HiltonHHonors rewards program?

[dolphincrazy]

Has anyone used this to book a hotel in Orlando? we have 20,055
points and if I'm reading right I can get a decent room at Doubletree Inn in Lake Buena Vista for $65.00 a night thru AAA
and 3 free nights from the points ,seems like a good location and complimentary shuttle to parks( which we may or may not use).
just wanted to know from the experts if this seems like a good deal.
Thanks, Maryann

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Three nights at $65.00 per night plus tax comes to $217.44. If you use points you are effectively getting about 1¢ per point.

You might want to see if you can get a better value somewhere else in the future, with effectively a higher payout and pay cash and earn points at this hotel.

I have never been impressed with any off-site hotel shuttles, free or otherwise. Generally they run at only certain times of the day and often are shared between hotels. Also, they may take you only to the TTC, where you will have to then switch to Disney tansporation to get anywhere.

 

[larry_poppins]

It's true you would be getting 1% for the points. But there are not a lot of ways of redeeming 20,000 points. Also it would allow you to save $200 + bucks. It depends what you want from your points and what your commitment to the HHonors program is.

If you want to save some money staying near the magic, I say go for it. If you want to splurge and stay for free at a fancy Hilton, in Hawaii say, you will need a lot more points. If you want the latter get the Hilton American Express Card. No annual fee and you earn 3 points per dollar spent. I have had this card and have been building up points since 1996 to use at the Hilton Tokyo Bay near Tokyo Disney.

Once again it all depends what you want from Hhonors program.

Larry
Bon Voyage!!

 

[smart cookie]

Originally posted by Cheshire Figment
pay cash and earn points at this hotel.

Just make sure you book thru http://www.hilton.com or call hilton direct to book...

From the Hilton Hhonors terms:

No point or stay credit, airline frequent flyer mileage credit or credit toward tier status will be awarded for wholesale/tour operator packages, contracted airline crew rates, complimentary or barter rooms, stays on NET Group, Series Group or IT Group rates, contracted Entertainment or Encore rates and stays using airline percent-off award certificates. Stays that are booked via third party websites other than the websites of Hilton HHonors airline partners are not Eligible Stays irrespective of rate paid, for the purpose of earning points, miles or stay credit toward VIP tier status.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We had a three night reservation at the Doubletree Guest Suites in June for $66/night that included two adult tickets to Sea World for 5 days through Hilton Honors. We had to take the tour of Hilton Vacation Club while we were there. We didn't use the hotel shuttle to WDW since we had our car. We earned points for this stay.

 

[jgates]

Check out all your options - Disney seems to be the worst redemption value for hotel rewards programs. I can use less points to stay at a more expensive Fairfield Inn (marriott program) nearly anywhere else in the country - because of the attractiveness of the Disney area they bump the redemption points required up significantly there. If I were going to the Marriott Village (the new one outside of Disney), I would be much better off paying cash there and redeeming my points for a stay near St. Louis for a summer trip later.

Also - if you find ways to significantly increase your points (such as the AE card listed), I believe they have Disney passes as a redemption level somewhere up in the 40 or 50,000 point range.

 

[dolphincrazy]

the thing is, these points have been sitting here for a while and I just want to get rid of them I wouldn't normally stay at such a fancy place so, probably won't be acquiring any more points
Thanks for all the replies, you guys are the best!
Maryann

 

[NotTooGoofy]

Please also note that the information on the Hilton Honors web site about what Hilton (and related brands like Doubletree) hotel is a category 1, 2, ... or 7 is often wrong. Be sure to call the Hilton Honors 800 number to get the correct category. You could redeem the points on the web site, print out a voucher and take it to the hotel only to find that they are in a higher category and require more points.