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Hi,
Like many of you I have just seen the new Hilton Debit Card offer and I am very tempted.I originally decided that I would prefer to use Hilton Hotels as this gave the quickest path to status for me in combination with my Amex Gold Card which I will mainly use for points for flights. This new card eliminates having to wait and seems like a great way to go. I already have a Hilton stay booked at the end of December at Gatwick South with two paid for breakfasts. It seems that if I went for the card, I could rebook without breakfast and possibly get a room upgrade and have breakfasts included via my new status.
A trio of questions…
Does the free breakfast happen automatically with status or do you have to book in some special way or ask at the desk when you arrive? Do you have to request the room upgrade or will they do that automatically? Lastly, I have been very clever (I think) by moving all my spending to my Amex Gold Card or Barclaycard Avios card. In order to spend on this new Hilton card, I will have to remove spending some spending from my other two cards. From what I can see, many people on HFP have multiple cards and I just wondered what logic people use to spread their spending over several cards? One possibility, I suppose, would be to get the Hilton card for status and FX spending and get points via Amex Reward Points and transfer what I need to Hilton when required.
Anyway, I would be grateful for any thoughts, thanks
My experience is –
Free breakfast given automatically when selected as MyWay benefit in your account. F&B credit in the US. Does vary by Brand though.
Room upgrades. Can be automatically given, but I have asked beforehand in the past. Usually if I am booking a room for someone else. I have a stay this weekend and plan to ask at the desk if availability is showing. I will be trying to upgrade from a twin to a two room suite, so may have to turn on the Charm.
Card Strategy. How long have you got? Mine varies with the current offers. I usually use Hilton Barclaycard for Hilton stays, but will now be using Amex due to new spend £200, get £50 back offer.
Hi Darren,
Thanks for the reply, that all makes sense. One question though, I don’t seem to have the MyWay benefit showing on the website or my app, that may be because I have zero stays, zero points and only member status. I presume this changes once I get my tier upgrade through the Hilton card? I guess if not this is something I can easily sort out at reception.
Interesting about the room upgrade, I assumed/hoped it would be 100% automatic, rather than have to use charm etc.@Slartybartfast Myway only appears if you have gold or diamond status. You set the option on the web or app for each brand individually before you check in.
Upgrades for gold are not guaranteed, and fairly rare in some markets such as the US and busy cities in europe.
The upgrade thing is variable. I’ve found it very good in the U.K. and continental Europe but in the USA where golds are a dime a dozen, it gets you a smile at check in if you’re lucky!
Having said that, I tend towards US properties like Homewood Suites and the newer Hampton Inns where breakfast is included on every booking because the nightly credit is pretty useless. I think the one and only time we used it was in Boston where the $36 got us one double rum and coke 😮😂
Is Slartybartfast from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?! I’m trying to remember stuff without googling to stop my brain completely seizing up 😂
Some upgrades are now pre-processed centrally by Hilton. If you get one of those, you’ll get an app notification a day or two before
Many upgrades are done by the hotel on the day. If you get that, you’ll normally be told at checkin, but not always. As a gold, these may be fairly minor.
Better hotels will offer you a choice of upgrades, eg “I can offer you a junior suite but we’d need you to checkout by 11am, alternately we have a king bed room that I can offer you late checkout with” or something like “do you need two beds? we have a nicer room available with a king bed”. If that doesn’t happen, you can always ask during checkin, but as a gold don’t expect very much especially if the hotel is busy….
My recent experience is that I’m offered a cash upgrade in the app a few days before check in, but holding out until actual check in I’ve got one anyway.
In some properties, e.g. Doubletree, you’ll get drinks vouchers and bottles of water (and cookies in DTs), but again it varies. Though the water usually appears regardless.
Is Slartybartfast from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?! I’m trying to remember stuff without googling to stop my brain completely seizing up 😂
yes
Thank you all for the replies, this all makes sense now and I think I will go for the Hilton card, if for no other reason for the free breakfasts, 5 stays X 2 breakfasts should cover the card fee, anything else I get is a bonus.
NorthernLass, yes Slartibartfast is from Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. He is the eccentric nice old guy who designed Earth 1.0 and got an award for the twiddly bits on the fjords in Norway. When we meet him in the book he is building Earth 2, Earth 1 having been demolished by the Vogons to build a bypass
I dimly remember the TV series from the 80s so quite pleased with my recall! Though I remember a lot from that era anyway, the last 10 years, not so much 😂
Thank you all for the replies, this all makes sense now and I think I will go for the Hilton card, if for no other reason for the free breakfasts, 5 stays X 2 breakfasts should cover the card fee, anything else I get is a bonus.
