Reward Category Pricing

[Deleted member 29185]

I was debating with myself whether or not this should go under the closely aligned thread of of Points and Money Rewards but decided it is a different discussion.

I was looking at the Escape to Paradise 20% discount offer and thought the Maldives sounded very expensive (Conrad Rangali Island @ US$500) so I started wondering about how a reward booking stacked up. I must admit, previously I had assumed that the various categories reflected consistant pricings, with Cat.7 hotels being the dearest at 50000 points per night. This was until I looked at Maldives and saw the point burn ranged according to dates, any where between 50000 and 465000. So I was wondering, why have categories when they don't stick to the burn rate? If we have to trawl through dates to find a decent burn rate, why not just ditch the category system altogether?

Have others found this to be common within Hilton? I've done one quick check of my local (HSP) and the burn rate appears to be consistently 50000. From the other thread, it seems to be prevalent with the points+pay method, but I would have thought a set burn rate per category for rewards would have been the original intention of the scheme. Could it be that the hotel is a Conrad?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I think I just worked it out.

The dearer rooms are at 465000 points (premium reward rooms) so the nights shown at 465000 must mean the cheaper rooms are sold out. Sanity prevails.

Incidentally, points+pay does not seem to be available at Conrad Rangalli. Just full rewards or full pay.

 

[drdpr]

Having been twice to this location (Mar 2010, Dec 2011) I will be going a third time. Regarding price, $500 is definitely the off peak monsoon period! You don't get to stay for that sort of price in high season. I routinely watch their prices like a hawk. Regarding rewards, having used it both times mixed with paying at the January sale prices it is definitely the place to use them. Not sure of your level, but for diamond once you go above 4 nights in a row the # of points drops until you get down to only 35k/night for either 8 or 10 days straight ( sorry can't be bother jumping on Hilton to check it). Just did this for Conard Koh Samui in Dec 2012 10 nights at 350,000pts. Play around with dates and you will see first hand. 50k is for the beach villa which is not shabby by any means. We upgraded to the delux beach villa both times for part of the stay (the paid bit). If you want to be cheeky and play your luck, do cheapest option and then do the Standby upgrade option. No guarantee but you will save money. I was told by staff that end dec all Jan and Feb the place is full. Germans/Russians for Christmas New years and then Chinese come for the chinese new year.

I have checked out every type of over the water villa on offer including the 5k$+ sunset, all are very nice. But my wife and I are of the opinion that the over water is best reserved for the lagoon side in Bora Bora and the beach villas were our preference for the Conrad Maldives. Why, lagoon is much deeper. Villas at maldives are on very shallow water, you can swim but ..... however the house reef and whale shark experience are awesome. We did the whale shark experience this time $200 minus $50 credit each (credit from the gold/diamond privelges, did not do dhoni sunset cruise as conducted this the first time). Cheaper then WA where the want $350 pp.

Regrettably the big issue now is from 2012 the buggers dropped the privelges for both Diamond and Gold that one use to be able to choose between having free breakfast (which otherwise goes for $50 pp + taxes and 10% service) plus some other goodies or evening drinks plus goodies. (see Waldorf Maldives for example as when I was looking a month ago they still had the two options). So note: Breakfast is NOT included as you can now only have the free drinks. Please factor this in b4 you go. Also for the uniniatiated traveling to the Maldives for first time NO alcohol can be brought in even duty free. You must declare and they take it away so don't bother. They also just increased the sales tax on alcohol to I think 40%, so make the most of the free happy hour. Personally what we did, we took some instant miso soup and our hot toasted cheese maker and some sliced bread, cheese etc and made ourselves some light lunches. There are free sandwiches and cake served at 4pm daily at Mando. Free drinks from 5 to 6. Poolside they will bring you some fruit and cold water during the day. Everything else superb but pricey, certainly helps to own an oil field or two to make the most of it. Enjoy!

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Thanks for the heads-up on the reward burn dropping after x number of nights. I didn't realise that.

The $500 I mentioned was part of the current 20% off special, but a well priced reward booking may well be a better option (especially if I can score it at 35000/nite), although my wallet most definitely doesn't stretch to either the deluxe beach accom nor water.....we'll slum it in the cheapies.

So, for diamond, what's the incentives? Included breakfast was always my most preferred "freebie" but if that's been ditched (just in the Maldives?) then what's the incentive? A free bottle of water and a card from the manager doesn't really impress me that much. If we got a beach villa, do they offer complementary diamond upgrades? I must admit to being taken for a ride by resort accommodation previously where the "not included" food costs many times more than the so-called great accommodation deal. I remember in Vanuatu 13 years ago, a small can of Coke (the little steel cans, not the full size like here) costing AU$5 each and a what I'd rate as a typical "pub" meal costing AU$120 :shock:. I'm not inclined to replicate that very expensive holiday

 

[BAM1748]

Although not going anywhere as exotic at the Maldives I did just book a room at Melbourne South Wharf for Easter. As usual I checked wotif.com to get a feel for Melb Easter prices and it was half the price on wotif than when I punched in my HHonors number to make a booking. What's going on there.

