B ack on Thursday, April 20, 2017, an announcement from Hilton revealed that the first hotel properties under the Tru by Hilton and Tapestry Collection by Hilton brands will be opening soon. They are designed for “a hotel experience that is vibrant, affordable and young at heart with style and personality unique” from the existing portfolio of brands of Hilton.
More information on the Hilton Honors earning rates with both new brands is as follows:
- Tapestry Collection by Hilton Earn ten Hilton Honors base points per every eligible United States dollar spent on room rate and eligible room charges.
- Tru by Hilton Earn five Hilton Honors base points per every eligible United States dollar spent on room rate only.
The Official Reason Why Tru by Hilton Only Earns Five Points Per Dollar Spent
The authors of some weblogs at BoardingArea were rather critical of the announcement from Hilton.
“Hilton Hotels introduced it’s 14th brand today with almost no fanfare whatsoever”, according to this article written by Jon Nickel-D’Andrea of No Mas Coach. “That’s probably because their new brand, Tapestry, is in my mind one of the most ill conceived and poorly marketed hotel brands that I’ve seen launched in quite some time.”
Gary Leff of View From The Wing had this to say: “And like Home2 Suites the new Tru by Hilton will earn just 5 base points per dollar on room rate only.” He then ends this article with the following statement: “Since Hilton’s elite status is easiest to earn by credit card, and Diamond still doesn’t have strongly defined benefits beyond Gold (and is itself easiest to earn via credit card), it doesn’t make sense to me to earn Hilton status based on stays. And 5 points per dollar hardly seems like enough incentive to shift wallet share.”
Rather than consider joining in on the criticism, I decided to ask my contact with Hilton for the official reason as to why members of the Hilton Honors frequent guest loyalty program will earn a reduced amount of points when staying as a guest at a hotel property under the the Tru by Hilton brand. This is the official statement which I received as a response to my question:
“At Hilton, we’re committed to constantly innovating to deliver exceptional experiences for all of our 60 million guests and members. That means coming up with new brands that offer new ways to earn and enjoy Points for different types of guests and members. With our new brand, Tru by Hilton, we’re giving guests a more simplified, spirited experience that’s grounded in value. We invite anyone with questions or feedback to give us a ring at 1-800-4-HONORS or shoot us a note at Honors@hilton.com.”
Summary
Along with the new benefits specific to each brand, members of the Hilton Honors frequent guest loyalty program will continue to enjoy all of the other benefits they know — including Points & Points earning, system-wide promotions, elite status bonuses, Digital Check-in, and My Way Benefits…
…but some people will simply not be happy with the reduced earning of points when staying as a guest at a hotel property under the the Tru by Hilton brand — and they may avoid staying at one as a result.
Source: Hilton.
