While I don’t consider this to be an exceptional purchase opportunity for everyone, there is no doubt that some HHonors members can find hotel rate savings with these offers. In this post I will show examples of where I think this buy is a great deal.

The Hilton HHonors Daily Getaways sale happens at 1:00pm eastern time. There are no pre-sale sets of points with this offer.

HHonors members can purchase 1 set of points from each set of offers for up to 500,000 HHonors points if you can grab all three sets before they sell out. Grabbing all three sets looks to be a difficult task due to the popularity of Daily Getaways this year. Play the game and get some trusted relatives and friends to help you buy as soon as the sale opens.

100,000 HHonors points

• $550 without Amex ($5.50 per 1,000 points),
• $495 with American Express credit card payment ($4.95 per 1,000 points).
• 80 sets of points available for sale.
• Maximum purchase = 1 set of points.

150,000 HHonors points

• $825 without Amex ($5.50 per 1,000 points),
• $742.50 with American Express credit card payment ($4.95 per 1,000 points).
• 100 sets of points available for sale.
• Maximum purchase = 1 set of points.

250,000 HHonors points

• $1,375 without Amex ($5.50 per 1,000 points)
• $1,237.50 with American Express credit card payment ($4.95 per 1,000 points). 
• 100 sets of points available for sale.
• Maximum purchase = 1 set of points.

The value of Hilton HHonors points purchased at these rates

Hilton HHonors uses seven primary hotel reward categories for pricing reward nights.

• Category 1 = 7,500 points ($41.25 / $37.13)
• Category 2 = 12,500 points ($68.75 / $61.88)
• Category 3 = 25,000 points ($137.50 / $123.75)
• Category 4 = 30,000 points ($165.00 / $148.50)
• Category 5 = 35,000 points ($192.50 / $173.25)
• Category 6 = 40,000 points ($220.00 / $198.00)
• Category 7 = 50,000 points ($275.00 / $247.50)
• Waldorf-Astoria (low season) = 50,000 points ($275.00 / $247.50)
• Waldorf-Astoria (high season) = 60,000 points (330.00 / $297.00)

FlyerTalk thread showing HHonors reward tables and a variety of discount rewards.

Analysis of HHonors reward chart:

In general, I think almost all category 1 and 2 hotel rewards will be a good deal when buying points at these rates.

Category 3-6 will be dependent on the property and the normal room rates. I think most category 6 and 7 hotels will not normally have room rates higher than the cost to buy points if you are looking at a one-night stay.

The problem with HHonors hotel reward assignment is there are numerous hotels in category 6 and 7 that will likely have average hotel rates in the $150 to $175 range for most nights of the year.

The deals with Hilton HHonors are to be found in the select category 7 hotels where rates are typically over $300 per night in certain places like the South Pacific, Europe and Asia.

Hilton New York redemption value = $9.50 per 1,000 points.

Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort = US$650 before taxes.

DoubleTree Amsterdam = US$289 or $8.25 per 1,000 points redemption value.

The hotels shown here offer substantial savings when using points purchased in the $5 per 1,000 points offers through these Daily Getaways.

Another thing to keep in mind is the extended stay discounts for VIP members and Points & Money discounts where only half the points are required with a cash supplement.

VIP Discounts available to HHonors Silver, Gold and Diamond elites offer:

• 15% fewer points on 4-night reward stays.
• 20% fewer points on 5-night reward stays.
• 25% fewer points on 6-night or longer reward stays.

The value of reward stays for the examples shown above improve when staying four or more nights and make the Daily Getaways offer even better for HHonors points. Silver status is earned with just 4 hotel stays in a calendar year or instantly if you are a HHonors credit card member.

Bottom line: HHonors points are a good deal at these Daily Getaways rates if you have a plan to use them for high value hotel reward stays. These sets in the 100,000 to 250,000 points quantities are sufficient for getting VIP extended stay rewards or several Points & Money reward nights.

Keep in mind that HHonors is probably the strictest hotel loyalty program for deleting points when a member has no earning or redemption activity for a year or more.

Good luck and be ready to buy exactly when the points go on sale Wednesday April 25 at 1:00pm eastern. 280 sets of points will likely sell out within a minute.

