Hilton Macquarie Visa Card

[QF WP]

Re: www.hiltonpremiumclub.com

and then this today (see the bolded in red section in the middle of the message):

Important changes to the Hilton Premium Club program

Hilton is committed to the Hilton Premium Club and we have gone the extra mile to continue to add value to this program. We are pleased to announce an exciting change to the program and as a valued member we wanted you to be the first to know.​

Hilton together with Macquarie Bank will enhance the benefits offered with membership. You’ll continue to enjoy all the Hilton benefits you currently have, but they will now come as part of a new Visa Platinum credit card brought to you by Macquarie Bank^. You will earn 1.25 Macquarie reward points per dollar spent^^ on all your everyday purchases including those at Hilton Hotels, and continue to enjoy Hilton HHonors and Frequent Flyer points for your stays. ​

Once you are approved for a Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card, you can enjoy all the added benefits of a Visa Platinum credit card (which includes the Hilton Premium Club membership) for an initial application fee of only $275 per year (normally $295).​

The Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card will officially launch in November 2009, and it will replace the current Hilton Premium Club program. ​

Importantly, these changes do not impact on your current Hilton Premium Club membership and you can still enjoy all your membership benefits until the expiry date printed on your membership card. Shortly before your Hilton Premium Club expires, you will receive your Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card application form. ​

What do you need to do?​

To be eligible for the Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card, you must meet Macquarie Bank's credit criteria, which include being a permanent resident of Australia. ​

If you are an Australian resident and your current Hilton Premium Club membership has already expired or will shortly expire, look out soon for further information that will be sent to you about the Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card which includes the application form that you will need to complete and send back to us. ​

To ensure you are one of the first to take advantage of this exciting new offer, please let us know if your contact details have recently changed by completing the form below.​

If you have any questions at this stage please contact us on 1800 251 600 and press option 1 or on 0800 447 778 or email us at [email protected].

We hope you'll find the new Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card even more rewarding and thank oyu for your ongoing patronage. ​

Yours sincerely,

Robin Watters
Regional Director of Sales Australasia - Hilton Sales Worldwide


Interestingly, I am considering changing my Citibank Platinum, so maybe their timing is good - but I want one that transfers to AA, so will have to wait to see what the T&C's are...

 

[oz_mark]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

There is a press release here: http://www.hiltonpremiumclub.com/offers/Press%20Release%20Hilton%20Macquarie%20Platinum%20Card.pdf

It lists a $99 card and two guest passes.

TRAVELLERS OFFERED EXCEPTIONAL BENEFITS
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Hilton Hotels Australasia and Macquarie Bank team up to offer clients exceptional benefits with the introduction of the "Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card." [/FONT][/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]SYDNEY, Australia – Thursday 12th November 2009 – [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Macquarie Bank and Australia’s "Number One Hotel Brandi" Hilton have teamed up to provide exceptional benefits with the Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card. As the first co-branded credit card in Australia linked specifically to a hotel group, the card offers clients a range of valuable benefits including 20 percent off accommodation, food and beverage* at any Hilton hotel in Australasia and Macquarie Rewards Points for every dollar spent[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Courier New,Courier New][FONT=Courier New,Courier New]^[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]. [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Alan Machet, Head of Card Services at Macquarie Bank said the Hilton Macquarie Platinum card provides great benefits for Australians who are frequent travellers. "Lifestyle benefits are increasingly in demand and the Hilton Macquarie Platinum has taken lifestyle focused rewards programs to a new level, tailored to those who have are frequent travellers, whether for business or leisure. The card offers a range of unique benefits at Hilton Hotels in addition to earning Frequent Flyer and Macquarie rewards points that can be redeemed against future travel. We’re delighted to be teaming up with Hilton Hotels who share our focus on innovation, value and service excellence."[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial]​

[FONT=Arial,Arial]Clients also receive 20 percent off room charges, an exclusive reward card for a $99 hotel stay** and guest passes for friends, offering 20 percent off their stay as well. Complimentary travel insurance^^, bonus partner program, purchase cover^^, extended warranty^^, personal platinum concierge service and 24/7 customer service are also features of the Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Arial]Mr Ashley Spencer, Vice President - Hilton Hotels Australasia, commented "this relationship shows our ongoing commitment to our guests and our willingness to support one of our most critical customer bases, the small business owners’ community. The benefits offered by the Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card are outstanding and will help cardholders by providing renowned Hilton service at great value, backed with the financial expertise of Macquarie Bank. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Arial]Hilton and Macquarie offered frequent travellers’ advice on how to save money when travelling and how to maximise the benefits of the Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card. The top five tips are: [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]1) Book in advance – Hilton offers great rates for advance purchase bookings up to 21 days in advance. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]2) Book Online – With Hilton’s online best rate guarantee you’ll find the best rates are always available at Hilton.com. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]3) Subscribe to our weekly Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card specials bulletin to keep up to date on all of our great deals. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]4) Double and even triple dip – Earn reward points through Macquarie Bank Rewards program, as well as access to Hilton HHonors points and Airline Frequent Flyer points. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]5) Use your Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card for everyday purchases to increase your point earning that can be redeemed for travel. [/FONT]
[/FONT]

