Earlier this week, Hilton decided to extend the much-hated Gold & Diamond F&B credit instead of a continental breakfast for two at its US hotels through the end of 2022 and has now sent out an email announcing it and a reminder about its benefit extensions.
The email tried to obfuscate the issue, and even Hilton’s image on the email about the US breakfast credit is from a Waldorf-Astoria Bangkok!
You can access Hilton’s page for benefit extensions here and F&B credit FAQs here.
READ MORE: Hilton Honors Rate & Bonus Points Offers
Here’s the email:
Certainly, the vast majority of Gold & Diamond members don’t look forward to the F&B credit extensions instead of breakfast for two.
Hilton announced several initiatives to help elite members keep their status, earn it easier in 2022, and extend points expiry.
Hilton rolled out Global Automates Upgrades starting this past summer and made the program official recently. However, there has been some ambiguity in how these upgrades are processed.
Examples of upgrade emails:
- Hilton Testing Pre-Arrival Upgrades
- Another Email From Hilton: We’re upgrading your upcoming stay!
- Email From Hilton: We’re upgrading your upcoming stay!
Then we come to this breakfast part that was supposedly only a temporary change for 2021 due to the pandemic but appears to have become a permanent program feature that is a negative change for the majority of Gold and Diamond members that stay other than select-service hotels at which the breakfast is complimentary to all guests.
- Hilton Extends Gold & Diamond F&B Credit In The US Through The End Of 2022
- Hilton Finally “Officially” Releases Daily F&B Credit Amounts For The US Until December 31, 2021
- How’s The Hilton Food & Beverage Credit Instead Of Breakfast Working For You?
The image that Hilton uses to demonstrate the F&B credit applicable for US hotels is from Waldorf Astoria Bangkok!
Conclusion
This F&B credit is a delicate issue for Hilton, and it has hidden the topic on the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) that nobody ever reads, except me (the juicy stuff that companies don’t want you to know, but they must disclose, are usually on the footnotes or in the T&Cs).
Simply put, the Food and Beverage credit makes Hilton non-competitive for top-tier members who stay at full-service hotels in the US, eat breakfast, and when it is not included on the rate or expendable.
I find it ludicrous that Hilton uses a breakfast image from Waldorf-Astoria Bangkok, where this credit doesn’t even apply. Does anybody believe that you would get this amount of breakfast items for $50 at any WA in the US, or is this an early indication that it will be rolled out globally?
It seems that Hilton would prefer its members in the US forget that they used to get a complimentary breakfast and only mention the word “breakfast” once. You can use your F&B credit TOWARDS it. There is no attempt to imply that the F&B credit would cover the now taken away benefit.
You have to give Hilton credit for status extensions, and the Global Automated Upgrades rolled out starting this summer. They cannot downplay the breakfast issue, however.
