Watch out for improper crediting of Hilton Honors points when staying at these hotel properties when using the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, as you will be credited with only triple points instead of 14 times the points you would normally earn.
Watch Out for Improper Crediting of Hilton Honors Points When Staying at These Hotel Properties
I stayed at both the Tru by Hilton Hanoi Station and Tru by Hilton Da Nang City Centre hotel properties while I was in Vietnam recently; and I paid for both of my stays — as well as all meals that were associated with them — directly at each hotel property with my Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card. Both hotel properties are SOJO Hotels.
When I reviewed my statement, my stays and meals were only credited with triple points instead of 14 times the points that I should have earned, with the description of what is apparently a travel agency appearing as ONEPAY VIETNAM HA NOI.
When I contacted the official Chat function of American Express about my findings, the response by the agent was “I am afraid the charge was submitted by Travel agencies as Doing Business As: ONEPAY VIETNAM. As the charge was not submitted by Hilton due to which it is not eligible for 14X”
My response was “Well, that’s not fair. I stayed at the Tru by Hilton Hanoi Station and the Tru by Hilton Da Nang City Centre. I paid directly with my card at each hotel property. How is this my problem? I used the card exactly as intended.”
The response from the agent via Chat was “I will raise an investigation to verify this information and check further on it, please be rest assured. We will check thoroughly on this for you. Please chat back after 2-3 weeks for the update on it.”
Final Boarding Call
The entire point of Hilton Honors American Express Cards is to increase the incentive of staying at hotel properties that are part of the brand portfolio of Hilton by giving cardholders the opportunity to earn more points via the affiliation between American Express and the Hilton Honors membership program. I should not automatically be penalized from what I am entitled to earn simply because the hotel properties at where I stayed — which clearly have the name Hilton in them — use some sort of service which does not appear as the hotel properties themselves on my statement.
When I use a credit card — no matter with which membership program it is affiliated — I expect the process to function seamlessly as advertised and in my favor without any more effort on my part…
…especially as the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card is a premium card whose annual fee is $550.00 — so I expect premium service and premium features in return.
Although I am in no hurry for the points to post to my account, I now am forced to wait up to three weeks before I find out whether the “investigation” finds that I am actually entitled to the extra points — especially as I am not guaranteed to receive the difference in points?
That is unacceptable…
…so have this serve as a cautionary tale — regardless of which affiliated credit card you use: check your statement balance carefully to ensure that you not only received the proper amount of points for your purchases; but that you also were charged correctly for your purchases…
Photograph ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