 

[QF WP]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

I have just had a call from one of the two Macquarie Bank CC team that are ringing HPC members to discuss the letter sent to us from HPC (and emails) announcing the tie-in. I have his direct telephone number.

You should be getting a call from either Rory (an Irishman) or Niatous (it's a he, not sure where he's from). Rory was happy for me to report our discusions and it seems that he has spoken to a number of you already. I discussed that there were a number of negatives that we had discussed here, mainly:

Negatives
1. Increase in membership from previous $200 year AFF rate (he said that $275 was the rate for HPC members transferring and $295 was for new applicants - as per email from Robin Waters)
2. Lack of a transfer of Macquarie Rewards points to other programs (dimunition of overall FF benefits).
3. For some, the lack of need in applying for another CC (it requires Macquarie to contact accountant to verify income).

I am ambivilent about point 1, as I stay enough at Hiltons to still have the annual fee still worthwhile (I wasn't part of the AFF deal). Point 2 is my biggest sticking point. point 3 is okay for me, as I could get rid of Citibank but they credit to QFF, so that's a benefit for retaining). Getting rid of 2 cards in my wallet to 1 is of no huge concern

I'm still of the opinion that I'll be seeing the annual fee as being the HPC cost and not using the card (as per previous discussions).

He was going to take point 1 back to discuss with Robin Waters (not that I'd expect a sweetner). Of course he was trying to counter point 2 with their "any time, any flight, any airline policy" (in the T&C's) as well as the travel insurance (I countered with the fact that I have a corporate annual travel policy which gives me better coverage for less cost).

An impasse, but he is sending me the email to sign up. I'll consider...

 

[QF WP]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

serfty, it all depends on how much in savings you garner each year versus the $275 paid in obtaining the opportunity to use the discounts. I agree with you that it would require 4 to 5 nights to make it cost neutral (based on the average cost saving of 20% ($50) on a $250AUD night rate), then the savings build up beyond that level of usage.

Still, I believe oz_mark's comment in post 19 is still a valid way to use the Mac/HPC CC. Once the benefits have been obtained (by the pre-authorisation), then change to your preferred card at check-out. The Hotel wants your money, I don't think they are going to care from which card it is obtained. They cannot deny service at that point (it has been obtained). The only nights that I can see that it wouldn't work for, as JohnK pointed out, are pre-paid rates (where it will have been deducted from the card at confirmation of reservation).

itsalongwaydown, your point is very valid. I don't know how many others in HPC obtained similar deals (corporate rates), however I think that the percentage would have been small, thus the reason why MacBank might not want to have maintained the discount (to try and obtain higher revenue). Still, they risk losing a large slice of that previous market (AFF users, for example), if they don't make more of an effort to negotiate a corporate deal. The issue is that it the HPC is now encapsulated within a CC and I think they will be concerned with setting a precedent.

 

[oz_mark]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

Is that documented anywhere?

According to the T&C's:http://www.hiltonmacquarie.com/pdf/MCS015_HiltonMacTandCs_Oct09_v3_a[1].pdf

To enjoy the privileges provided and run by Hilton (being
Hilton Hotels of Australia Pty Limited) to which you are now
entitled to as the holder of the Hilton Macquarie Platinum
Card, you must produce your Hilton Macquarie Platinum
Card (“Card”) upon arrival at the hotel and or outlets. The
Card will be automatically debited for the charge unless
a separate Card is specified by you for payment or if the
Card is declined.

​

While looking through emails about the changes, and the press release for the new card/Hilton tie-in, I noticed their reference to hiltonmacquarie.com (this website is not currently working btw)

'tis working now.

 

[straitman]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

After prompting them this morning I received an email response this afternoon which stated:

Thank you for your email.

At present we are not offering corporate credit cards under the new program, however we will be looking into this at a later stage.

Please let us know if you require further assistance.