Hilton Worldwide At-A-Glance (December 31, 2011 data)

• 3,843 Hotels
• 633,238 Rooms
• 88 countries

USA

• 3,326 hotels in USA
• 86% of Hilton Worldwide global properties are in USA
• 650 hotels planned for next five years; primarily in Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites

Americas

• 3,473 Hotels (including 3,326 in USA)
• Plan to open 50 hotels in Canada in next five years and 20 hotels in Mexico.

Asia Pacific

• 84 hotels
• Plan to open 130 hotels in next five years.
• China has 25 hotels and plan to grow to 110 hotels in five years.
• India has 8 hotels and plan to grow to 50 hotels in five years.

Latin America

• 40 hotels
• Plan to open hotels in more countries in next five years including Panama. Doubletree is already open in Panama.

Europe

• 230 hotels
• Plan to grow by more than 50% (115+ hotels) in five years.

Middle East and Africa

• 56 hotels
• Plan to sign more than 100 hotels in these regions in next five years.

Hilton Worldwide Hotel Brands by the Numbers

Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts (luxury)

• 21 hotels
• 8 countries
• Plan to open in Panama, Greece and Canada

Conrad Hotels & Resorts (luxury)

• 17 hotels
• 13 countries
• Plan to open in Fiji, India, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Portugal and United Arab Emirates.

Hilton Hotels & Resorts (upper upscale)

• 553 hotels
• 77 countries
• Plans to open 50 hotels in China and 5 in India

Embassy Suites Hotels (upper upscale)

• 212 hotels
• 7 countries
• Plans to expand in Latin America and Caribbean, including Costa Rica

DoubleTree by Hilton (upscale)

• 281 hotels
• 24 countries
• Plans to open more than 80 hotels; mostly outside the USA.

Hilton Garden Inn (upscale)

• 538 hotels
• 13 countries
• Plans to expand internationally with more than 50 hotels including 10 in Russia, 5 in India and the first HGI in China.

Hampton Hotels (upper midscale)

• 1,847 hotels (almost all in US)
• 10 countries
• Plans to continue expansion in the US and open more than 60 hotels outside the US.

Homewood Suites by Hilton (upscale extended stay)

• 310 hotels
• 3 countries
• Plans to open 6 hotels in Canada

Home 2 Suites by Hilton (upper midscale extended stay)

• 7 hotels
• 1 country
• Plans to open 100 hotels by end 2015 in US, Canada and Mexico

Hilton Grand Vacations (timeshare properties)

• 37 properties
• 5 countries (USA, Canada, Mexico, Portugal, Scotland)
• 176,000 members

Source: Hilton Worldwide Brands Fact Sheet 2012

Hotel market segment data from 2012 STR US Chain Scales.

HHonors Promotion registration is required. Promotion FAQ link.

HHonors Points & Points Earners with Double Points

Double points means 20 points per dollar for all brands except Home2 Suites where double points is 10 points per dollar. A Points & Points earner gets 25 points/$1 and elite bonuses are on top of that.

• HHonors Silver = 26.5 points/$1.
• HHonors Gold = 27.5 points/$1
• HHonors Diamond = 30 points/$1.

HHonors Points & Miles Earners with Double Miles

Most US airlines earn 500 miles per stay at most Hilton HHonors hotel brands for Points & Fixed Miles earners. Double miles is 1,000 miles per stay.

The main thing to remember with double miles is the low earning rate with most airlines for stays at Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn and Home2 Suites typically at 100 miles per stay for Points & Fixed Miles earners. You are not allowed to switch to Double Points once you have chosen Double Miles, so keep in mind that Double points are likely much higher value than Double Miles if your stays will be heavy on Hampton and Homewood.

There are some exceptions like bmi miles where members earn 1,000 miles per night for up to three nights. That can be 6,000 miles per stay. The problem is bmi airlines is in the process of being sold and there is uncertainty about the mileage program. I have not been following the bmi story closely, so I have no real insight into that issue.

Points & Variable Miles is usually the best miles earning preference for guests on extended stays.

HHonors airline partners and miles earn rate link.

Non-participating hotels are almost all in USA

This is a global Hilton HHonors promotion, however, there are about 325 non-participating hotels in the USA. There are only 6 hotels outside the USA opting out of double points/miles, so there is little concern for international travelers.

