Last week, Hilton raised the top pricing on its Standard Reward nights from 150,000 to 200,000.
We (along with every miles and points blog in the universe) reported on a bunch of affected hotels and determined that almost all affected hotels were the top end SLH properties (with a couple of Waldorf Astoria hotels in the mix as well, including my beloved Waldorf Astoria Pedregal in Cabo).
But since the devaluation was not directly communicated by Hilton, we were all left wondering about the Free Night Reward certificates from the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card (earned after $15,000 in calendar year spend) and the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire® Card (earned at account opening and each year at renewal and payment of the annual fee).
Those certificates are valid for just about any Standard Reward Night in the Hilton system – including all of the ones that are now 200,000 points. (Premium Rewards nights are and have always been excluded for obvious reasons.)
Of course on the surface that increases the value of those certificates and, therefore, the credit cards.
I personally love to stack some free night certificates with a 5th night free reward. If a property I want has a 7 night consecutive stay available, I can pay points for 4 nights, get the 5th night free, and then use two Free Night Reward certificates for a total 7 night stay.
As much as I hate the increase from 150,000 to 200,000 points (which stings like a bee!), and even though that means a redemption for the above scenario increased by 200,000 points – which is not nothing! – the value from those certificates is unbeatable. Specifically, not a single other hotel chain has certificates that are so easily attainable and also so valuable.
So I just had to reach out to Hilton and ask if there were any changes about to smack us down with a change to the certificates. People have speculated they could block SLH from redemptions or implement a cap on the number of points.
A non-answer would have really scared me but I was able to get this statement which I feel can put us at ease, at least for now.
All of that said, a Hilton spokesperson confirmed to me that they have no plans to make any changes to the Free Night Rewards applicability, including no changes to applicable SLH properties. While we can’t predict the future, it’s heartening to know we won’t see any Free Night Rewards certificate changes for the foreseeable future.
While “no plans” doesn’t mean it will never happen, it does mean it’s not happening now.
So, let’s take a moment to breathe a sigh of relief and keep grabbing that outsized value from the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card and the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire® Card free night certificates :).
Thoughts?
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