HfP reader wins 1 million Hilton HHonors points!

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• Nick M says:

  5 Aug5 August 05:13

  Congratulations! Let us know what you decide to do with them!!

• Karen says:

  5 Aug5 August 05:46

  Congratulations!

• James says:

  5 Aug5 August 06:43

  Awesome! 8 months in the Hampton Corby/Kettering is it? 😉

  • James says:

    5 Aug5 August 06:46

    By the way the 250 nights you could potentially get at a cat 1 hotel would ordinarily retail at around £15,000….

  • JQ says:

    5 Aug5 August 09:23

    I would seriously consider this if I had won, since I am geographically mobile. The breakfast may get a bit boring though. However I could then move to Oman for a few months.

    Also, I heard somewhere that UK hotels have a 28-day maximum stay otherwise you get some sort of tenants’ rights.

• DUS says:

  5 Aug5 August 06:54

  My mum won 100.000 points as a runner-up. Thank you, HFP!

  • HHWin says:

    5 Aug5 August 07:26

    I was a runner up too! Did HFP readers win all the prizes?

• fiona says:

  5 Aug5 August 07:28

  Well done everyone!

• Tim says:

  5 Aug5 August 08:53

  It certainly looks like HFP may have swept the board as I was the lucky winner of the million points and what a prize this is – I was astonished when they told me (usual clichés – never win anything etc) so firstly, huge thanks are due to Rob, not only for tirelessly publishing such a superb site as we have benefitted so much from his (and your) valuable advice and of course, we wouldn’t have known about the Hilton competition without him so massive thanks to Rob and of course to Hilton for the wonderful prize and also to the McLaren Formula 1 team who organised the competition in conjunction with Hilton. Thanks also for the congratulatory messages in this thread – we’re so chuffed! Now, I need your help! I’ve been looking at the Conrad as recommended by Rob but my concern is getting there on Avios – does anyone have experience of BA releasing reward seats in CW to Malé since the devaluation as I understand they can be quite few and far between despite the promised “increase” in availability across the board since April? Or would I have more success with QR and a stop in Doha? The resort itself looks fantastic and it’s a destination I’ve always wanted to go to, particularly for the water villas on stilts as I think these would be amazing and they’ve always been a dream of mine. Now, this isn’t meant to sound ungrateful so please don’t give me too hard a time but the million points will only stretch to a “mere” beach villa and having contacted the Conrad, their current costs to upgrade to one of their lovely water villas on stilts are eye watering and I do mean eye watering! I’m lucky enough to have Diamond status so this will help stretch the points which will be fantastic but officially, they don’t automatically upgrade at this property. So, my dilemma (if I can call it that as I appreciate most people would love such a dilemma) is how do we get there as I don’t want to blow £8k in cash for 2x CW seats on BA, does anyone have any experience of the resort (are the beach villas amazing or will I be looking longingly at those pesky water villas on stilts), has anyone been there with status and received a status upgrade to a water villa so I can hope for the best without having to shell out $thousands and does anyone have any experience of actual/real upgrade costs in February or March as this seems to be the best time to go? Looking at the relevant threads on FlyerTalk, people talk of nightly upgrade costs in the $hundreds rather than the $thousands I was quoted although to be fair to the hotel, they did say this is what they’re currently charging and the rates do fluctuate depending on the time of year, supply/demand and so on although FlyerTalk also implies the property is generally 100% sold which makes me slightly nervous if we do want to upgrade. Or should we just go there anyway if we’re lucky enough to get the flights we want and “slum” it in a beach villa or are there any other anomalies in the Hilton family which will give us a similarly amazing and relaxing 5* beach break but which is somewhat “easier” to get to using Avios and without having to break the bank at the property. Or do I simply follow the advice of James in an earlier post and book into the Hilton Kettering for 8 months for a slightly easier life! Any advice will be enormously appreciated.

  • Simon says:

    5 Aug5 August 09:00

    I would suggest looking at flights to Bangalore on Avios. A few days in India, then you can fly Air India to Male in 3 hours…. It is a great way of experiencing India before a few perfect days in the Maldives….. We did this a few years ago, and found plenty of availability to Bangalore with BA in Club World

  • roberto says:

    5 Aug5 August 09:04

    Currently there are no CW reward seats to Male between now and June next year. As in none.. I guess they release two per day and they go as soon as they appear at 1am or when ever it is.

    There is no first class and club is always full so the chance of an award flight popping up is slim to none..