The number of hotels opting out of HHonors quarterly promotions has become a major issue with Hilton HHonors promotions in the past couple of years. 

My rough estimate indicates 325 hotels is more than 10% of all USA Hilton brand hotels. And with 100 or so Hampton Inns out of 1,800+ opting out of this promotion, then about 1 out of 6 hotels in all the other Hilton brands in the USA have opted out of this offer. That is a huge number of non-participating hotels.

SFO Airport Hotels  – only 4 of 9 hotels participate in Q2 promotion

The non-participating properties at San Francisco Airport include both Embassy Suites, both Hilton Garden Inns and the Hampton Inn SFO North. This leaves the Hilton, Doubletree and Hampton Inn in Burlingame, south of the airport out of five hotels and Homewood Suites north of the airport out of four Hilton brand hotels for a total of  4 out of 9 participating hotels in this promotion.

San Francisco Airport has five non-participating hotels for double points/miles while the entire list for all countries outside the US consists of six non-participating hotels.

What’s up Hilton?

Conclusion: This is a decent promotion for Hilton loyalists staying at participating hotels. Even non-elite members earning 25 points/$1 will earn 50,000 points after $2,000 in hotel spend; sufficient for a high-level category 7 hotel reward night that might have $400 per night rates.

HHonors Diamond member with a Surpass American Express card can earn 39 points/$1 with this promotion. That makes a significant rebate if you are staying at the participating hotels.

We should know soon enough what other chains have for frequent guests as the beginning of the year promotions expire soon for most major chains.

Hotel Chain Scales are used by hotel industry analysts at STR.com to segment hotel brands into luxury, upper-upscale, upscale, upper midscale, midscale and economy categories.

The largest hotel loyalty programs for the US are Hilton, Marriott and IHG in terms of the size and broad range of hotels in different market segments. Wyndham Rewards, Choice Privileges and Best Western Rewards are comparable megachain hotels, but there are far fewer hotels in the upscale to luxury segments in these three brands. Starwood (1,100 hotels) and Hyatt (500 hotels) have a high proportion of upscale to luxury hotel brands in their portfolios, however, the number of hotels are far fewer in these chains and not as useful for travelers needing wide geographic coverage.

Hotel Brands and Market Segments

What is a luxury hotel or an upper-upscale hotel?

Price is generally the defining line between hotel market segments. I do not work in the hotel industry and I am an amateur analyst interpreting numbers from hotel industry data. STRGlobal.com provides industry data reports and I gather statistical data about the hotel industry regularly from the free data provided online.

STR has a list of hotel brands in different chain scale segments based on the average room rate data for thousands of hotels worldwide.

This post uses the 2011 STR US Chain Scales  along with the latest hotel properties data for each brand from the hotel chain’s websites to compare market segments for hotel brands of Hilton, IHG and Marriott.

Basically I want to see how the hotels in Hilton, IHG and Marriott segment out in each chain and compare to each other when looking at the number of luxury, upscale and midscale hotels in each hotel loyalty program.

Hilton Worldwide Hotel Brands with Market Segment and Number of Hotels

• Hilton Worldwide has 3,712 hotels in this list, but this is only an estimate. New hotels open every few days.The percentage of hotels in each brand is listed in ( ).
• Conrad Hotels (luxury) = 18 hotels (<1%).
• Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts (luxury) = 23 hotels (<1%).
• Hilton Hotels and Resorts (upper upscale) = 540 hotels (15%) in 78 countries including 70 Resorts.
• Embassy Suites (upper upscale) = 201 hotels (5%) with 193 in US and 8 international.
• Hilton Grand Vacations (upper upscale) = 50 properties (1%).
• DoubleTree by Hilton (upscale) = 250 hotels (7%) in 17 countries.
• Homewood Suites (upscale – extended stay) = 309 hotels (8%) in North America.
• Hilton Garden Inn (upscale) = 515 hotels (14%) with 130 in development.
• Hampton Inn (upper midscale) = 1,800 hotels (48%) with more than 1,700 in US and growing international expansion recently.
• Home2 Suites (upper midscale – extended stay) = 6 hotels (<1%).

