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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 20th May

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Comments (399)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Clive says:
    20 May20 May 19:16

    Hilton breakfast update for US hotels

    As restrictions loosen and vaccination rates increase, once-grounded travelers are jumping at the chance to reconnect with loved ones and hit the road (or air) again. As Hilton welcomes guests back this summer, Hilton Honors is excited to launch a new Daily Food & Beverage Credit for Elite members. Please see information below.

    Showcasing its commitment to providing more flexibility, value and choice for its more than 115 million members, Hilton Honors is launching a Daily Food & Beverage Credit for Gold and Diamond members beginning in early July through the end of 2021, at all luxury, full-service, lifestyle, and Hilton Garden Inn properties in the U.S.
    These brand categories include Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, LXR Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Canopy by Hilton, Signia by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Curio Collection by Hilton, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton and Motto by Hilton.
    Hilton Honors Gold and Diamond members can utilize the daily credit towards food or beverage purchases any time of day, replacing the existing Elite Status benefit of complimentary Continental Breakfast.
    The Daily F&B Credit will range in value, depending on the brand and location.

    • Harry T says:
      20 May20 May 19:34

      I guarantee this represents a devaluation at brands where you’d actually want the breakfast.

      • Andrew says:
        20 May20 May 19:41

        Agree. Hilton Union Square (SF) has done this for a long time – $10 per person daily credit which you can use at the deli pantry. Flexible so you can use any time of day but only enough to get a croissant and a coffee for breakfast – not exactly the full breakfast one would expect.

    • Anna says:
      20 May20 May 19:40

      That’s all very well as long as it’s worth as much as the breakfast! I can see hotels trying to fob people off with $10 or something similar.

    • Aston100 says:
      20 May20 May 20:03

      I presume this also applies to bookings already made?
      I’ve got an email from a Hilton saying I’d get a hot breakfast due to status.

      • Anna says:
        20 May20 May 20:13

        According to the articles about this, yes, it’s starts from July regardless of when you booked. I imagine there is a HH clause saying they can change benefits when they feel like it. It sucks! It’s only in the US for now but I can’t see it being reversed once it’s in place.

        • Anna says:
          20 May20 May 20:15

          In fact – they haven’t put Alex Cruz in charge of Elite benefits, have they? This is akin to a BA “enhancement”.

      • Harry T says:
        20 May20 May 20:31

        I’m glad I’m only Diamond due to work and have good hotel status elsewhere.

    • Roberto says:
      20 May20 May 20:29

      I’m done with Hilton if they do this.
      I’ve been diamond for 4 years now.
      Might as well just not have any brand loyalty and go with the best cash breakfast deal that’s available.
      You rarely get upgraded in America anyway and the lounges are abysmal so basically diamond = zero benefits.

      • Andrew says:
        20 May20 May 20:31

        They will be the new IHG – zero elite benefits.

      • Roberto says:
        20 May20 May 20:35

        With the devaluation of the premium hotel rates and the dynamic pricing that’s come in they are really hammering long time loyal customers and taking away anything worth staying loyal for.
        20$ food and beverage credit in the Waldorf or Conrad won’t even get you an orange juice.

        • Aston100 says:
          20 May20 May 21:36

          How much is an orange juice at one of those?

          • meta says:
            20 May20 May 22:03

            It can be $10. Depends on location. $20 won’t cover breakfast at any of the properties. The problem is per room!

          • Roberto says:
            20 May20 May 22:11

            14$ plus taxes.

    • BuildBackBetter says:
      20 May20 May 20:58

      All those Hilton Aspire card holders will be p1ssed off…

      • BuildBackBetter says:
        20 May20 May 21:26

        Thinking about it…
        All those who booked WA Maldives – I guess even $50 credit per person will cover a croissant and coffee?
        But this makes bookings thru Virtuoso even more valuable.

        • marcw says:
          20 May20 May 21:39

          For now it´s only for US properties…. but I think it´s likely to be extended to the rest of the world at some points…

    • Craig says:
      20 May20 May 21:39

      As long as this is US only I’ll head to a local deli instead.

    • The Savage Squirrel says:
      20 May20 May 21:54

      Given that $10 won’t buy you much hotel breakfast beyond budget locations, and typical hotel mark-up on breakfast versus comparable meals in nearby eateries is often well over $10, a $10 breakfast credit is effectively worthless. I can feel my Hilton loyalty disappearing rapidly.

