Remember not that long ago when I wrote about Hilton adding a 120,000 point redemption tier that would, initially, only apply to the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi and the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal?
That was October of 2019.
I assumed (happily incorrectly) that more hotels would move from the 95,000 redemption category to the 120,000 point level. To remind you, Hilton removed categories several years ago, but left in place a sort of “legacy category cap” so that hotels would fluctuate in price, but if a standard room is available, it still doesn’t go above that maximum.
And even at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, the most expensive Hilton branded resort in the world, if a standard room is available, it’s been 120,000 point (or you can use a Free Night Certificate from a Hilton branded credit card).
I was supposed to honeymoon at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi not once, but twice! Both trips were booked using points and Free Night Awards (April 2020 and December 2020) and both were cancelled due to COVID. The hotel now severely limits availability for points and certificates – to the point that I now find it unlikely I’ll ever stay there. However, I did flag on both Twitter and in the Facebook group that May is WIDE open with standard awards. And it still is if you have the flexibility.
Only today, I noticed something changed. There are now rooms marked at 150,000 points that still say Standard Room.
The Hilton Points Explorer page launched when Hilton went “mostly dynamic” with award pricing. It gives you that “max rate” for a standard room. And oh boy….
So, while I’ll be asking Hilton for comment, this seems pretty clear.
There is now a maximum Standard Room redemption rate for Hilton Honors of 150,000 points a night. I assume (but am not sure and will ask) that Free Night Awards will still be allowed.
Thoughts?
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If this the beginning of something to happen on a much larger scale, then it may make more more sense to use transferable points or cash earned from cash back card (or buy points using a cash back card) to get better value than Hilton points can afford.