Hilton 24 Hour Sale - Starts Now!

Starting right now at 11:00am eastern Hilton is running a 24 hours flash sale for up to 40% off weekend stays plus 2,500 bonus points.  This is really just an additional bonus on top of the Any Weekend Anywhere sale that runs through the end of the month.  You have to register though Facebook for the bonus points and then book through the sale link HERE  Details are below:

Here's the Text from their Facebook page:

Come back on Wednesday, January 16th at 11:00AM ET and register for the 24-Hour Flash Bonus Offer. To earn your bonus, simply book a stay with the Any Weekend, Anywhere Sale and you can save up to 40% on weekends throughout 2013 at participating hotels and resorts worldwide. Plus, once you complete your stay you'll get 2,500 Hilton HHonors™ Bonus Points for every weekend you book. Start making plans for all of your weekend getaways today.

 And the link to register: HERE

No Paid Stay? Sign Up for those Hotel Bonuses Anyway

Typically the hotel rewards programs view award stays a little bit differently than paid stays.  Most hotels don't count the stay or number of nights stayed towards elite status, although Starwood's SPG program is a notable exception.

You can generally earn points at the usual per dollar rates on any incidentals such as meals charged to the room, bar tabs, etc.   This probably isn't all that surprising, what does surprise me though is that it's often possible to earn bonus points from quarterly promotions on award stays.


Here's an example from my recent stay at the DoubleTree Times Square:

As you can see I only earned 321 base points yet earned 3,000 points from HHonors Q4 1,000 Reasons to Stay Bonus.  Definitely a reason to make sure you have at least something that will generate base points charged to the room on award stays.  In most cases, if there are no room charges, no bonus points will post.

I always make a point to sign up for the quarterly bonuses from any of the chains I may be staying with,  whether I have paid stays or award stays planned.  I usually even register for the promos for my primary and secondary rewards programs even if I don't have stays planned, just in case something unexpected comes up.

Here's a list of the Q1 Hotel Promotions I know of so far:

• Club Carlson Triple Points Promo
• Hilton Double Your HHonors Promo
• SPG Power Up Promo (2k points after every 4 nights up to 18k)

If you're interested in learning more about Points, Cash, & Miles, consider following by email or just bookmarking the page - I'll be here with new material 2-3 times a week, possibly more if there happens to be anything I find really exciting in the world of points and miles.

Final day of Hilton's 25 days of Winning

Today is the final day for Hilton's 25 Days of Winning sweepstakes.  For the last 3 and a half weeks they have been giving away a prize everyday, some noteable and some not so much.  For the final day of the promo, they have the grand prize for the sweepstakes and it includes the following:

ONE (1) DAY TWENTY FIVE GRAND PRIZE: Grand Prize Dream trip prize package. Prize package includes $15,000 that may be used by winner to design a trip of his or her choosing; $1,500 that winner can use toward air transportation for his/her trip; $5,000 in Hilton HHonors Gift Cards (terms and conditions of Gift Cards apply); and 500,000 HHonors Bonus Points (Bonus Points will be deposited in the winner's Hilton HHonors account. Bonus Points do not count toward elite tier qualification. Hilton HHonors™ membership, earning of Points & Miles™, and redemption of Points are subject to HHonors Terms and Conditions). Winner must complete the trip within one (1) year from the drawing date or prize will be forfeited. Trip must be booked at least twenty-one (21) days prior to departure. ARV: $26,500 USD.

Though I don't normally bother with sweepstakes entries (unless I get points/miles for entering) this seemed like it was worth the 30 seconds it takes to enter.

You can enter here

Did Hhonors Take Away Diamond Benefits?

Gary over at View from the Wing has concerns this morning over same changes to the Hhonors benefits page "Did Hilton Hhonors Steal my snack?".  This worried me so I took a look myself and it does appear that the wording for Embassy Suites has changed, from three snacks to two, not really a concern for me since I always took the points anyway.  The worrisome part was that the wording change on the HHonors website for Conrad / DoubleTree/ Hilton  on the Member Benefits page under Explore Hhonors.  This page indicates that you must choose between the free breakfast and 1,000 extra points.

The Hotel Benefits page under the My Profile section of the site (when logged in) does not show these changes and does not allow you to make a selection between the options. Additionally, a confirmation e-mail I receieved for a stay I booked yesterday afternoon shows all of the benefits and does not indicate that a choice is required.   

I think this is nothing more than a mistake that will be corrected.  As far as I can tell the Conrad / DoubleTree / Hilton benefits have not in fact changed.  We may have lost a snack at Embassy Suites, I don't really care as I prefer the points anyway.

Win up to 1,000,000 Hhonors points

Hilton HHonors is celebrating its 25th anniversary by giving away more than 25 million HHonors Points over 25 days.

Each day through to September 18, 2012, one member will walk away with one million HHonors Points. There are also 6 instant win prizes each day including more HHonors Points, free night stay certificates, and exclusive prize packages from the various Hilton brands. That's 150 instant win prizes in total plus the 25 one million point prizes. You can enter once each day.

Here's a link to the rules and list of prizes: http://hilton.promo.eprize.com/hhonors/public/fulfillment/rules.pdf

 

And an excerpt from the FAQs:

Q. What is the Hilton HHonors 25 Million Point Giveaway?
A. The Hilton HHonors 25 Million Point Giveaway is in celebration of Hilton HHonors 25th anniversary. Hilton HHonors is giving away a variety of daily prizes including HHonors points, free night stay certificates and branded prize packs, plus 1 million HHonors points to 25 lucky grand prize winners. See Official Rules for complete details.

Q. Where can I enter the 25 Million Point Giveaway?
A. Enter by visiting the Hilton HHonors Facebook page or the Facebook page of one of our brand partners: Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton. See the Official Rules for complete details.

Q. How many times can I play?
A. You may enter once per day from any one of the participating brand Facebook pages.

For more information and to enter, here's a direct link to the contest page: http://www.facebook.com/HiltonHHonors/app_420113214707653

20 Easy My Coke Rewards Points (possibly each day through 8/12)

I recently came across a couple of My Coke Rewards codes that are reusable each day. They are reported to be good through the 12th but two other codes stopped working earlier this evening so YMMV.

10096071476917
10096122897198

If you collect MCR points and haven't already seen the MilePoint MCR thread, I would recommend checking it out from time to time. Personally, I'm not that big into My Coke Rewards but I check this thread out occasionally for easy points. Currently MCR points can be redeemed for Hilton Hhonors points, Priority Club points have also been available in the past

Hilton HHonors Reward Category Updates

Gary over at View from the Wing posted a link this morning to a .pdf listing of Hilton's reward category adjustments.  In all, 330 hotels are moving up one category and 117 are moving down one category. These changes will take effect at the end of the month so you have a few weeks to book stays at the hotels which are moving up. You can see the list HERE.


For the most part I don't see anything too upsetting in the changes though of course we'd like to see more hotels moving down than up.  with roughly 3,800 hotels in the Hilton portfolio, the 330 going up represents less than 10% over all so this isn't a big devaluation. This said, it does bother me a bit seeing Hampton Inns as Category 6 rewards.  Is it ever really a good deal to spend 40,000 points a night for a Hampton Inn stay? I  would certainly be looking at other options.

On the other hand, some of the Hampton's moving down to category 1 or 2 could be great options at 7,500 or 12,500 points respectively.  I don't actually see any on the list in areas I have plans to travel to this year but you never know...