Different ways to book Hilton / Amex Platinum

[TooPoorToBeHere]

I’m a HH gold via Amex platinum. Maaany years ago I used Hilton lots and had “legit” diamond, but decades have passed…and now I’m clueless and need advice please.

I’m seeing the same price via hotels.com as via Hiltons own website – sometimes a couple of pounds different – but hotels.com will charge me in sterling not dollars (for US stays), and give me a free night every 10 nights. Sometimes the hotels.com price gives the ability to cancel, as well, whereas that’s a paid add-on at hilton.com.

Is there any reason not to book via hotels.com?

[NorthernLass]

Free breakfast/daily credit, drinks vouchers, upgrades etc (depending on property)?
I’ve also had several non-refundable HH bookings where I ended up not being able to travel and every time I was allowed to move it to another date.

[NorthernLass]

Also – hasn’t hotels.com recently gutted its reward system?

[can2]

Also if you “play the game” and sign up for generous Hilton bonus point campaigns, you can reach a “free night” quicker than hotels.com by collecting good amount of HH points as a gold.

The free breakfast, as mentioned, is a game changer for me when travelling with family.

[TooPoorToBeHere]

Thank you for these.

The free breakfast is definitely worth it.

I did not realise that booking via hotels.com means no HH gold benefits.

That was not obvious to me, is it true?

[NorthernLass]

No, we just made it up to alarm you! Why do you think everyone on here is obsessed with booking direct? 😂
Hilton don’t want to pay commission to 3rd parties AND give you free breakfasts and cocktails. (Or in the US, enough credit for a coffee and a muffin)
How did you not know this if you used to be Diamond?

[TooPoorToBeHere]

I don’t remember much about booking the rooms TBH although I do remember that there was a long list of corporate discount codes to try that sometimes gave good discount.

Are those still a thing too?

Thank you for the help – appreciated.

[No Longer Entitled]

You mention US stays, note that there is no free breakfast in the US. It is replaced by a voucher (I believe $25) which is nowhere near adequate to get a hotel breakfast.

[KevinC]

No, hotels.com haven’t recently gutted its rewards system. They have plans to but it hasn’t happened yet.

https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/03/29/hotels-com-rewards-gutted-one-key/

[NorthernLass]

Hence my reference to a coffee and a muffin! For US properties I am now generally sticking to Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites etc where you get breakfast anyway.