Marriott International Hotel Brands with Market Segment and Number of Hotels

• 3,747 properties in 13 brands in 72 countries. This total does not include Marriott Executive Apartments which earn Marriott Rewards points, but are extended stay contracted properties and not a typical hotel stay.
• Ritz-Carlton (luxury) = 81 hotels (2%).
• JW Marriott (luxury) = 62 hotels (2%).
• Marriott Hotels & Resorts (upper upscale) = 521 hotels (14%).
• Renaissance (upper upscale) = 160 hotels (4%).
• Autograph Collection (upper upscale) = 29 hotels (<1%).
• Marriott Vacation Club (upper upscale) = 59 properties (2%).
• Marriott Conference Centers (upper upscale) = 7 hotels (<1%).
• Courtyard (upscale) = 926 hotels (25%).
• AC Hotels (upscale) = 82 hotels mostly in Spain (2%).
• SpringHill Suites (upscale – extended stay) = 299 hotels (8%).
• Residence Inn (upscale – extended stay) = 627 hotels (17%).
• Fairfield Inn (upper midscale) = 689 hotels (18%).
• TownePlace Suites (upper midscale – extended stay)= 205 hotels (5%).

InterContinental Hotels Group

• 4,452 hotels (as of September 2011)
• InterContinental Hotels (luxury) = 171 hotels (4%).
• Crowne Plaza (upscale) =  401 hotels (9%).
• Hotel Indigo (upscale) =  38 hotels (<1%).
• Staybridge Suites (upscale – extended stay) = 195 hotels (4%).
• Holiday Inn (upper midscale) = 1,238 hotels (28%).
• Holiday Inn Express (upper midscale) = 2,103 hotels (47%) with 1,866 in Americas.
• Candlewood Suites (midscale) = 300 hotels (7%).
• Holiday Inn Club Vacations = 6 properties (<1%).

I have some issue with the broad segmentation of Crowne Plaza and DoubleTree as Upscale rather than Upper Upscale for some locations and Holiday Inn as Upper Midscale for some locations where the Holiday Inn is more upscale.  Keep in mind in the real world of travel there will be some Crowne Plaza and DoubleTree hotels that will be just as nice or better than the nearby Marriott, Hilton or Embassy Suites.

How the hotel chains stack up when brands are compared by market segment.

Luxury market segment

• IHG = 171 hotels (InterContinental)
• Marriott = 143 hotels (Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott)
• Hilton = 41 hotels (Conrad, Waldorf Astoria)

Upper Upscale market segment

• Hilton = 791 hotels (Hilton, Embassy Suites, Hilton Grand Vacations)
• Marriott = 776 hotels (Marriott, Renaissance, Autograph Collection, Marriott Vacation Club)
• IHG = 0 hotels (based on STR chain scale rankings, but in reality many Crowne Plaza hotels are upper upscale).

Upscale market segment

• Marriott = 1,934 hotels (Courtyard, Residence Inn, AC Hotels)
• Hilton = 1,074 (Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, DoubleTree)
• IHG = 634 hotels (Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites)

Upper Midscale market segment

• IHG = 3,341 hotels (Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express)
• Hilton = 1,806 (Hampton Inn)
• Marriott = 894 (Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites)

Midscale market segment

• IHG = 300 (Candlewood Suites)

The key point here is to consider what market segment you desire for your travels. IHG Priority Club will tend to be lower room rates, but Priority Club does not offer frequent guest elite members the level of defined benefits provided by Hilton HHonors or Marriott Rewards to their md-tier and top-tier elite members.

Another point to add is the practice of placing branded hotels in the same chain adjacent to each other. This is really common with Marriott where Courtyard and Residence Inn are literally adjacent hotels in many places. I have seen three Marriott properties in the same location in places. Geographic coverage is not as extensive as you might think when all the locations with multiple properties are considered. On the other hand, the placement of hotels in the same chain next to each other makes hotel hopping for loyalty promotion stay credit an easy task when you want to earn free Marriott MegaBonus nights.

Comparison of hotel loyalty program benefits across these hotel brands will be discussed in future posts.

