The Hilton Deval Made Me Do It

Posted by on Mar 18, 2013 in Gold Passport, Hilton Honors, Hyatt, Uncategorized | 21 comments

If you’ve lost touch with reality, then you may not know that Hilton recently devalued their award chart drastically. Award chart inflation is a normal part of life, and a big reason why there’s the “earn and burn” mantra, but this was a massive kick to the groin.

Here are a few ways the Hilton HHonors devaluation changed my life.

 

Made me pull the trigger on a Conrad Maldives booking

Remember that you have until March 28th to book any Hilton properties under the current rates. I had been stockpiling Hilton HHonors points because it was so easy with the multitude of rewards cards and through buying Vanilla Reloads at CVS. The plan was to burn them using an Axon award sometime next year, but I had no specific date in mind.

Anyway, time is critical, so I booked an Axon award trip to the Conrad Maldives for 145,000 Hilton HHonors points. Awesome sauce. If I waited to book this award until after March 28th, it would cost 95,000 points a night or 380,000 total! Talk about an increase. Hilton hasn’t announce what the prices for Axon or Glon awards will be if they stick around after March 28th, but I imagine they will take a big hit too.

 

Aerial shot of our hotel

Since I have Gold status from holding the Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card - I will receive the benefits below (based off confirmation email):

  • One bottle of wine upon arrival
  • Chocolate & Fruit amenities upon arrival
  • Daily Happy Hour at Vilu restaurant

Sadly, the Conrad Maldives doesn’t extend Diamond or Gold members breakfast or room upgrades anymore. I’ll see what politely asking does.

 

I had to cancel my trip to Ireland/London

Since I have no idea what the future holds, I went ahead and canceled our Dublin/London trip that was scheduled in a couple months. It’s sad, but I didn’t want to book Maldives in the future and then not end up being able to go. Plus, we already had the days blocked off on our calendars and getting to Dublin and London is easy, so we can do that trip at a later date.

 

Cemented my loyalty to Hyatt (if there was any question)

I never should’ve wavered on my loyalty to Hyatt. I’ve had some incredible stays at Hyatt as of late, but I get restless. My Diamond status ran out last month and the plan was to hit Hilton Diamond through spending $40,000 on my Citi Hilton Reserve, but it’s not worth it now (for me). I will be focusing all my efforts on earning Diamond status with Hyatt now, and they have more than enough to win my loyalty.

I value Diamond status with Hyatt because of the suite upgrades, free internet, late checkout, amenities, and the club access/breakfast. The standard requirement to achieve Diamond status with Hyatt is 25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year. I won’t be doing that. Instead, I inquired about a Diamond trial. I emailed Hyatt at goldpassport@hyatt.com with a copy of my Priority Club Platinum Ambassador status. Hyatt agreed to let me have a Diamond trial which means I have 60 days to complete 12 nights.

Some people try for the Hyatt Diamond trial offer just so they can get the four suite upgrades (mine already posted), or so they can get two suite certificates from the Hyatt Visa, instead of just two free nights. Plus, if you don’t plan on meeting the trial, you will still have Diamond benefits for 60 days since Hyatt gives you Diamond status during the trial (ahem… unlike Starwood).

With the upcoming trips I have planned, I’m actually going to complete my trial. Thanks Hilton devaluation, for getting my head back on straight. Hyatt is the hotel program for me, especially because it’s a transfer partner of Chase’s Ultimate Rewards. You just have to hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Ink Bold®, or Ink Plus® card. I have 6 of those cards in my household.

 

Changed my credit card spending plans

My number one goal in spending was to hit $40,000 on my Citi Hilton Reserve card so I could achieve Diamond status with Hilton. I was excited about the challenge and I couldn’t wait to see what Hilton had to offer. Now I’ll just have to be happy with Gold status from the Reserve card, which honestly is quite good. You get free breakfast, internet, and a possible upgrade to the executive floor with lounge access.

Now all my trips to CVS and Valero to buy Vanilla Reloads for Bluebird are to earn Ultimate Rewards points or meet minimum spends. All my quarterly tax payments, charitable giving, and Amazon Payments will go back to normal, too – meeting minimum spends or Ultimate Rewards points. Getting my priorities back in line.

 

Recap

I was bummed to cancel our London trip, but thanks to Hilton gutting their program, I’m now going to Maldives. That’s something I kept putting off, so thank you Hilton for making me get off my a@# and make the trip happen. I’m pretty pumped about going!

It just feels right for me to be focusing on Hyatt again. I kinda felt like I was cheating going after Hilton Diamond status anyway.

Well, this is how the Hilton devaluation affected me. Please comment below if the changes to Hilton’s award chart dropped a grenade in your life.

— Noob Master

  • Kyle

    I thought about doing the same, but I’m not really wild about going all the way there to stay in a “beach villa”. I know it’s nothing to sneeze at, but still.

    • http://www.NoobTraveler.com/ Noob Traveler

      You can upgrade if you would like. I’m definitely going to look into that, but I’m happy with a villa. I just don’t know when I would be able to go if it wasn’t now.