      • meta says:
        20 May20 May 22:09

        Diamonds still have access to lounges and lots of times breakfast is also served in the lounge, so I guess you could stay at those properties and get an extra F&B credit to spend on something else.

        Another danger is that Marriott follows with similar or even worse policy…

      • Aston100 says:
        20 May20 May 22:09

        Who gives you better loyalty benefits?

        • meta says:
          20 May20 May 22:36

          @Aston100
          For me in this order in terms of benefits (I’m basing this purely on upgrade success rate as at IHG I usually book a club room or get a rate with breakfast):

          1. IHG Spire Ambassador
          2. Marriott Platinum
          3. Hilton Diamond

          My partner is only Explorist with Hyatt due to last years good offers, but really want to try and get Globalist (didn’t manage fully due to lockdowns). We actually like their hotels the most and the service and treatement even of lower elites is the most consistent. If we had Globalist, they would probably be in the first place.

    • BP says:
      20 May20 May 22:14

      Still better than IHG!!

    • Mr. AC says:
      21 May21 May 01:07

      Wow… And I was about to chase status this year with Hilton. Oh well, Marriott, here I come!

  • Harry says:
    20 May20 May 19:52

    Hi there.
    My flight BA0164 Tel Aviv to London, May 23, 4:40pm has been cancelled. Can anyone enlighten me the reason?
    Many thanks.

    • Ian M says:
      20 May20 May 20:09

      Booking more than 1 room at Hilton…

      Hey all, if I was to book 2 rooms at a Hilton property, with one room being a redemption and the other being a cash booking, will I still earn the triple points for the cash booking under the current promo (it’s a 7 night stay)?

    • Andy says:
      20 May20 May 20:30

      They don’t want their planes to get shot down by rockets?

      • Sandra says:
        20 May20 May 20:44

        My thought too but I thought it was a bit too flippant to say it 😂 although it’s just flashed up on Sky’s Twitter feed that a ceasefire has been agreed.

      • Aston100 says:
        20 May20 May 21:42

        Or maybe they don’t want new passengers coming in kicking out half the original passengers and then slowly claiming more and more of the plane belongs to them?

    • Tracey says:
      20 May20 May 22:27

      They’ve cancelled the outbound. Don’t know what covid issues there are with having crew stationed at out stations that would result in them not having a plane or crew available for the inbound. Though Israel being green should reduce the problem with the crew not needing to isolate after the flight.

  • 747_Brat says:
    20 May20 May 21:08

    Is it possible to change the retailer selection for 1% ca$hb@ck on Curve Metal?

  • Will says:
    20 May20 May 21:21

    I think the phenomenon you are seeing is a (perceived) demand from the public to require binary answers to unanswerable questions, or possibly an expert feeling the need to give an answer to an unanswerable question in their field of speciality.

    As uncomfortable as it is, the answer to the question of how the pandemic progresses next is that no one really knows.

    With about 1/3 of the adult population unvaccinated we could easily be heading for a 3rd wave, it may not cause hospitalisations but it would still be a 3rd wave.

    It’s possible we see a further or different mutation which also causes more problems or it could just go the way of influenza and get less severe.

    • Tom1 says:
      20 May20 May 21:35

      I like this.

    • The Savage Squirrel says:
      20 May20 May 21:57

      “I guess many of us armchair epidemiologists who have studied it hard for a year now and read very widely are indeed now trained epidemiologists”

      What’s the view like from the first peak on the Dunning-Kruger graph?

  • Ian M says:
    20 May20 May 21:28

    Posted this in the wrong place by mistake earlier..

    Booking more than 1 room at Hilton…

    If I was to book 2 rooms at a Hilton property, with one room being a redemption and the other being a cash booking, will I still earn the triple points for the cash booking under the current promo (it’s a 7 night stay)?

  • Peter K says:
    20 May20 May 22:21

    A one year undergraduate? 😂 From my experience that equates to enough knowledge to think you know something but mostly to misapply the little knowledge you have. I agree therefore, you don’t overestimate the level of knowledge you have 😂

    It’s like the early teenage years of knowing everything and thinking your parents are stupid and know nothing. You have the invincibility of not realising how much you don’t know 😄

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

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