So I quickly booked with wotif in case it's a error in making the offer. :mrgreen:

Matt

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Although not going anywhere as exotic at the Maldives I did just book a room at Melbourne South Wharf for Easter. As usual I checked wotif.com to get a feel for Melb Easter prices and it was half the price on wotif than when I punched in my HHonors number to make a booking. What's going on there.

So I quickly booked with wotif in case it's a error in making the offer. :mrgreen:

Matt

Matt, I think the only problem with Wotif is that you do not get points, nights and stays credited for the visit. It may pay though, to use the Wotif price and try it on Hilton under their BRG and hopefully get the best of all worlds.

 

[BAM1748]

agree, no points but he cheaper price can out weigh it.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

agree, no points but he cheaper price can out weigh it.

I'd love to hear from someone who's tried, if Wotif is accepted for BRG.

 

[drdpr]

I suggest you do it the way we do it in our small group. Always check the wotif or hotels.com etc sites for a price. If it is cheaper call the hotel in question, ask to speak to in-house reservations and I mean in-house not the US call centre as they are useless. Then tell them you have a better rate on say wotif, they will check themselves for the date on offer and bingo they match it for you. You quote your Hhonors number and all the benefits are duly received. We have done this numerous times for Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide Hiltons.

Several other things you need to know, Sea plane transfer is $450pp return strict 20kg limit, extra weight you pay, but charges are not excessive. Children 2-12 i think are half price, under 2 is free. Conrad sort out all the sea plane details, they usually don't finalise schedule until the day before, ie the exact departure time but it is all safely organised and all you must do is let them know your inbound and outbound flight numbers. You earn hhonors points on this cost to. Due to traveling east to west, airline carriers departing from OZ will result in you arriving late in the evening, after the last sea plane transfers. This means you have to stay the night in Male, factor in another $200-300 unless your happy to pay $1500 for the cruise boat ride. Conrad have a beautiful set up, they meet you, sort everything out to and from hotel. No need to book room with breakfast, Conrad's transit lounge at the sea plane terminal has you covered. You can also grab a free 10m neck and back massage. Don't be shy. As stated in the diamond and gold benefits, due to the unique offering of the Maldives, no room upgrades. Having said that, Conrad did look after me on the first trip and upgraded my first 3 nights from the standard beach to the delux for whole stay but remembering I had a paid for the deluxe bit and the first were my reward nights.. But do not expect this. On arrival both times, we received a nice box of chocolates, bottle of wine and a fruit platter. Wine I think is valued at about $70 if you bought for dinner. Also depending on the stay dates, invited to a coughtail drinks party with hotel manager and senior staff.

 

[Mollycram]

Thanks for all the info drdpr....I am currently saving my points for a Maldives vacation so your insights very useful. Have you seen the Hilton resort over there?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Have you seen the Hilton resort over there?

Yes I'd like to thank drdpr as well. Very helpful info, but following on from Mollycrams question, I guess we should also ask for experiences at the three Hilton group Maldive sites. Are there any advantages or disadvantages over any of them. Prices, service, views, facilities, niceties for diamond guests ?


Do purchases (the "over-the-top" food and drink tab for example) count toward points at all sites (Waldorf for instance)?


Thanks to drdprs advice, I found that the reward points for a booking is 50000/n for up to 3 nights, 42500/n for 4 nights, 40000/n for 5 nights and 37500/n for 6+ nights. The only hotel to offer reward+pay redemptions is the Hilton which remains fixed at 25000 + $85/n, so I guess the length of intended stay would determine just how good that redemption is, compartatively. For the 1-3 night stays, it'd be very tempting, pricing a point at about 1/3 of a cent. Not so tempting for the 6+ night stays, which would mean a point would be priced at about 2/3 of a cent (still not too bad but double the short stays).

 

[drdpr]

I have not been to the other two resorts (Hilton and Waldorf). I am certain they are of high standard. I believe all 3 properties are owned and run by the same group. I know the Hilton has its own transit lounge in the sea plane terminal, opposite side of the building to the Conrad. Actually both of these were recently upgraded. They were building this terminal on my first trip and it was operational by my return.
I have been wanting to visit the hilton property, but the Conrad is so damn nice I am worried in being disappointed. This is just a relative thing as from what I can see of the photos and recommendations on TripAdvisor it is lovely. In the end, the Conrad is suppose to be a step up and then again to the Waldorf. I really don't know what they could do more then then Conrad. You can ride in a 3 person submarine of all things! You receive HHonors points on the total expenses, no different to anywhere else. If you visit, you will keep/earn Diamond status with little problem on the 100,000 base points option as you will be getting good mileage and a nice hole left in your bank account. With the high AUD to USD rate, your crazy not to take advantage of visiting this place. All I can say is pray that Hilton do the double points offer when it's your turn to visit as all your Christmas presents will come at once. Even bigger bonus if they do 3x or 4x special like Q4 of 2010! I managed to stay on the quad for Tahiti but at least got the Double pts last Dec at Conrad. Not to complain, I stayed for 10 days, earned enough points back to stay 9 nights for free at the same place! Oh and I forgot there is a bed tax as per below US$ 8.00 per person. GST was also increased to 5% come Jan 1st 2012, so from 3.5% to 5%! You can see how the cash just melts like an ice cube in the sun!

