Q: I used to be a very frequent business traveler. I was a regular at the Hilton chain, where I collected more than 500,000 points and became a Diamond VIP member, their highest elite level, for a number of consecutive years.
But for the past two years, I’ve been in a more stationary job and have not been traveling for business.
Well, this year my wife and I began to plan a summer vacation to the Pacific Northwest. We were interested in tapping into some of the Hilton points, most of which had not been used.
I found the hotel I preferred to stay, verified availability using points and went to book. But to my dismay, I discovered my points were no longer available. I was told by Hilton that since there was no activity on my account for a one year period that I had “lost” all of my points.
I spoke to a supervisor but he really seemed to have no sympathy for my situation, nor did he care about my prior loyalty.
The manager did offer me what he said was a very “generous” offer. If I were to have two paid stays in a Hilton I could get half my points back, and with five paid stays I could get all of my points back. So after a countless number of stays and thousands and thousands of dollars spent at a Hilton, I now have to earn all of that back again?
Needless to say I am angry, frustrated and feel used and abused. Is there anything I can do?
– Ryan Sober
Bethesda, MD
A: Not really. If you read the fine print in your terms and conditions, you’ll see that you’re just plain out of luck.
If you do not earn points in any 12-month consecutive period, Hilton reserves the right to remove you from its loyalty program and you are subject “to forfeiture of all accumulated points.”
But don’t hold Hilton to that, because it also reserves the right to “add, modify, delete or otherwise change any of the rules, procedures, conditions, benefits, rewards or reward levels pertaining to the program at its sole discretion, with or without notice,” according to its contract.
In other words, it’s up to you as a frequent guest to keep running tabs on your program’s fine print. That’s convenient for Hilton, but not so convenient for you.
In fairness to Hilton, I should mention that it has one of the best loyalty programs in the business. And its disclaimers are pretty much boilerplate. In fact, I’ve seen a lot of other terms and conditions from other travel companies that are even more outrageous. Hilton’s lawyers are just doing their job, which is to protect their company from liability.
But is throwing the book in your face any way to repay you for all that loyalty?
I don’t think so.
I mean we’re not talking about a couple of hundred points, here. This is some serious status that you’re looking at loosing.
If you ever find yourself in this situation again – sitting on a pile of points – my advice is to burn them quickly, especially if there’s little chance you’ll resume your traveling lifestyle any time soon. Miles are being devalued at an alarming rate (it’s affecting the airlines, mostly) so what you have earned today probably won’t be worth the same amount in another year or two.
I contacted Hilton and asked them to take another look at your expired portfolio. I heard back from Cindy Baker, the vice president of Hilton’s HHonors Customer Service Center. I would like to say that my intervention made the difference, but it was actually your decision to apply for a Hilton American Express card that put you over the top. Hilton returned all 423,170 of your forfeited points.
“Clearly,” Baker wrote to me in an e-mail, “the man still has feelings for us.”
Somebody get me a tissue, please.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I am in a similar situation right now, can anyone help me out. They are giving me 5000 points for every night for this year that will still not bring me to my 400,000 points. Please let me know what would be the best way to approach.
Thanks
The same thing has happened to me. After years of choosing Hilton first, after one year of inactivity (time passes very quickly) and without any communication or warning, they closed my account. They then offered me 5000 points for every stay during the course of a year – which still won’t recover the points that I have lost. I have decided not to use Hilton again. They do not deserve my loyalty.
I unfortunately discovered the same thing. I’d be willing to pay a reasonable amount for the 50,000 points I lost so long as it was less than purchasing 50,000 points from them outright (i don’t actually know if you can buy points from Hilton like you can with Marriott). I was planning on transferring the points to my Southwest Rapid Rewards account when I discovered they were gone. Easy come easy go I suppose.
Dear Mr Elliott,
I can certainly use some of your magic intervention.
I have lost over 162000 points as Hilton cancelled by account due to non-activity. I have been a loyal Hilton member since 1999 and was a Diamond ViP member for over 2 years in the early 2000’s. Business and Leisure travel has taken a back seat due to the economy and I have become the latest victim of their aggressiveness with removing the points (liabilities) from their accounting books without consideration to customer loyalty or lifetime value. On top of that – I did not even receive a notification from them stating that my points were about to expire!
Calls to the hhonors customer service provided a scripted answer with no empathy or recourse….very frustrating and disappointing.
What has become of Hilton? Does it not care for its customers or bad brand reputation as a result of such tactics? Can you help me bringing some closure to this process as I’m a bit peeved at the callous attitude of their customer service?
I am still a Hilton loyalist and will be making a LOT of stays at their facility thru out my lifetime. I have changed my job role from consulting but eventually plan on hitting the road once the economy picks up and the family settles.
I would greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Ritwik.
*** UPDATE on my request above regarding all my forfeited Hilton Honors points.***
I have been able to get all my points back from Hilton. I had to write a letter to them explaning my situation and urging them to reinstate the balance – which they did as a one time exception! If anyone is in the same boat, I would recommend write a letter and explain why you had the inactivity on your account.
I am glad that Hilton did the right thing – their gesture creates utmost value for both me and them.
I’m sorry to hear about everyones troubles with Hilton Honor Points. May I suggest in the future that you all consider staying in IHG hotels and receive Priority Club Points? Their points NEVER expire, even if you have no activity on your account for 10 years, they will still be there when you are ready to use them. Priority Club also has more options with point redemptions, you can even redeem your points into a prepaid card and use them at competitor hotels for free nights if you are not able to find the exact hotel accommodations that you need from IHG hotels.