewards hotel plan. Which do you suggest?