      • Kyle

        Either way, it is a good use of the points. I go back and forth on what to do with mine. I may just sit on them and use them for U.S. travel…..

        • http://www.NoobTraveler.com/ Noob Traveler

          I struggled with booking Maldives for awhile, but the deval was just the nudge I needed. You can book something aspirational in the future, and then cancel if you aren’t able to go. The problem (and fun) is getting to one of these properties can be challenging.

  • MilesAbound

    Good for you, enjoy the Maldives it’s an awesome place, and not so hard to get to these days though it is a long trek whichever way you look at it. I have a comprehensive guide on my site (which sadly I need to update due to the Hilton devals) I wouldn’t be so bullish on Hyatt though. Anyone who thinks their devaluation isn’t in the post is barking mad. Maybe they sent theirs second class mail while Hilton and co used Fedex but trust me it’s coming, probably next year along with Club Carlson. No way all those points get printed without serious deflation

    • http://www.NoobTraveler.com/ Noob Traveler

      Thanks! I’m bullish on Hyatt for at least this year, but I’m with you – there’s going to be changes eventually, always will be. Then it will be on the next one, which may be to not worry about hotel status at all, or just stay satisfied with the status I receive from co-branded reward cards.

  • Gerry

    Any idea if Hilton reward stays, once booked, can be rebooked later w or w/o penalty? Or how long till award certificates expire? If you book and cancel, what happens to the points? Just thinking it might be worth it to take a chance depending upon rebooking penalties. Any thoughts NoobMeister? (PS: Dropped a grenade puts it mildly.)

    • http://www.NoobTraveler.com/ Noob Traveler

      If you cancel your reservation more than 30 days out – the points will be redeposited back into your account. If you are canceling an Axon award – call in. I’ve changed my Maldives dates twice already without a fee, but it is a bit of a hassle because they have to cancel/redeposit my points/then rebook. Take the chance!

  • Up&Away

    What’s your thought on flights? I’ve got about 300k points to burn and am considering their ai in Jamaica. I’ve got 2 small boys (6&4) so I can’t decide about some of the aspirational all properties. Part of me says go for it and part of me says not now….something else will come along when the time is right.

    • http://www.NoobTraveler.com/ Noob Traveler

      Don’t force anything, but it’s a great time to dump some major Hilton points. There will always be something else that comes along, but it may be awhile before you’re able to unload HH points at a top notch destination.

  • Sam

    Did you have to call to book this? I just did a search on the Hilton website and came up with crazy point cost. Are those the new points requirements?

    • Sam

      Never mind. I figured it out. :-) I am curious about what happens if you have to cancel. Are the points put back in your account? Or do you get some sort of certificate?

      • http://www.NoobTraveler.com/ Noob Traveler

        Yes, the points will deposited back into your account. You have until 30 days from the time of your reservation to cancel. If it’s an Axon award make sure you call and cancel there seems to be an issue in getting your points back if you cancel online. I hope this helps!

  • Josh

    Did you find that any particular dates are better? I’m about to pull the trigger on an 8 night trip (using AXON) but am trying to determine what the best time to go is (as far as being crowded, weather, etc.). Also, are you going to fly for 4 days just to stay for 4 nights or do you have other stops planned? Seems like a long way to go for just 4 nights. Finally… any health concerns for Maldives? Any special vaccinations needed?

    • http://www.NoobTraveler.com/ Noob Traveler

      I don’t think there’s a bad time to go to the Maldives. :) Yes, I have a couple stopovers that I’m working on. I would highly suggest working in some of your own. It’s too far of a trek for only 4 nights.

      • Ethan

        There are some rainy seasons, but there’s never a bad time. High season is Oct-Feb because that’s when the Europeans are fleeing winter. CDC recommends Hep A, B, and Typhoid (though I’ll doubt you’ll need the Typhoid vaccine staying on the resorts, I’m not planning to get it before going in June.

        • http://www.NoobTraveler.com/ Noob Traveler

          Thanks for the help, Ethan. Did you pull the trigger on a booking too?

          • Ethan

            Well, I’ve had a stay booked at Kuramathi Resort for my honeymoon for some time. I looked at points earning properties but they would’ve been much more expensive, and I don’t yet have enough hotel points for a Maldives stay. :)

            • http://www.NoobTraveler.com/ Noob Traveler

              Nice. That’s going to be great honeymoon! Much better than I did. :-)

  • Josh

    Did you just book the standard rooms or were you able to get an overwater villa somehow? Looks like standard redemption doesn’t get you the overwater hotness.

    • http://www.NoobTraveler.com/ Noob Traveler

      I booked the standard king beach villa. To get the water villa it will cost me between $175-$300 a night to upgrade, but I haven’t emailed the property yet.

This content is not provided or commissioned by the company whose products are featured on this site. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or evaluations provided here are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the Advertiser. This site may be compensated through the Advertiser’s affiliate programs.