Kind regards,
Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card
Tel: 1800 251 600 (Aus) or 0800 447 778 (Nzl)
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.hiltonmacquarie.com

I replied to hiltonmacquarie with the following:

Thank you for your response.

I trust that you looked at the link I forwarded to you. Here it is again! http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...o-hilton-premium-club-20120-2.html#post280601 with Post #62 being a copy of your reply and also this email.

Without any type of group inducement, I can see that there is a good chance of losing a considerable number of our twenty members group and some of our other individual members when our renewals are due. I also notice that the Hilton Lake Taupo does not have any specials for December, which combined with the withdrawal of the Conrad hotels makes the program considerably less attractive.

Please note we are not looking for corporate credit cards as each member would have to prove their own eligibility for your Credit Card but we are looking for an applicable composite discount rate for our group. Please let me know as soon as you have any sort of appropriate group or corporate arrangement available.

Regards,

 

[JohnK]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

I guess I have mellowed a little to the idea of Macquarie taking over the HPC but I still see $295 as expensive. Especially when the Macquarie card does not have to be used to make the payment.

It would appear that the changes to Hilton Premium Club are signigicant and do not warrant the new membership.

Has anyone on AFF joined the new HPC? I think our "Old" corporate membership expires in April. I still have a number of $99 rate cards and 20% member for a stay cards. Should I use these before April 2010 or can these still be used after that date?

 

[QF WP]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

I got the following email yesterday:

Convert your Hilton Premium Club membership and receive more rewards and privileges.
Dear Mr Wilson,
We recently wrote to you to inform you of the changes to your Hilton Premium Club membership.
As the Hilton Premium Club is about to close, we would like to invite you again to be one of the first to enjoy our new program, which will give all the benefits you currently experience, now with the added benefits of a Macquarie Platinum Card.

Save when you stay at Hilton Hotels in Australasia​

Earn when you pay with your Visa Platinum Card​

• 20% off accommodation and room charge*
• 20% off at restaurants and bars*
• stay for one night a year for just $99**
• two complimentary Guest Passes***
• continue to earn Hilton HHonors and Frequent Flyer points on stays

• earn 1.25 Macquarie reward points for every AU$1 you spend at or outside of Hilton Hotels^
• redeem points in an extensive range of categories including flights on all major airlines°
• complimentary domestic and international travel insuranceΔ

To ensure you don't miss out on this member only offer ($275 pa, normally $295pa), please update your membership now and enter in your unique customer code .................


We hope you'll find the Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card an even more rewarding experience, and we look forward to welcoming you on your next visit to Hilton.

Robin Watters Alan Machet
Regional Director of Sales Australasia Head of Macquarie Cards
Hilton Sales Worldwide
The Hilton Macquarie Platinum Card is issued by Macquarie Card Services, a division of Macquarie Bank Limited ABN 46 008 583 542 which provides and administers credit. Approval is subject to Macquarie Card Services credit criteria. Terms and Conditions apply and are available upon request. An annual fee, currently $275 for the Primary Card, and $195 for each Additional Card applies. Other fees and charges may apply. Allow up to 10 working days to process your application. Interest rates are variable, subject to change and Macquarie Card Services credit criteria. The standard interest rate is currently 18.95%pa for purchases and 19.95%pa for cash advances. * 20 per cent off any published, promotional, weekend or seasonal accommodation rate; room charges include hotel facilities/services only; Australasia includes Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and French Polynesia. ** Valid at Hilton Hotels in Australia in a Hilton Guest Room, room only; no further discounts apply. Subject to availability. Card is not transferable and must be presented to redeem benefits. Card is not replaceable if lost or stolen. Card cannot be used back-to-back unless there are two individual memberships. Card cannot be used in conjunction with any other marketing offers unless specified. Valid for 12 months from issue of membership. This rate is not eligible for Hilton HHonors points or airline miles. *** A guest pass can be passed on to friends, family or colleagues, and entitles the holder to the same discounts as a member. Full membership terms and conditions apply. Guest pass holder must be staying at a participating Hilton Hotel in Australasia to receive the restaurant and bar discount. Card is valid for one room and for the duration of stay. ^Up to $200,000 annually. Rewards are subject to the Macquarie Bank Rewards Program Terms and Conditions. Reward points are not earned on cash advances or balance transfers. Δ International Travel Insurance, Purchase Protection Insurance and Extended Warranty Cover are underwritten by ACE Insurance Limited (ABN 23 001 642 020, AFSL No. 239687) and are subject to the Terms and Conditions and exclusions contained in the policy of insurance between Macquarie Bank and ACE. ° Subject to availability. Flights must be booked through MyChoice Travel and are subject to MyChoice terms and conditions. Internet direct airlines (except Jetstar and Virgin Blue) and airlines that do not offer electronic ticketing cannot be booked via MyChoice Travel. MyChoice Travel is operated by Pinpoint Travel Group Pty Ltd License No. 2TA002974. Booking fees may apply.