Well you immediately get 80% more base points on every stay as gold irrespective of whether you pay for it using the card or not.
Thank you all for the replies, this all makes sense now and I think I will go for the Hilton card, if for no other reason for the free breakfasts, 5 stays X 2 breakfasts should cover the card fee, anything else I get is a bonus.
Well you immediately get 80% more base points on every stay as gold irrespective of whether you pay for it using the card or not.
Excellent, which would mean even more points from my December stay at Gatwick in December
I dimly remember the TV series from the 80s so quite pleased with my recall! Though I remember a lot from that era anyway, the last 10 years, not so much 😂
Yes I know that feeling, can’t remember something from 5 minutes ago but can remember every word from a song back in the ’70’s Lol
Having said that, I tend towards US properties like Homewood Suites and the newer Hampton Inns where breakfast is included on every booking because the nightly credit is pretty useless. I think the one and only time we used it was in Boston where the $36 got us one double rum and coke 😮😂
Doesnt the credit cover all F&B? You can simply order a couple of drinks to the room and offset the cost by the credit?
The tips though is another story.
The upgrade thing is variable. I’ve found it very good in the U.K. and continental Europe but in the USA where golds are a dime a dozen, it gets you a smile at check in if you’re lucky!
Having said that, I tend towards US properties like Homewood Suites and the newer Hampton Inns where breakfast is included on every booking because the nightly credit is pretty useless. I think the one and only time we used it was in Boston where the $36 got us one double rum and coke 😮😂
I really like the Homewood Suites rooms, but think that the breakfast is awful. In terms of the credit, We were comped breakfast for two at a HGI in Atlanta earlier this year. The credit wasn’t even mentioned and the full price of breakfast showed as a deduction on the bill.
@DarrenS I had similar at the HGI in Austin. I think some of the properties in the US are rebelling against the $10 F&B credit because they know it’ll lose them business.
Noted on the Ts&Cs today that the new Motto brand properties in Europe are F&B credit insteam of breakfast, so Hilton appear to be trying to push it more widely as expected.
Anyone got a Currensea referral code that they’d like to share?
Anyone got a Currensea referral code that they’d like to share?
I have one but I’ll let @Rob go first.
Slightly off-topic but related – is the free breakfast with Gold only a continental? And if it’s a full one, are the breakfasts decent at regular Hiltons? I can’t remember the last time I stayed in a Hilton, but the Hampton by Hilton I stayed in at the end of last year where the breakfast was included it wasn’t great, I’m sure it was powdered egg for the scrambled egg. I could have a few Hilton stays next year and might possibly consider the card for the Gold and get a few points for the stays and the breakfast if they’re any good.
Most of the time you get the full Monty, though technically they only have to offer continental. I’ve had some fabulous ones – a stand out one was the Doubletree Harrogate for variety and quality.
Another fond memory was the UN Millennium Hilton in NYC, it was continental but a great selection of cold items, bagels, etc, served in the lounge about 30 floors up with amazing views!
Oh yes, the Berlin Hilton breakfast was really, really good, as a cheese lover I was in heaven with all the different varieties they put out to go with my smoked salmon!
In several dozen stays in the past 15 years in all sorts of Hiltons, Conrads, etc., never had any deny me access to the buffet.
Some are good, some are less good. You’ll be fine.This year I have stayed at a Hampton and a couple of Curio Hiltons (100 Queen’s Gate and Lost Property) and the breakfast buffets for the Curios was certainly a step-up from the Hampton.
*NorthernLass drifts off into cheese-filled reverie* 😁
Thanks, that’s useful. Looking again, they would actually be Hilton Garden Inns, not sure if that makes a difference.
A continental breakfast on the continent is very different to what we call a continental breakfast (a soggy croissant and some fruit salad in a bowl doesn’t cut the mustard) isn’t it? I could have stayed all day at one I went to in Switzerland a few years ago. I do like a good breakfast – the breakfast I had earlier this week at the Premier Inn Romford West was a good PI one actually, eggs cooked perfectly to order however you wanted by a very nice lady who seemed to be running the entire morning shift by herself!
Edit: Thanks @MoK and @RuiN good to hear
@tootsci it makes a huge difference. Each Hilton brand has their own standards for breakfast, Hampton is very basic, bread, bagels, the waffle maker is the thing they shout about, powdered scrambled eggs, cereal and fruit and usually decent coffee.
HGI have a “cooked to order breakfast” as standard as well as buffet options. The marketing blurb is light but it’s part way down this page https://www.hilton.com/en/brands/hilton-garden-inn/
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