Over the past twelve months or so, Hilton Devaluation has almost become a recurring topic, and honestly I’ve grown numb to it. The last major wave of discussion was back in May, but about one month ago I started seeing new posts pop up again, and more recently I’ve noticed some things myself.
The trigger was my recent trip to Amsterdam. I had been monitoring weekend award nights (using Zaozao) for weeks. This is when I spotted some oddities at two properties:
- DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station: originally 65K when I booked, but later went up to 70K for the same date
- Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam: 130K only for the date I reserved, while other dates showed 120K
To be clear, cash rates skyrocketed because of the summer peak season and F1 Grand Prix event, so all award pricing shown should have been the ceiling.
In other words, Hilton seems to be making even individual property award caps dynamic now. I’m not sure whether this specifically targets last-minute bookings or something else. This Waldorf Astoria used to be 95K a night just a few years ago, then went up to 110K earlier this year, now hovering at 120K – 130K.
This new mechanism feels like Hilton’s wicked strategy: slow, incremental hikes that make the devaluation less noticeable. Their free night certificates, available with the US Amex card, look increasingly valuable these days. In fact, I finally bit the bullet last week and signed up for it!
Sadly I have been holding onto Hilton points because any time I am looking the points value always seems to be terrible, maybe I am unlucky (like 0.25p/pt). I may end up trying to use them for a 5 for 4 for better value but don’t quite have enough to use them anywhere really nice and I generally find better value or nicer alternatives from other chains in the mid range.
Anyway, would love to hear about your US Hilton card experience!
There are some sweet spots at the SLH hotels. Also don’t forget Hilton Experiences.