Gold status upgrades from Executive rooms

[Moopere]

I'm looking for some anecdotal evidence from those who might habitually book and stay in Executive rooms at Hilton properties and hold Gold HH status, particularly, but not only, in Australia - do you still tend to get an upgrade to .... I guess a suite? Even if not a suite, do you more often then not end up with some sort of upgrade which makes you happy?

Currently my own thoughts are that for a Gold its unlikely. There is always a bit of wriggle room at each property because of room naming and general fluff, but it seems to me that an Executive room is the 'highest' classification of room outside of a suite ... as suites do not very often appear to be given to Golds as upgrades, I'm thinking that if you book an exec, your upgrades are likely to be nil. But this is mostly just me trawling over some old posts here - some recent experience would be welcome.

Why? Well, this year has been odd for me, less travel than usual - I'll probably only hit 20-25 nights, if I'm lucky, by end of December and stays/base points required to retain gold are going to be well out of reach. Looking forward to next year I'll be able to coast along on a VA Gold comp, but its caused me to really have a think.

With few exceptions I've been pretty lucky and have received exec room upgrades from base room bookings. I'm hard pressed usually, particularly in Australia, to tell the difference frankly, but whats coveted here is lounge access. There is a fair bit of variation due to yield management from base room to exec room, but, in Australia, the price difference is in the order of $100 (200$ for a base, 300$ for an exec ... something like this). Add a free breaky for 2 in there at outrageous in-house dining charges + a few almost but not quite worthless extra gold status points and the additional value gleaned from being a gold can be in the order of $170-200 / night. Not bad on a booking that probably cost only 200$ to begin with.

Readers can probably see where this is going.

If I am to retain gold in 2016 I need to be building status during my "comped" gold next year. Stays are all self funded (job change from previous years). 20 individual stays seems unlikely, 40 nights equally so, I simply don't have the time (much as I love getting out and away).

Whats left then is hitting base points, which equates to something like AUD$8300-8500 a year in Australia. If I keep booking base rooms I'm never going to make it.

I'm not against booking and paying higher rates for better rooms, but one has to watch whats going on when doing that (similarities to booking airline status runs here). If upgrades from say exec rooms are unlikely, then the 'additional value' proposition of being a gold status holder falls away very quickly and, much like with airlines, I fall between the cracks and am really much better off not holding loyalty and simply booking best room of the day (with lounge) at any chain which suits me.

Thoughts?

 

[kermatu]

I have just had one night in Singapore at the Conrad centennial. Am gold status. Booked executive room and was double upgraded to ambassador suite (exec 1 bedroom suite I think). Already had lounge access, exec room wasn't cheap and only one night, but still a good experience. I think this hotel always upgrades golds by 1 level if there is room.

in Oz, no upgrades as a gold, from memory. Haven't had many even as a diamond though.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

am really much better off not holding loyalty and simply booking best room of the day (with lounge) at any chain which suits me.

Given your scenario, I think you have hit the nail on the head. I do like the loyalty benefits given by HH but really, it comes down to a bit better room (sometimes no better, some times heaps better), a few (usually) ordinary canapés, an overpriced breakfast where you may have to pay for a decent coffee and a few devalued HH points!

The 2nd guest stays free, water, late checkout, 5th night free, express checkout, free gym access and MyWay benefits are available to silver (and most of them., even to blue) members so forgetting status (but using base benefits where desired) is a very valid option. What it does do, is open up your selection choices. For me, HH is nice when I travel with my family (I then really appreciate the love shown)..........but it is not of huge benefit when I travel for work (the majority of my travel). I like the HH breakfast and I do like the convenience of the canapés, but in all honesty, they both mean little to me in the big scheme of things.

* Note, I was going to add to list above, the free newspaper.......but it seems to have gone missing off the HH benefits page. Are we still entitled to a newspaper in the morning, or has that gone the way of the Dodo?

in Oz, no upgrades as a gold, from memory. Haven't had many even as a diamond though.

If you are diamond, I'd be enquiring as to why you have not received many upgrades. I'd suggest as a diamond, I'd be upgraded every stay although the upgrades, (especially in SYD), are sometimes ethereal.

 

[Princess Fiona]

If you are diamond, I'd be enquiring as to why you have not received many upgrades. I'd suggest as a diamond, I'd be upgraded every stay although the upgrades, (especially in SYD), are sometimes ethereal.

Very few upgrades for this little princess as a Diamond
I used to think it was just due to not being a real Diamond but afraid to say that it's not in my case

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Very few upgrades for this little princess as a Diamond
I used to think it was just due to not being a real Diamond but afraid to say that it's not in my case

I'm hesitant to respond Princess, but a horrid thought just occurred to me. I have noted from your posts that you do two things I rarely do....
1) Book a higher level room from the outset; and
2) Choose to accept Nor1 offers.

I am a fairly basic person and I usually book the cheapest (ie the most basic) accommodation level to suit me (which is usually, me by myself) and I have only once applied for a Nor1 upgrade, which I got....and which was basically my diamond upgrade with a surcharge attached! The hotel staff themselves admitted that and reversed the Nor1 fee, but had I not queried it, I have no doubt it would have been an added expense for something I was entitled to.

