When you have look at the terms and conditions of any of the recent Hilton promotions, there is a long list of excluded rate codes. Most of these rate codes are associated with online travel booking sites like Expedia and Orbitz. There are other excluded rates as well, and I have found out that the PR13CB (Corporate Benefits Employee Offer) is really beneficial at times.
Who is eligible for this “Corporate Benefits Employee Offer” or “Corporate Benefit Partner Rate” as it is described in the rate details? That is really a good question. I have used it several times at various hotels. To my understanding this rate is intended for personal, non-business travel for Hilton’s corporate partners who have negotiated rates with them.
When should I book PR13CB “Corporate Benefits Employee Offer” rate?
1. It is prepaid/non-cancelable rate. Book it only when your plans are FIRM.
2. Sometimes it is not a good deal if Hilton is running a sale, or you are booking well in advance and can take advantage of advance purchase rates.
3. When booking very short notice. When you are booking for arrival in the new few days, most of the advance purchase and discounted rates no longer apply. This is true especially for stays during the week. In such case this offer can yield significant savings.
4. Are you participating in a promotion that excludes this PR13CB “Corporate Benefits Employee Offer” rate code? Most of the recent Hilton promotions explicitly exclude this promotional rate. You are eligible for all the usual benefits and points i.e. stay credit, double dip, my way etc.
5. When you stay is outside of the United States. Not sure if this applies for Canada and Mexico as well.
6. When it is available. Not all the international properties have this promotion rate plan loaded.
Three rate examples booked using PR13CB “Corporate Benefits Employee Offer”
There is currently something wrong with the updated version of www.hilton.com. When I was searching for few of these rates, that I had previously booked, sometimes the website would show it on the main search page, but when you actually chose the property it was only showing the regular rates. Sometimes I had to start over several times before the rate showed up, and sometimes it didn’t show regardless how many times I tried. At times, I was able to pull up the rate using Hilton’s UK version of the website www.hilton.co.uk
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When searching for the rates, you need to enter the PR13CB code to the Promotional/Offer code field of the search form.
This offer works very well at the Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel. The regular rate for the base room was 18000 Yen per night but with the offer it was lowered to 11520 Yen. At this hotel the promotional rate discounted all room rates, which is not always the case.
The other good example is Hilton Singapore, where room rates have risen significantly in the past few years. The base room Twin (or King) Deluxe Plus goes down from $400 SGD to $272 SGD. Similarly the prices of other rooms/suites are discounted bit more than 30%, when using this offer.
My last example is the Millennium Hilton hotel in Bangkok. The rates at this hotel are discounted 32% using this promotional rate. The baseline Twin Hilton Deluxe goes to 2992 THB from 4400 THB. The suites at this property are quite a deal. You can get the Executive Suite – obviously with Executive Lounge access – just for 4556 THB.