    I have been to the Maldives twice.. Its a stunning place.. I flew via Dubai on emirates in J and direct via first choice. They where two different journeys of course but I understand the merits in both. My two bits of advice is (1) go and (2) don’t spend £8000 on a prize you won for nothing.

    Congrats… And enjoy your points …

  • Polly says:

    5 Aug5 August 09:18

    Better still use your 241 in J to Bangalore, and see a bit of India, then local flight to the island. Have a great holiday and well done!

  • Mark W says:

    5 Aug5 August 09:47

    I have been to The Conrad 3 times now and can’t say enough good things about it! I’ve flown BA, Emirates and Qatar. BA was via a 2-for-1 in the early days of the route – it seems almost impossible to go this way now – never any availability. One thing I did notice when monitoring availability is that it often is made available around 3 months after the 355 days before. Last visit was J with Qatar via Doha using Avios and I would highly recommend this option – their 767 is a class apart from CW and the second flight from Doha on a regional plane had flat beds in J. The first time we stayed at the Conrad I used points for the Beach Bungalow but upgraded to the Superior Water Villa pre-visit. I paid around £500 upgrade fee per night, but we felt it was well worth it and I would highly recommend this villa (if you can stretch to it, the Delux is even better). Despite being Diamond on 2 of the visits, I have never recieved an upgrade – just free breakfast and a free excursion. Reading TripAdvisor, guests are sometimes upgraded, but it appears only at very quiet times – certainly not Oct to April. We have always been in the April to June window, which is the start of the rainy season, but have often found we can go 4 or 5 days with no rain at all during the day – it was more an evening occurance with great lightening displays in the distance. At this time of year it has always been quieter as well, nearer 70% occupancy, probably why the upgarde costs are cheaper. Last time we went earlier this year, I actually waited until we arrived and then negotiated the upgrade. As there was availability, it was half of what they quoted me when I enquired 4 months before we travelled. This is the route I will follow next time we visit, but I would keep a regular check on availability in the lead up to the trip and use Qatar again. One warning – the COnrad is expensive for everything else. Living in London, the prices are comparable or slightly higher than a quality restaurant here – but the quality is always very good.

    • Tim says:

      5 Aug5 August 10:22

      Thanks Mark,

      Very useful.

      Regards,
      Tim

      • Jason says:

        6 Aug6 August 08:23

        Hi Tim

        I’ve been looking at the hotel for late 2016, to stay 12 nights.
        They’ll send you an upgrade price list when they forward your arrival details, to book the seaplane. Depending on when you go upgrades start from $105 a night to a water villa.
        You may want to also look at SIN, although you’ll need to stay a night there.
        In a Qatar sale from Brussels, you’ll get decent connections via Doha for about £1000 each in business.

        • Tim says:

          7 Aug7 August 07:15

          Thanks Jason – great advice.

  • Ads says:

    5 Aug5 August 14:05

    Hi Tim,
    Congratulations on the win. I am flying to Male in busines class on Avios in jan. I found it virtually impossible to get direct flights on BA there but found a few options flying business class with QR with a brief stopover in Doha and that’s what we booked. To be honest I actually prefer flying QR in their new 787’s to Doha than BA CW

    • Tim says:

      5 Aug5 August 19:42

      Thanks Ads – I think this is what we might end up doing.

• Emma Cochrane says:

  5 Aug5 August 09:01

  Congratulations!

  I was another runner up and won 100,000 points! Thanks HFP!

• Simon says:

  5 Aug5 August 09:23

  And yes. Maldives is total paradise. I’d try and use your million points for less nights but in an over-water villa. if you are gonna do it, do it properly !

  • Tim says:

    5 Aug5 August 10:24

    Hi Tangey,

    Thanks for this.

    Funnily enough, the Conrad does show availability for the water villas on points and over the weekend when I was going through all of this, they listed the points required for every type of accommodation and anything over and above the beach villa was prohibitive – I just had to expand the rate details and up they popped. Today however, they’re only showing the requirement for a water villa, being the next one up from the beach villa and this jumps from 95,000 a night to a staggering 490,000 a night, hence my questions and concerns about a potential upgrade, whether through status or cash!

    Meanwhile, thanks to everyone for their advice and best wishes.

    Regards,
    Tim

    • Nuno Pinto says:

      5 Aug5 August 13:34

      Hi Tim,

      A suggestion, try to apply to 2 Hilton credit card and you will have 2 free nights on Conrad.

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