 

[serfty]

Lindsay,

I have a similar email (as no doubt do many) but I also have another slightly more encouraging email that arrived today. I'll give you a call on Tuesday after I arrive back in Oz from NZ and maybe we can scratch out a way forward.

I note the following from Lindsay's pasted email:

... An annual fee, currently $275 for the Primary Card, and $195 for each Additional Card applies ...

 

[Danger]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

According to correspondence from HPC, the $275 fee is for all renewals; $295 for new members.

 

[serfty]

... Maybe you'll end up with 2 offers every time!

What? you don't already?

I have been receiving ~1.75 emails for each promation since I went with the 2 year deal - incududing some to ask why I have not renewed? (Differnet m/ship numbers).

 

[straitman]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

What? you don't already?

I have been receiving ~1.75 emails for each promation since I went with the 2 year deal - incududing some to ask why I have not renewed? (Differnet m/ship numbers).

I qualify in the group who gets bugger all from them. At least we now know where our emails go :!:

 

[acdc]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

Does anyone know if the "$99 rate" and "Member for a Stay" cards can be used after one's membership has expired? I quickly checked their website but could not see any mention of this.
I have not used any of mine yet (2X$99) & (2X Member for a Stay) and was wondering if I should do so prior to membership expiry end of April.

Straitman any developments re another membership group buy?

 

[drron]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

I am another who has found it impossible to use my $99 cards.Have tried~50 dates over the last 2 years to no avail.Hopefully the member for a stay card can be used when my membership lapses.

 

[serfty]

I believe you need a current membership to use the $99 cards.

As for the "member for a Stay", it is possible they might be able to be used beyond one's membership but I have no anecdotal experience with this.

Hilton Macquarie - Hilton Macquarie Guest Pass Activation

 

[Mal]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

Anyone else received a couple of emails similar to:

Dear Mr X,

Your Hilton Premium Club membership is due to expire soon or may have already expired and we would like to contact you to discuss how you can continue to enjoy these great benefits.

The current contact details we have for you are:

Mobile Phone Number: X
Business Phone Number: No number provided
Home Phone Number: No number provided

Residential Address: X

Email Address: X

To update or confirm your details are correct, please complete the form below by X and enjoy a complimentary bottle of wine or one full buffet breakfast, when you next stay at Hilton.

Ensure you don't miss out, update or confirm your contact details today and we will be in contact shortly.

Kind Regards,



Robin Watters
Regional Director of Sales Australasia
Hilton Sales Worldwide

Your Privacy: All personal information collected by Hilton Hotels of Australia will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy available at Hilton Macquarie - HOME. By supplying your personal information, you consent to Hilton Hotels of Australia disclosing your personal information to Macquarie Bank Limited to keep you informed of products and services we may offer. You can opt out at any time by contacting us on Freecall 1800 251 600 or 0800 447 778.

I updated my address field, (my address was recorded as the HPC head office), but left the rest blank. No use in them trying to phone me and suggest I get a card that they won't approve due to my residence status.

 

[serfty]

I am another who has found it impossible to use my $99 cards.Have tried~50 dates over the last 2 years to no avail.Hopefully the member for a stay card can be used when my membership lapses.

I had no trouble booking with my two $99 cards.

One was at Auckland (NZD113) last year (booked ~4 months out), the other was booked in January for early March at the Hilton South Wharf.

 

[drron]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

Well I have been unable to book $99 rates at south wharf,MEL airport,On the park.Sydney,Brisbane,Adelaide-all multiple times.Guess I just want to travel at popular times though at Sydney couldnt get Friday to Sunday nights virtually every weekend January to March this year.

 

[Flashback]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

I have managed to use $99 rates at Hilton Perth and Sydney.

I also received the above e-mail, and am awaiting my free wine/breakfast vouchers...... although I think the validity will expire before I get to use them.

I did use 2 of said vouchers on the weekend just passed though

 

[oz_mark]

Re: Changes to Hilton Premium Club

Anyone else received a couple of emails similar to:

I received a similar email (with a subject of 'We've been trying to contact you'). Seemed a bit strange that they want to discuss my renewal several months before it expires. Maybe they have been having trouble getting people to convert?

Anyway, I get to wait two weeks (apparently) for my voucher to arrive.