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HHonors Reward Analysis New York 2013

New York City saw a blistering rise in the points price for HHonors Standard Rewards with the March 28, 2013 changes. Many hotels that were 50,000 points per night are now 80,000 to 95,000 per night.

New York City was the first U.S. city to make a striking comeback in room rates following the 2008-2010 hotel recession. At one point nearly all the hospitality industry gains in the U.S. were coming from New York and a couple other cities. New York room rates are back up in the $400 range for an upper upscale hotel and even Hampton Inn is fetching that rate after taxes in Manhattan.

DoubleTree Suites New York Times Square is a hotel rising from 50,000 to 95,000 points per night as a new HHonors category 10 hotel reward. Hilton Times Square goes from 50,000 points as a Category 7 to 80,000 points peak season in may as a category 9 hotel in the new rewards system.

The Waldorf-Astoria is 80,000 points per reward night for the historic flagship property of Hilton’s luxury brand while the hotel charges a $459 room rate.

And the Hampton Inn Times Square North is also 80,000 points per Standard Reward night at Hilton’s upper midscale brand with a $359 rate.

New York lights up the topsy-turvy world of the new Hilton HHonors rewards.

New York is the fifth city in my five U.S. cities survey of Hilton HHonors rewards following the March 28, 2013 changes to the loyalty program.

The table below surveys 24 New York Manhattan Hilton brand hotels. Standard Reward rates, Premium Room Reward rates, VIP 5th Night Free and Points & Money Reward rates are shown along with different room types available.

New York Hilton Brand Hotels Reward Category Assignment

  • Category 10 = 1 hotel DoubleTree Suites Times Square
  • Category 9 = 8 hotels.
  • Category 8 = 15 hotels.

New York Hilton Brand Hotels Rates and Rewards Survey

NY Award Analysis-4-2-13

HHonors Award observations for New York.

  • In Manhattan a room with two beds is considered a Premium Room Reward at some Hilton brand hotels. Hilton Manhattan East has King rooms and Queen rooms at 70,000 points per night. Two Doubles room is a Premium Room Reward costing 114,519 points per night.  The published room rate $409 is the same for a King room or Two Doubles. Hilton New York Fashion Districtalso charges Premium Room Reward for Two Doubles at 122,040 points when the $339 room rate is the same as the King Standard Reward at 70,000 points per night.
  • 22 of 24 hotels located in New York City offer a Standard Room Reward.
  • 95,000 points for Standard Room Reward at DoubleTree Suites Times Square on a $430 room rate gives a mediocre redemption value of $4.53 per 1,000 points.
  • Category 9 Standard Rewards at 80,000 points per night are available at 7 of 8 hotels.One Category 9 hotel has only Premium Room Rewards.
  • Category 8 Standard Rewards at 70,000 points per night are available at 11 of 15 hotels.Standard Rewards at 3 of 15 Category 8 hotels are listed at 60,000 points. One Category 8 hotel has only Premium Room Rewards.
  • $379.05 average BAR room rate for New York Hilton brand hotelswith HHonors Standard Rewards.
  • 72,955 points is average cost for a Standard Reward nightat 22 New York Hilton brand hotels.
  • $5.23 per 1,000 HHonors points = Standard Hotel Reward redemption value.
  • $6.51 per 1,000 HHonors points = VIP 5th Night free reward redemption value. 
  • Standard Hotel Reward redemption value range: Low Value = $4.13 per 1,000 points for a Standard Reward night at Hampton Inn Manahattan Seaport/Financial Districtat 70,000 points for a $289 room rate.
  • Standard Hotel Reward redemption value range: High Value = $6.70 per 1,000 points for a Standard Reward night at Hampton Inn Manahattan Sohoat 70,000 points for a $469 room rate.
  • Points & Money Reward redemption value $6.53 per 1,000 points only at one hotel. Millenium Hilton is a category 9 hotel at 80,000 points per Standard Reward night on a $359 room rate for $4.49 per 1,000 points redemption value. Points & Money Reward is 32,000 points + $150 per night. 32,000 points saves $209 + tax for $6.53+ per 1,000 points redemption value.

Five City Survey Results

This series of posts examined five U.S. cities to determine the changes to HHonors Rewards with the March 28, 2013 changes to a 10-category hotel award system.

Seeking a redemption value for HHonors points in the $800 to $1,000 range for 100,000 HHonors points is a challenge for US Hilton brand hotels under the new system. The Five Cities survey looked at over 100 hotels across the USA for dates in April, May and June, weekdays and weekends, and found fewer than 10% offering Points & Money Rewards.

HHonors Standard Reward redemption value tends to fall in the $5 to $6 range which is higher than the $4 per 1,000 points Lucky estimated in his hotel points value post last month.

HHonors VIP 5th Night Free Rewards give 20% better value than Standard Rewards on five night stays.

