Hilton Honors have changed the number of points required for many of its properties as of March 10, 2022, without any advance notice to its members. This change was first noticed in a FlyerTalk post here.
Hilton decided to stop publishing award charts back in 2017 (read more here) but launched a Points Explorer tool the following year that allows members to have an idea of the points range that each affiliated hotel has required in the past few months (read more here).
You can access Hilton Points Explorer here.
READ MORE: Hilton Honors Rate & Bonus Points Offers
Hilton has a maximum point requirement for a standard room for every affiliate hotel (STANDARD ROOM REWARD) that is independent of the price that the same room sells.
There are PREMIUM ROOM REWARDS for non-standard rooms, and this price correlates directly with the underlying room cost and can be in the million+.
The change on Thursday has affected a significant amount of hotels, but it is easy to spot the ones that we continuously cover here when it comes to redeeming points (most expensive hotels).
Is This Devaluation Bad?
Obviously, we never want to pay more for the standard room awards than in the past, but generally speaking, Honors points are still good value for the most expensive properties even after this change.
You also have to remember that you earn a minimum of 30 points per USD charged at most Hilton brands as a Diamond member, including their never-ending promotions (this assumes double points – currently 2,500 bonus per stay), not counting possible cobranded credit card bonus.
Changes I Spotted:
Conrad Maldives
The hotel standard reward is now 120,000 points per night (previously 95K).
Mango House (LXR) – Seychelles
The standard award is now 110,000 points per night (previously 95K).
Roku Kyoto (LXR) – Japan
The standard award is now 110,000 points per night (previously 95K).
Grand Wailea (Waldorf Astoria) – Hawaii
The standard award is now 110,000 points per night (previously 95K).
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
The standard award is now 110,000 points per night (previously 95K).
You can search for Hilton standard and other awards using an Award calendar.
Hilton Honors Award Calendar With Maximum Points
Conclusion
I believe that the worst damage is done, not at these most expensive properties, but your average Hilton or Embassy Suites, which may suddenly go for 50K to 70K Honors points per night.
When comparing point requirements in between chains, just always keep in mind how many points you tend to earn per USD when elite and promotional bonuses are factored in, and Hilton is very generous on these (there are always back-to-back promotions).
We are looking at updating the Hilton Honors Master Property lists that we last published in July 2021 (read more here and here). However, there have been some changes in how we access this data, and not 100% sure if it is still doable.
Are there any other changes that you have uncovered?
