Yesterday I wrote about a couple of very interesting newer features available through Hilton’s mobile app.
I wrote my post after receiving an e-mail from Hilton earlier in the day with the subject “Check out a new way to check in“. The next bit of info is what really caught my attention- “Only with us, now you can choose your room“.
I really wasn’t sure when these new app options went live so I decided to call Hilton and ask.
While Hilton’s rep was friendly enough he was kind of surprised by my question and may have even laughed under his breath. (That’s OK, no offense taken!) Either way, he wasn’t really sure when the choose your room option went live but said it was recently and pretty new….
I thanked him for the info and after telling him there was nothing else he could do for me, I was given a small offer.
The rep asked if I would like to hear about special offers and vacations by being transferred to that department. Well, I wasn’t interested and he probably sensed it by my pause. However, I happily accepted when he told me there was no risk and I would get 500 HHonors points just for listening!
I was then transferred to another department and was asked for my name, HHonors # and my telephone # associated with the account.
I was wondering how long I would get stuck on the call listening to offers I most likely had no interest in but was happily surprised…
After a brief pause, the rep informed me that my account had no offers and that 500 points were being added to my account!
This sounded like one of the easiest ways I’ve earned some points, although not exactly a windfall.
There was one last thing I needed to know. Was the department I was transferred to actually Hilton? The rep happily told me that this was indeed Hilton and not a third-party.
I logged into my account later that evening and was surprised to see that the points had already posted.
The bonus description was put in as HGVC Tour Bonus. It looks like I got some points for a Hilton Grand Vacations Company tour that I never took…
Just in case you’re interested in trying to get this easy 500 HHonors points bonus, you can call customer service at 1-800-HILTONS (1-800-445-8667).
If you give it a try, please let us know if you were successful in getting the free points.
I’ve been using the choose your room where available for a while and love it. I consider it necessary as my reservation requests of a high floor often get me assigned a 2nd floor room. Where choose your room is available I can fix the severe issue with honoring guest requests (this isn’t limited to Hilton, I’ve had the same issue with Marriott and Crowne Plaza over the past year but I can’t pick my room with them).
Joel- Sounds easy enough to me and similar to my call in which my account had no offers!
Interestingly enough, I got that HGVC option when I was calling in to redeem my Citi HHonors Reserve Visa free weekend night certs back in 2013. Even better, I didn’t have to listen to any of the HGVC promotional spiels because the address on my account is set to Australia, but they still credited me with 500 points nonetheless.
Barry M- Very cool! Just curious- was this a property you had stayed at previously? Wondering what info we can go by to determine what room is best to select.
I like the Choose a Room feature. I didn’t know about it but when I made a reservation a couple of weeks ago the option popped up. It’s easy to use and I in fact was able to easily move from the automatically assigned room to a better one. I like it.
Christine Davis- If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t an announcement first made about choose your room in late July 2014? I’ve been told it is a new option, available for around a month, maybe 2. We stayed at a Hilton in late August and were not given any options to pick our room. Would definitely like to know for sure when these options went live! 🙂
Mike- Everyone values points differently but I hear ya. I’ll take free points in any program. You never know when you will be short just a little bit… I made a quick call and was offered the 500 points to listen to other offers. After the transfer, we’re talking around an additional 2 minutes. Easy enough to me!
Kelly S- Glad you were able to get the free 500 points for just 5 minutes extra on the phone! Enjoy Hawaii and everywhere else you are visiting!
Yep that was easy! I had to call them about an existing reservation change and they then put me through. I did spend 5 minutes listening to offers. We are going to Hawaii in June but they had no offers for Hawaii. I had other trips planned to Orlando and Myrtle Beach but without my spouse being with me I couldn’t take advantage! Not that I would have anyway!
Given the value of Hilton points and having to call and being transferred I’d argue that these are not “easy” Hilton points. No offense to you but taking the time to read this post is probably worth more of someone’s time more than the value of the actual points. Thanks for sharing though.
‘Pick Your Room’ has been available on both the HH website and mobile app for about a year. The mobile version doesn’t always work, and the inventory always appears to be incomplete. No maps provided, so unless you know a property you’re stabbing in the dark. 🙂