• Stay must be booked at least 7 days before arrival in Americas. Advance booking window may be less for hotels in other regions.
• Earn 1,000 bonus HHonors points for stays of at least two nights booked with this promotion offer. You can book one night stays, but no bonus points.

Hilton Rate Discounts by Hotel Brand and Region

North and South America

• 25% discount: Conrad, Doubletree, Hilton, Waldorf Astoria
• 20% discount: Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites, Home2 Suites.

Europe, Middle East and Africa

• 33% discount on BAR and Bed & Breakfast: Conrad, Doubletree, Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Waldorf Astoria.
• 20% discount BAR: Hampton Inn

Asia Pacific

• 33% discount on BAR: Conrad, Doubletree, Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Waldorf Astoria.
• 25% discount: Japan properties

Loyalty Traveler analysis

Rate comparisons for two San Francisco Hilton Hotels show a 25% discount on BAR. These hotels offered from 10% to 15% discount with AAA rates. The December Sale discount is the lowest rate I found for these two hotels. Keep in mind though that December Sale rates are prepaid at time of booking and nonrefundable.

December Sale rates apply to higher category rooms like junior suites and full suites.

Hilton Union Square San Francisco  Dec 24-26, 2011

December Sale rate saves about $130 after tax for a two night stay in a one bedroom suite compared to AAA rate.

Hilton San Francisco Union Square Rate Comparison

Bed & Breakfast deals in EMEA region can be a significant savings compared to the normal cost to eat breakfast which often runs as high as US$30 per person at hotel restaurants.

Hilton London Euston Hotel Breakfast rate is only US$10.40 more per day.

The removal of Southwest Airlines as a Hilton earning partner is a loss for members who spend lots of nights at Hampton Inns and Homewood Suites where 600 Rapid Rewards points are earned per stay, the same rate as all other Hilton brands.

HHonors airline miles table Southwest shows *See important notice below.

*Effective January 1, 2012, the Hilton HHonors program will no longer offer Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Points for stays at hotels & resorts within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio.

Most airlines earn only 20% miles at Hampton and Homewood compared to stays completed at other Hilton brands. Fixed miles earners typically receive 500 miles per stay at all Hilton brands, and only 100 miles per stay for Hampton Inns and Homewood Suites.

JetBlue is the only other US carrier offering full points/miles for stays at these lower miles earning Hilton brands.

HHonors Points & Miles vs. Points & Points Earning

500 miles per Hilton stay is a convenient way to build up frequent flyer account mileage balances. 30 stays per year can earn 15,000 additional miles with most airlines at 500 miles earned per stay at Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Conrad, Waldorf Astoria Collection, Hilton Garden Inn and Hilton Grand Vacations.

Assume an HHonors member spends $6,000 per year on 30 stays and a Points & Points earners will receive 30,000 bonus points compared to a Points & Fixed Miles earner who can pick up 15,000 miles instead. The value of 15,000 miles might exceed the value of 30,000 points for someone who probably earns 100,000+ points already as a Points & Miles earner.

The HHonors Brand Determines the Miles Factor

The miles factor is dependent on which of the ten HHonors hotel brands you stay. There is a two-tier earning system for most airlines when collecting Points & Fixed Miles. Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Conrad, Waldorf Astoria Collection, Hilton Garden Inn and Hilton Grand Vacations offer 500 miles per stay with most airlines.

The value of miles is reduced greatly if you frequent Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites where the earn rate is only 100 miles per stay for most airlines. That 15,000 miles is reduced by 80% if you have 30 stays at Hampton Inn and earn only 3,000 miles with American Airlines AAdvantage, Delta Skymiles, or United Mileage Plus.

I’d take 30,000 HHonors points as a Points & Points earner rather than 6,000 miles as a Points and Variable Miles earner.

The value of Southwest Airlines is 30 Hampton Inn stays earns 18,000 points and enough for a free flight on Southwest Airlines. That is a comparable value to 30,000 HHonors points and likely a better deal than 6,000 miles in another airline.

bmi, British Midland International (Star Alliance partner)

There is a decent alternative for earning miles when staying at Hampton Inns, Homewood Suites and Home2Suites.

bmi airlines, a Star Alliance partner, earns 1,000 miles per night at Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites for a maximum three nights per stay. 3,000 miles is a good haul and applies to stays at all Hilton brands except Home2 Suites where the earning limit is 1,000 miles per stay.

