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Hello, I need to stay 4 nights at a Hilton property.
The points cost is exactly the same as a 5 night stay due to the 5th night being free.
Points bookings count towards HH status.
What would happen if I book 5 nights on points and then leave in the morning on the 5th day?Sounds like you need to first watch Home Alone then its New York based sequel for tips on how to make a hotel room appear occupied when it’s not.
Thanks, I’ve ordered some Macaulay Culkin cardboard cutouts.
No issue – I’ve done this in Dubai and Hong Kong so we could get a shower etc at c8-10pm before going to the airport.
Ditto, booked an extra night at one of the Vegas Hiltons due to having a day in the dusty desert followed by a midnight flight to Alaska. Went back to the hotel early evening to shower, left for the airport at 9pm.
In my case due to Hilton’s idiotic cash pricing depending on check in/out dates affecting the nightly rate I saved about $400 on the 3 day stay.
Main thing to know is don’t actually check out. Just leave your card key in the room and depart without saying anything. That way you get stay credit.
OK, this points-nights-counting-towards-status is news to me. Is it worth trying a Diamond match from IHG? I am HH gold which is pretty good IME but I have quite a few HH points stays next year due to cash prices being horrific with the £ as it is so Diamond could be feasible.
OK, this points-nights-counting-towards-status is news to me. Is it worth trying a Diamond match from IHG? I am HH gold which is pretty good IME but I have quite a few HH points stays next year due to cash prices being horrific with the £ as it is so Diamond could be feasible.
You’d need to create a new HH account prior to the status match application (can’t apply from a HH gold account).
Once you’ve successfully completed the status match you’ll need to get the two HH accounts merged. I found this harder than it should be and had to escalate via a complaint.EDIT: sorry, forgot to say the 12 Hilton nights (or whatever the current status match requirement is) have to be cash bookings.
Main thing to know is don’t actually check out. Just leave your card key in the room and depart without saying anything. That way you get stay credit.
Thanks but it might be difficult sneaking out with our multiple suitcases!
Will have to try avoiding any charges to the room, so nothing to settle when we leave.
But will the hotel actually care much if we left one day early? Is it worth being up front with them about it?People are coming and going from hotels all the time. I can’t imagine anyone would bat an eyelid and even if someone saw you its doubtfull they would know who you are, what room you are in and that you had another night to stay.
Yes, I’ve been carrying my suitcases here in Japan in and out of hotels to storage regularly. No-one cares and we are talking about Japan here where anything out of the norm stands out. Just leave when you have to leave.
The only issue though that might come up is that you won’t get a physical folio which might be a problem if stay doesn’t post and it will take ages for them to track. I’d settle the whole bill on the 4th day and ask for a receipt.
Main thing to know is don’t actually check out. Just leave your card key in the room and depart without saying anything. That way you get stay credit.
Thanks but it might be difficult sneaking out with our multiple suitcases!
Will have to try avoiding any charges to the room, so nothing to settle when we leave.
But will the hotel actually care much if we left one day early? Is it worth being up front with them about it?Nobody will bat an eyelid. Many times I go up with luggage after checkin, sort my stuff for the next day and then go back down with my cases and lock them in the car an hour later so I can make a running start the next day straight from breakfast. Believe me, hotel staff have better things to do than watch you carry bags around 🙂
Even if you have pending charges it doesnt matter as they have your card from check in. The folio will get created either before checkout time (and posted under your door pre covid) or sent to your email. Or done at checkout time and then just billed to the card.
I’d say that 4/5 stays in chain hotels I never go via the front desk at check out. Independent hotels are a different matter.
If you’re upfront about it then there’s every chance they’ll check you out early or penalise you in some way.
This never even crossed my mind as an issue. I haven’t “checked out” of a chain hotel for years. Just walk out when you want to leave.
I walked out of a hotel a day early with bags last week. I had already settled the extras. I had handed the key to my suite for use by other team members, so didn’t want to check out formally (and they had a party! yay!). No-one stopped me — and no-one will care if you do.
In a UK Hampton last weekend I used the app to get a digital room key. I noticed on the day of checkout there was a button on the app labeled Checkout. Perhaps your hotel will also have a Checkout button in the app which you could use on the official checkout day 5
The problem is not being unable to check out on the final day. The problem is that if housekeeping enters the room and sees that it is untouched since their last entry, they may report it to the front desk and you will get checked out when you don’t want to be/ remaining nights cancelled, in the worst case you may charged for not showing up etc.
That’s not going to happen here, as it’s only departing one night early. Just hang up / switch on the DND sign and leave the hotel, housekeeping won’t come in on day 5 and then the hotel will automatically check you out around the normal checkout time on day 6. For all they know you stayed in the room continuously from night 4 to morning 6.
(They can audit the door entry record if they really want to, but that doesn’t prove anything unless you get a digital key and never enter the room at all – i.e. a mattress run without ever showing up.)
If you’re upfront about it then there’s every chance they’ll check you out early or penalise you in some way.
Correct. Hotels have an incentive to clean the room and sell it again. This will automatically trigger an early check out in your billing. They can keep what you paid AND sell the room again.
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