HHonors Premium Room Rewards are seldom a good redemption value, although the option to book a confirmed suite is a Reward option that has great value at times. Typically Premium Room Rewards are fixed value options at either a rate of 100,000 points per $278 in BAR published room rate or 100,000 points per $357 in BAR published room rate. Occasionally hotels offer Premium Room Rewards at 100,000 for  $500 in BAR published room rate. Another anomaly is some hotels offer Premium Room Rewards at a lower cost than Standard Room Rewards.

HHonors Points & Money Rewards have the potential to improve HHonors points redemption value to $8-$10 per 1,000 points, however, these rewards are not commonly offered at most hotels in the US checked in this survey.

The next step in my HHonors Reward Value Survey is to look at international Hilton brand hotels. My questions are whether Points & Money Rewards are more prevalent outside the USA and if redemption value trends higher than $5 to $6 per 1,000 points?

18 Comments

  • […] HHonors Reward Analysis New York 2013 […]

  • […] HHonors Reward Analysis New York 2013 […]

  • Food Wine and Miles April 3, 2013

    Great analysis. Looking forward to seeing the findings for international properties!

  • Chris April 3, 2013

    Shouldn’t true value be based on a property’s overall ADR for a given night and not just their best available rate? I would argue that in New York, many hotels will take groups to fill 60% of the hotel at $200/night and then simply flex their rates up to $400 to $500 to bring up the difference. The actual average rate the property gets generally comes in at around $300. In truth, it is possible to get high value if you book during a major event or convention when the whole market has inflated rates. To give you some idea of the true ADR’s for properties in New York for all of 2012:

    New York Hilton Towers: $299
    Waldorf Astoria: $349
    Metropolitan Doubletree: $248
    Millennium Hilton: $273
    Doubletree Guestsuites: $354
    Hilton Times Square: $302
    Hilton Garden Inn 35th: $250
    Hilton Fashion District: $253
    Hampton Inn Soho: $218

    These represent what the average daily rate of all the paid rooms over the course of 2012. So an ADR of $250 means the hotel is likely getting closer to $200 for their standard rooms but considerably more for better rooms.

  • Steve T April 3, 2013

    Great Analysis Ric. Thank you.
    Sometime in the future I would love to see an analysis among the major loyalty chains as to which program offers the best redemption value in a particular city (i.e. New York) taking into consideration the variance of points, earning points and hotel level (i.e. Hampton Inn = Courtyard, etc.).
    Realize this is more work. Thanks.
    FYI, Glad I was reedemed the AXON6 awards on 3/27, 4 nights at the Hampton Seaport for 125,000 points. Interesting to see if Hilton still keeps AXON.

  • PSL April 3, 2013

    Charging premium prices for rooms with two beds is something you generally see in Europe, not in the U.S. Even though I don’t need two beds, this is a disheartening development.

  • Ric Garrido April 3, 2013

    @Chris – too complicated for my analysis. I am not creating an industry report. I am a guy looking at the Hilton website and seeing what rate pop ups for the dates I am searching.

    Just like a real traveler checking hotel rates and figuring out if spending points is a good value or not for that stay.

  • Bill April 3, 2013

    The real issue IMO is that the Doubletree Metropolitan is kind of a s***hole – 70k points for those rooms? Please.

  • Alexander Farmer April 4, 2013

    Surprised you didn’t include the Conrad NYC. Its a beautiful property that I’ve stayed at several times. It opened pretty recently so good value can be found in the rates since its not super popular and a little out of the way in battery park. 5-star rooms for around $300 is a good value, no?

  • Ric Garrido April 4, 2013

    @Alexander Farmer – Conrad New York is fourth from bottom in table. Conrad NY had the second highest value for points on a Standard Reward stay.

  • Alexander Farmer April 4, 2013

    Clearly can’t read today! Thanks Ric!

  • […] Loyalty Traveler just noticed the same thing in his analysis of NYC award inventory. Standard rooms are 1 bed (king or queen) and 2 beds (2 doubles) is a Premium Award, even if the room is going for the same money rate. Sounds like NYC hotels being NYC hotels… […]

  • […] HHonors Reward Analysis New York 2013 […]

  • […] HHonors Reward Analysis New York 2013 […]

  • […] HHonors Reward Analysis New York 2013 […]

  • […] New York is a popular tourist destination & staying there is expensive.  If you were considering staying there using Hilton Rewards points, Loyalty Traveler has an interesting analysis of what it may cost in points. […]

  • […] HHonors Reward Analysis New York 2013 […]

  • Visit Website April 22, 2013

    I hardly comment, but i did a few searching and wound up here
    HHonors Reward Analysis New York 2013 – Loyalty Traveler.
    And I actually do have a couple of questions
    for you if you don’t mind. Is it just me or does it look like some of the remarks come across like they are left by brain dead individuals? 😛 And, if you are writing at additional places, I’d like to keep up with anything fresh you have to post.
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