Home2 Suites is Hilton’s newest brand and I have to give a big thumbs down to HHonors this year when setting a  precedent of reduced points earning for stays at Home2 Suites. Stays at this newest brand of Hilton HHonors earn only 5 points per dollar. All other Hilton brands earn 10 points per dollar. Hilton points earning link.

Many airlines, including Southwest Airlines, do not earn any miles for stays at Home2 Suites. Most airline partners allow a maximum 100 miles or points for a stay at Home2 Suites. bmi airlines at 1,000 miles per stay at Home2 Suites looks like a great deal.

I seem to recall some issues about redeeming miles for new members to bmi who have not had a bmi flight. Perhaps someone with up-to-date knowledge on that aspect of bmi can comment to remind me of any restrictions on using bmi miles.

bmi airlines earns most miles of any airline for Hampton Inn, Homewood and Home2 Suites brand stays.

HHonors-Delta Skymiles Registration is required here.

The best part is this offer may be combined with probably the most lucrative hotel loyalty promotion for this quarter with a free night at any Hilton Worldwide hotel after four stays or ten nights at any participating Hilton Worldwide hotel brand. There are over 200 hotels in the U.S. not participating so be sure to check the non-participating hotels list for the free night offer.

Hilton also has a promotion with United Mileage Plus for 1,000 bonus miles for two-night stays in same period (UA promo is redeemable miles only and not elite qualifying miles) that I posted yesterday. And this offer is combinable with HHonors Free Nights offer. You can only earn frequent flyer miles with one airline per hotel stay, so no UA bonus and DL bonus for same hotel stays.

Please leave a comment on this post if you see other Hilton HHonors airline partners offering a bonus during this same promotion period and I will share the information in a blog post.

HHonors Delta SkyMiles 250 MQM and Double miles Oct 1-Dec 11, 2011

What does Double SkyMiles mean with Hilton HHonors?

Hilton HHonors has a complicated system for miles earning that factors in hotel brand and HHonors member earning preference of Fixed Miles or Variable Miles.

Fixed Miles Earning (Regular earning rate = 500 miles per stay; double Skymiles = 1,000 miles per stay)

• Hilton
• DoubleTree
• Hilton Garden Inn
• Hilton Grand Vacations
• Embassy Suites
• Conrad
• Waldorf Astoria Collection

Fixed Miles Earning (Regular earning rate = 250 miles per stay; double Skymiles = 500 miles per stay)

• Hampton Inn
• Homewood Suites
• Note: Home2 Suites only allows HHonors Points & Variable Miles earning.

Variable Miles Earning (1 mile per U.S. Dollar; Double Skymiles = 2 miles per dollar.)

• All Hilton Worldwide brands earn 1 mile per U.S. Dollar.
• Home2 Suites  has 100 miles per stay maximum limit; double Skymiles = 200 miles max.

Double SkyMiles MQM

• a two-night or longer stay at any Hilton brand from October 1 and December 11, 2011 after promotion registration earns 250 Medallion Qualifying Miles.

Bonus Skymiles and Medallion Qualifying Miles will be added after the end of the promotion. I assume these MQM will post and apply to 2011 MQM total for 2012 Medallion qualification.

Members must choose between earning free nights or an alternate promotion earning double points. There are about 270 properties opting out of this promotion, almost all in the U.S.

HHonors Fast Ways to Free Stays promotion registration is required.

Free Nights or Double Points?

HHonors Fast Ways to Free Stays 2011-Q4 promotion offers the choice of double points or a free night every 4 stays or 10 nights.

Double points is only a better offer if you think you will not qualify for a free night during the promotion period or perhaps you are a really big spender. Considering a person needs to spend $5,000 to earn 50,000 bonus points with the double points offer, most HHonors members will likely have four stays or ten nights and earn a free night certificate long before spending $5,000.