I have been known to (although not regularly) question a lack of upgrade when I know better rooms are on offer, but admittedly this is largely directed at SYD as most others have given an acceptable upgrade, without prompting, right from the outset.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I'm hesitant to respond Princess, but a horrid thought just occurred to me. I have noted from your posts that you do two things I rarely do....
1) Book a higher level room from the outset; and
2) Choose to accept Nor1 offers.

I am a fairly basic person and I usually book the cheapest (ie the most basic) accommodation level to suit me (which is usually, me by myself) and I have only once applied for a Nor1 upgrade, which I got....and which was basically my diamond upgrade with a surcharge attached! The hotel staff themselves admitted that and reversed the Nor1 fee, but had I not queried it, I have no doubt it would have been an added expense for something I was entitled to.

I have been known to (although not regularly) question a lack of upgrade when I know better rooms are on offer, but admittedly this is largely directed at SYD as most others have given an acceptable upgrade, without prompting, right from the outset.

To an extent you are correct. There are certain properties (SYD in particular) where I will always do this. In the majority of cases I don't bother with NOR1. Sometimes I will book
an Exec Room to try to trigger a comp suite upgrade but not always.
I guess I'm basing my pessimism on our trip to the U.S. Didn't book high category rooms or opt for NOR1 on numerous bookings and only one property gave us an upgrade of any description.
I should also say that I post probably about half of my stays on the "How do Hilton Treat You" thread. This is usually when they are notable in a good or bad way.

 

[Moopere]

My original post came across pretty much as a bit of cry about the impending loss of HH status .... but it wasn't meant to be. I'm one of those manic guys who works out all his loyalty stuff back into dollar value on a mammoth spreadsheet.

I must admit, I was surprised at just how much 'dollar value' I do manage to extract from this program, but the main reason for that is the almost 100% hit rate on upgrades thus my question on probability of inching up by one category even when you've booked pretty much at the top of the normal room types.

...a few (usually) ordinary canapés, an overpriced breakfast where you may have to pay for a decent coffee and a few devalued HH points!

My experience of the lounge 'canapes' inside of Australia has been pretty dismal ... and you are right, with the increased difficulty in retaining status, the decrease in point value and coffee charges and whatnot there must come a time when PAX start to have a re-think. That time is now for me.

The 2nd guest stays free, water, late checkout, 5th night free, express checkout, free gym access and MyWay benefits are available to silver (and most of them., even to blue) members so forgetting status (but using base benefits where desired) is a very valid option.

I must admit, I'd forgotten some of these lesser but still important benefits. Gym and late checkout in particular are ones I use pretty much every stay, and now that I'm self funding 2nd guest free is extremely important - I always thought that was a gold only benefit, but no, its available for Blue too.

What it does do, is open up your selection choices. For me, HH is nice when I travel with my family (I then really appreciate the love shown)..........but it is not of huge benefit when I travel for work (the majority of my travel). I like the HH breakfast and I do like the convenience of the canapés, but in all honesty, they both mean little to me in the big scheme of things.

The thing for me is that even in the 'good years' I've had to hunt for opportunities in order to retain gold. I usually just sneak in, whether by nights or by base points. So, I simply can't afford to even look at other hotels as I need every single night and dollar available to be spent at Hilton. Now they've raised the bar and my circumstances have also changed I'll never make it. So, suddenly I can stay at the odd SPG property too

But in reality, I always really liked the Hiltons I've stayed at, primarily SE Asia and Australia. Wife is happy with them too, so, one way or another most of our stays are still likely to be at Hilton or related properties.

The question boils down to this ... whats it worth, in dollars, to keep Gold status? To throw numbers around, Is there enough value in Gold to throw an extra say 2-3K$ into booking exec rooms outright, and thereby retaining status on base points? If Exec room room booking regularly turned into Suite upgrades then I could pretty confidently say yes to that.

If I'm booking Exec rooms for access to benefits and assuming I keep silver status at least, then the additional benefits of Gold are the restaurant buffet breakfast and thats it ... gym, lounge, basic breaky (in lounge), 2nd guest in room, water, late checkout are all covered off by either the room class or silver status.

Given that even Diamonds are not all reliably finding themselves in Suite upgrades (as I thought) it seems an unlikely thing for me to be factoring into a calculation. It _can_ happen of course, I had pretty good luck in SE Asia with Suite upgrades as Gold, but my miss rate was far higher than my hit rate on ups to Exec rooms from base.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

The question boils down to this ... whats it worth, in dollars, to keep Gold status? To throw numbers around, Is there enough value in Gold to throw an extra say 2-3K$ into booking exec rooms outright,

I'm sure you've considered it, but would the HH platinum card suit you? It comes with complementary gold status.

 

[Moopere]

I'm sure you've considered it, but would the HH platinum card suit you? It comes with complementary gold status.

Thanks for the reminder. Someone else also mentioned this to me and I forgot to chase it up. The old version of this card was pretty expensive and didn't offer much of an enticement at the time as I was usually out of the country on stays. The new card, I've just checked it, is still pretty expensive given that it appears to me to be completely worthless as an actual useful FF type card, however, 300$ for Gold HH membership ... yep, totally worth it - thanks for the reminder.

 

[drross]

It's not bad for rattling up HH points and you get a free night at a Hilton when you sign up. I thought it was reasonable value.