When it comes to hotel loyalty programs, the most sought-after benefit for the customer is undoubtedly the upgrade and, if possible, to a suite.
Some programs explicitly state that an upgrade to a suite is possible, others do not. And when this is the case it is usually a non-guaranteed upgrade. In other words, it depends on availability at the time of check-in. So we wait until the last minute to know if we have or not a good surprise.
In Marriott’s loyalty program, Bonvoy, certain categories of guests are offered “Suite Night Awards“. The customer has the option to request an upgrade and it will only be guaranteed a few days prior to arrival. There is still a risk that it will be refused.
It appears that Hilton is testing the guaranteed suite upgrade for its Hilton Honors program. This is in fact a “pilot” that may or may not be extended to the entire program.
A selection of “very high contribution” clients received a voucher for a guaranteed suite upgrade to be used by the end of March. An upgrade that would be guaranteed upon booking.
Following this pilot an evaluation will be conducted to see if this benefit will become an official Hilton Honors Diamond Member benefit.
This would be a significant improvement in an area where Hilton Honors is well below the competition.
Photo : Hilton by josefkubes via Shutterstock.