HHonors ‘Fast Ways to Free Stays’ Basics

• Promotion period = October 1-December 31, 2011
• Promotion available for HHonors members worldwide
• About 270 hotels opted out promotion among 3,700 hotels worldwide. Almost all hotels opting out are located in U.S.
• List of non-participating Hilton Hotels.
• Member must select either double points or free nights version of promotion.
• No changing promotion preference from double points or free nights after member registers.
• Double points = 10 bonus points per $1 above regular earning rate for Points & Points or Points & Miles earners.
• Free Night certificate may be redeemed at any Hilton brand property worldwide (even the hotels that have opted out of the promotion for earning free nights.)
• Ten nights qualification does not need to be consecutive nights.
• HHonors members earn regular points and miles during this promotion.
• HHonors reward stays do not count for free night qualification.
• HHonors free night certificates expire 6 months after issuance. (Assuming all certificates are issued by January 31, 2012, this means that the latest date is likely July 2012 for redeeming free nights.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

This is a 5-key promotion and the most lucrative offer for 2011-Q4 hotel stays.

Hotel hopping for one-night stays means this offer is like getting 12,500 to 15,000 or even 20,000 bonus points per hotel stay when a free night certificate is redeemed for a category 7 HHonors hotel reward night or Waldorf-Astoria Collection where reward nights can be as high as 80,000 points per night.

I am definitely looking to take advantage of this HHonors ‘Fast Ways to Free Stays’ offer as my primary high value rebate for hotel stays over the next three months.

HHonors 2011-Q4 Fast Ways to Free Stays

Hilton HHonors Promotion non-participating hotels 

• Register for “Double Your HHonors” promotion before your first stay.
• Choose earning preference of Points & Points to earn Double Points. Only 10 base points per $1 count for double points. Elite bonuses are not doubled.
• Choose either Points & Fixed Miles or Points & Variable Miles to earn Double Miles.
• Reservations may be booked before promotion registration.
• Promotion registration during an eligible stay will make the entire stay eligible for double points/miles if registered before checkout and entire stay is within promotion dates.
• Offer applies for up to two rooms per stay.
• Reward stays are only eligible for Double Points for incidental spend, except at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites. No double miles will be earned on reward stays.

Hilton HHonors Double Points or Double Miles Promotion July 1-Sep 30, 2011.

Earning with Hilton HHonors

HHonors Points & Points

Usually I favor HHonors Points & Points where a general non-elite HHonors member will earn 25 points per $1 with this double points promotion and a Diamond elite member can earn 30 points/$1.

Reward stays are eligible for double points on incidental spend which might be a consideration for choosing Double Points this summer if you are planning a high spend reward stay.

• Double Points = 25 points/$1 at most hotels (10 base points + 10 double points + 5 Points & Points preference).
• $200 hotel stay = 5,000 HHonors points.

HHonors Points & Miles

Points & Miles is a good value offer that may exceed the value of collecting only HHonors points if stays put you close to a frequent flyer award ticket or upgrade.

Double Miles with Points & Fixed Miles spending $200 at a Hilton Garden Inn and earning American Airlines:

• Points & Double Miles = 10 base points/$1 + 1,000 miles (double fixed miles).
• $200 hotel stay = 2,000 HHonors points + 1,000 AAdvantage miles.

Double Miles with Points & Variable Miles spending $200 at Hampton Inn and earning United Mileage Plus miles:

• Points & Double Miles = 10 base points/$1 + 400 miles (double variable miles = 2 miles/$1).
• $200 hotel stay = 2,000 HHonors points + 400 United Mileage Plus miles.

HHonors offers a comparatively low exchange rate for HHonors points-to-miles transfers compared with other hotel loyalty programs at 10,000 points = 1,000 miles for most airlines or 10,000 points = 1,500 miles for American and a select few airline partners.

1,000 miles is generally a $15 to $20 rebate value on a frequent flyer award ticket. 10,000 points will generally have more value when used for hotel stays.

Fixed or Variable Miles?

Choosing Points & Fixed Miles is generally the best option for low spend stays.

7 of the 10 Hilton hotel brands earn 500 miles per stay with most airline partners. Double miles are 1,000 frequent flyer miles per stay. Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites offer only 20% miles with most airline partners.

Points & Variable Miles earns more miles when spending more than $500 during a single hotel stay or more than $100 at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites where most airlines limit fixed earn miles to 100 miles per stay.

