HHonors points expiry

[dajop]

One thing I learnt today (not through experience thankfully) was that Hilton Hhonors points do expire without any activity within a 12 month period. Haven't seen it on AFF (that I can remember, anyway), and it is not perhaps as well publicised on the Hhonors website, as similar rules are, for example on QFF, Velocity, Mileage Plus etc...

So I thought I would bring it people's attention, just in case they are as slack as me at reading the T&C:

Members who do not earn points in any 12 month consecutive period may be removed from the Program and, if so, are subject to forfeiture of all accumulated points. The account may be reactivated by the member taking one of the following actions:

1. Stay at a Hilton Worldwide hotel, thus reactivating membership; or
2. Earn HHonors points through any third party source of HHonors point accumulation; or
3. Purchase HHonors points

Failure to take action (a), (b), or (c) described above within the prescribed 90-day period will result in the closure of the Member's account and the forfeiture of all accumulated points. Members can redeem HHonors points for any HHonors reward for which they are eligible prior to the account being closed. After the points have been redeemed, the HHonors account will be closed and all remaining points in the account will be forfeited.

 

[ric_melb]

It can be quite a trap if you have a few points accumulated but haven't any recent activity.I have found that purchasing points is the easiest way around this.

 

[JohnK]

Thanks for posting. I did not realise the HHonors points had an expiry date.

 

[moa999]

Found this thread in a search.
Interestingly just got a nine-month warning email - so three months to go.

I note that a non-HH stay (in my case a priceline.com book at Hilton JFK) does not appear to restart the clock, even though it appears as a 0 point stay on hh.com

Obviously not many Australian third party points earnings opportunities, may have to purchase some.

 

[JohnK]

Mine must be getting close to the 9 months warning email as well unless the HH points adjustment in November/December has reset the clock. Anyway I may try out the new Hilton in Pattaya in March.

Obviously not many Australian third party points earnings opportunities, may have to purchase some.

Transfer of Amex MR points does not count?

 

[rwatts]

Transfer of Amex MR points does not count?

Hopefully covered by point 2 in the OP's post of the T&Cs:

2. Earn HHonors points through any third party source of HHonors point accumulation;

(Am also getting close to possibly losing HHonors points)

Richard.

 

[drross]

interesting re points expirying .? is this new. I'm sure i've had an 18 month break from hilton a few years ago ( poor service etc) and my points were fine

 

[serfty]

interesting re points expirying .? is this new. I'm sure i've had an 18 month break from hilton a few years ago ( poor service etc) and my points were fine

YMMV on this as FT anecdotes indicate sometimes they don't expire.

However in general it's better not to take the chance if you have a significant balance.

 

[Nigelinoz]

I transferred 20000 points from my Virgin Atlantic flying club account to my HH account in December 2009 and promptly forgot about them and didn't get any warning emails because I closed the email account linked to the HH account,I only remembered about them when making a reservation just before Christmas,I was able to update my profile but HH advised that there was a rule requiring activity on HH at least every 12 months,I lost the 20000 but HH gave me 2000 of them back as a good will gesture.
Cheers
N'oz

 

[moa999]

Have also heard of Hilton giving them back 1:1 versus earning over a 12mth period - but yes important to keep aware of.

 

[simongr]

Currently sat on a meagre 164K but worth knowing - might have a trip to a Hilton sooner than planned...

 

[JohnK]

Looking at the OP again and I notice this is posted

Members who do not earn points in any 12 month consecutive period may be removed from the Program and, if so, are subject to forfeiture of all accumulated points. The account may be reactivated by the member taking one of the following actions:

1. Stay at a Hilton Worldwide hotel, thus reactivating membership; or
2. Earn HHonors points through any third party source of HHonors point accumulation; or
3. Purchase HHonors points

I take it to read that if a member does not have any activity in a 12 month period then this may mean all HH points are forfeited.

Failure to take action (a), (b), or (c) described above within the prescribed 90-day period will result in the closure of the Member's account and the forfeiture of all accumulated points.

Assuming that all HH points are forfeited (may not happen) due to 12 month inactivity does this mean that we have another 90 days to earn some points and the all HH points forfeited + the new HH points earned will be re-instated.

P.S Is a 90 warning email a pre-requisite before forfeiting HH points? My last stay was Ozfest 2010 and not likely to stay in a Hilton in Australia again for a while.

 

[oz_mark]

Yes, they may be forfeited.

The email is not a pre-requisite, but they normally will send an email to advise of the situation. Of course, there are those that claim not to have received an email.

 

[serfty]

It's reported on FT that HHonors generally cancel an "inactive" account in line with their T&Cs. Points are forfeited when that happens, although there are some re-instatement processes at some cost that can be applied.

Generally if you don't want to lose the points, it's simply easier to have some activity before they expire.

Simply transferring 1000 Amex MR across is an easy one for OZ residents.

Other than that see here: How To Keep Hilton HHonors Points From Expiring: The Definitive Thread - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[JohnK]

Generally if you don't want to lose the points, it's simply easier to have some activity before they expire.

Simply transferring 1000 Amex MR across is an easy one for OZ residents.

Sure I would like to keep the HH points without losing them but it would be nice to know when the HH points are likely to expire. Most programs will give you a date of when points/miles are likely to expire but not HHonors. Or am I not looking in the right place?

The reason I ask is that although my last stay was May 2010 the points did not post until July/August 2010 and were still incorrect. I finally got them to fix it all up in November/December 2010. So is my expiry May 2011 or August 2011 or December 2011? Would be nice to know....

 

[serfty]

You are complicating things.

Use this: https://secure.hilton.com/en/hhonors/mytravelplanner/hhonors_activity_all.jhtml

The date of last activity is rather obvious.

 

[JohnK]

OK the date of last activity is not so obvious to me.

Are you referring to the hotel stays summary? Need to remember that last stay is not necessarily always the last activity.

Hilton Adelaide hotel
Book Again | Book Reward 28-May-2010
30-May-2010


When I click on HHonors activity it shows up some transactions added with the last column is date added

2010 Q2 PICK OFFER - Hilton Adelaide 4,219 0 08-Dec-2010

 

[serfty]

08-Dec-2010!

 

[JohnK]

Thanks. It really is not that clear!

Anyway no need to worry for now. May have a stay in Kuala Lumpur in October to extend HH points for another year.

 

[simongr]

Simply transferring 1000 Amex MR across is an easy one for OZ residents.

Other than that see here: How To Keep Hilton HHonors Points From Expiring: The Definitive Thread - FlyerTalk Forums

Thanks for this tip - I have 160K and wont have any activity until Dec this year at the earliest (and even then maybe not) so I will be topping up in Nov just in case...