A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a question about Hilton Honors benefits on 3rd party bookings.
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You can access Hilton here.
READ MORE: Hilton Honors Rate & Bonus Points Offers
Reader’s Note:
Checked in yesterday @ Hilton Times Square New York .
I’m Hilton Gold, no big deal these days I know
Booked through OTA @ slightly cheaper prepaid rate than Hilton site.
Tried to give Gold # at check in and was told “You can give me the number if you want but you won’t get anything for it as you booked on third party site”
Me : “Oh, really?”
” Yeah, no points, no benefits, no upgrades, no nothing – book direct next time”
Me : “But I just came from another Hilton in Long Island, also not booked direct, and they gave me everything”
“it’s up to the hotel, we give nothing to third parties”
I have never experienced this put so bluntly, the guy wasn’t rude, but he wasn’t super polite either.
John, I had to let it go, but is this Hilton Honors policy, you have to book direct or you get nothing at all?
The hotel was correct here.
Officially, there are no Hilton Honors elite benefits on 3rd party bookings.
But not all 3rd party bookings are non-qualifying. There are travel agents that book public and consortia rates, and those qualify for Hilton Honors points and benefits such as Amex FHR and Virtuoso.
You could say that all rates that you book through OTAs are nonqualifying, however.
The reader also points out that the OTA rate was cheaper than booking directly, which is unfortunately not uncommon.
Businesses often believe that loyalty program members, and especially tier members, are captive, and there is no need for discounts to get their business.
Hilton offers a Best Price Guarantee program with many caveats, but you might sometimes get lucky (I recently did and will shortly write about it).
There is no downside to giving them your loyalty program number and asking for the benefits, but in the reader’s case, they are not required to provide the benefits.
Conclusion
It was very common in the past that you got elite nights, your usual points, and points from possible promotions for all these OTA stays, and that is what initially got me started with these programs 20+ years ago.
Nothing was better than getting your favorite Marriott or Hyatt hotel on Priceline’s Name Your Own Price (bidding) for $50/night combined with all the benefits and points.
I use OTAs when booking independent hotels or those without a strong loyalty program. I just booked a Nikko hotel @ KIX for a transit next week on Trip, whose price was lower than booking it directly. I wouldn’t get any benefits anyway, so why not?