Highest HHonors Earning Airline Partners

The most favorable airlines for Points & Fixed Miles when staying at a Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites are bmi, FinnAir, Olympic and Southwest where there is no reduction in earning for these hotel brands.

Virgin Atlantic = 1,000 miles per stay is normal earn rate with 2,000 miles per stay for double fixed miles for all brands except Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites.

British Midland International (bmi) = 1,000 miles per night (up to 3 nights) at any brand, except Home2 Suites is 1,000 miles per stay. Double miles mean 2,000 miles per night or up to 6,000 miles per 3-night stay at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites when earning bmi miles.

FinnAir = 500 points per night regularly (up to 5 nights) at any brand, except Home2Suites earns 500 points per stay. Double miles mean 1000 points per night, up to 5,000 points per stay at all brands except Home2 Suites.

Southwest Airlines is one of the best airlines for HHonors miles earning since Rapid Rewards points are earned at the same rate regardless of Hilton hotel brand, except for Home2 Suites stays are not eligible for Rapid Rewards points. It is hard to be a Hilton HHonors frequent guest and avoid Hampton Inn. Either HHonors points or Southwest Rapid Rewards points are good earner options for Hampton Inn stays for the person who prefers to collect airline miles since 100 miles per stay (200 miles during double miles) for Points & Fixed Miles earners is a low value rebate when collecting miles in another program.

Loyalty Traveler Note: It is disappointing to see Hilton HHonors launch its new 10^th hotel brand Home2 Suites in 2011 with diminished Hilton HHonors benefits for the HHonors member.

Changing Your HHonors Earning Preference:

You can change your preferred HHonors airline partner for earning airline miles between HHonors hotel stays to maximize the best airline earning option for each hotel stay.

The FAQ state you can’t register for both double miles and double points.

The option you choose during promotion registration is set for the duration of this promotion, so choosing miles mean all your hotel stays will be for double miles and you will not be able to earn double points, even if your earning preference is changed to points over the summer.

Personally I advise going for the high value free night offers this summer from Starwood Preferred Guest (to July 31: 3 stays = 1 resort night), Marriott Rewards (to August 31: 2 stays = 1 free night) and Best Western Rewards (to Aug 14: 3 stays = 1 free night) for the best value hotel stay rebates. This is a decent offer from Hilton HHonors, but there are better promotions available.

Keep in mind these are prepaid room rates that do not allow changes or refunds. Also, keep in mind that AAA rates generally offer at least 10% off and tend to be flexible with no penalty for cancellation until just before arrival date.

The Great Getaway Hilton Terms

• Book May 13 to August 22
• Stay May 27 to September 5
• Hotels worldwide participating
• Must book at least 14 days before arrival
• Rates are prepaid at time of booking and nonrefundable
• Discounts are 15% to 40%.

This offer might be a good savings if you are not HHonors elite with breakfast privileges and breakfast is a valued component for your stay. Embassy Suites and Hampton Inn, where breakfast is complimentary for all guests, look to have better rates where the discount is tied to the Best Available Rate rather than the higher Bed & Breakfast rate for a Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton or Doubletree. The rates tend to be 15% discount for Embassy Suites and Hampton Inn in the U.S. and 20% for Hilton, HGI and Doubletree.

London rates actually look like a decent value discount with 40% off Bed & Breakfast rates at several hotels. London did not even make the Trivago list of top 10 cities for most expensive 5-star hotel rooms. That honor goes to New York.

Hilton Great Getaway 2011

Hotel Brands: Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, Conrad, Waldorf-Astoria Collection, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Home2Suites. 

* Hilton HHonors Triple Miles with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for stays April 1-June 30. This is a 4-key promotion allowing 3,000 miles per Hilton brand hotel stay. LT post March 29.

** Hilton HHonors has triple bonus miles offers with 8 airlines for stays April 1 – June 30. My blog post has promotion registration links for  Alitalia, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, British Airways, Emirates, Miles & More, Olympic, Turkish Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. LT post April 28.

* Hilton HHonors 2011-Q2 promotion for 1,000 bonus points per night April 1-June 30.  Registration is required. All  Hilton brand hotels worldwide participate. 2-key promotion.  Loyalty Traveler post March 25.