For your reference on how prices have change, I dug up my past bookings: So the first when I booked and took advantage of the 50% off sale which included breakfast for my stay in mid March 2010.

"The infant stays free and also does not pay for seaplane transfers.
2 x US$ 730.00 + 10% service charge + US$ 8.00 bed tax per person (had to pay at full rate for 2 nights as 50% covered only T,F,S,S nights)
3 x US$ 365.00 + 10% service charge + US$ 8.00 bed tax per person (50% off bit)
2 x US$ 420.00 for the seaplane transfer"

Second stay: Standard Beach villa early Dec 2011
ANY WEEKEND ANYWHERE SALE
Rate per night:611.25 USD (booked 2 nights)
Total for Stay per Room:
Rate 1,222.50 USD
Taxes 197.04 USD
Total 1,419.54 USD

Deluxe Beach villa:
ANY WEEKEND ANYWHERE SALE
Rate per night: 847.50 USD (booked 3 nights)
Total for Stay per Room:
Rate 3,390.00 USD
Taxes 521.65 USD
Total 3,911.65 USD

Tax: There is a 8.00 Per Person Per Night tax and a 10.00% Per Room Per Night secondary tax and a 3.50% (Now 5%) Per Room Per Night tertiary tax.

FYK, this was the old VIP benefit as a diamond:

"Due to the very special nature of the accommodations at Conrad Maldives, we are unable to offer upgraded accommodations. However, as you are a valued Diamond, we are delighted to offer you the choice of one of the following VIP packages during your stay:

Package 1:
- Daily breakfast for you and one guest at either Atoll Market
or Vilu restaurant
- One bottle of wine*
- One half-day excursion for you and one guest (your choice of
Mandhoo Island Tour, Dhoni Sunset Cruise, or Snorkeling Safari)
- Deluxe fruit basket upon arrival

Package 2:
- Daily happy hour beverages for you and one guest
(Vilu or Rangali Bar)*
- One bottle of wine*
- One half-day excursion for you and one guest (your choice of
Mandhoo Island Tour, Dhoni Sunset Cruise, or Snorkeling Safari)
- Conrad-branded merchandise upon departure

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Many thanks for all the detailed information. Another question, if I may, is whether 6 nights is too long? Whould a person get sick of doing nothing, or is there plenty of things to do?

 

[drdpr]

Many thanks for all the detailed information. Another question, if I may, is whether 6 nights is too long? Whould a person get sick of doing nothing, or is there plenty of things to do?

The answer to your question is partly a personal matter, i.e. if one can sit and do nothing in paradise. Its all about the beach, pool, palm trees, diving...the resort gig. I have no problem just lying about, going for dips, reading books and just being in a beautiful place and letting my mind go. My biggest frustration was being in such a magnificent place, and not having any friends/family to share the experience. I felt so guilty being there while everybody else is doing their day to day chores of life. The fact is this whole country is just little more then specs of sand in the middle of the Indian ocean. Most regretably about 10 islands, 2 of which were inhabited, have already been lost to rising sea levels (I belive this is the current status of affairs plus current internal political turmoil-president recently resigned but this 2nd point is pretty much in every other corner of the globe in some form at the moment).

There is great diving, (one can do a full PADI course), a very good house reef for snokeling/diving, visit the local turtle that inhabits the reef off the spa rooms, plenty of dolphines and manta rays that swim about at night under the footbridge lighting, tours to local islands, whale shark expedition, night fishing or charter a full on game fishing expedition if you the $$$. Of course the spa treatments are very good, my wife and I spent a little more of our time doing this second time around as we went for our third wedding anniversary. Put it this way, first time I went for 6 days/7nights and it went by so damn quickly and having spent so much time and money to get there I made sure the second time was longer: - 10 days. My third time, god willing, I am inclined to make it 14 days but that realy depends on #HH pts/costs. I believe the main draw back, but this goes for any holiday, is if bad weather rolls in. This happened on the second trip and we lost 2 full days and bit of the third. Essentially all you could do is watch TV, read books have some indoor spa treatments etc. It wasn't cold, but it was blowing a strong wind, with rain. I still went out and swam island to island (~500m) and my wife did some cross training-kick boxing at the gym run by a lovely PT from Adelaide (she is staying for another year if this is your sort of thing). The place does lose its charm in a way, the amazing blue hues of the water and sunsets are lost etc, but hey this is the same anywhere in the world on a shi*ty day. I do feel for those poor Japanese wedding tourists that fly-in fly out in their jet setting 2 or 3 day honeymoon retreat if it coincides with the bad weather.