Don't call it Hilton HHonors any more, just Honors. More than just a name change, the American group's loyalty programme is also reviewing its fundamentals and opening up to new horizons. Among the major changes, from the end of February the 60 million members will be able to combine points and cash to book stays at Hilton hotels. A slider on the site will clearly show the number of points and dollars or euros required to make a booking.
What's more, from April, frequent customers will be able to pool their points with ten other people, for example at family reunions or more business-oriented events.
One of the reasons for the changes is to give customers with relatively few points the opportunity to redeem them for rewards. This is in line withcurrent trends in loyalty programmes. "Frequent travellers tell us they want greater flexibility, while our less regular customers want to be able to use their points more easily and quickly," explains Mark Weinstein, senior vice president of loyalty. As part of this, Hilton has entered into a partnership with Amazon.com that allows Hilton Honors members to shop at the online retail giant.
As part of its development, the group is also thinking about members belonging to the higher statuses of its programme. Because life is not linear and frequent travellers sometimes travel less for reasons as diverse as the arrival of a child or a career change, Diamond cardholders will be able to request an extension of their status for a period of one year, without having to justify their request, and only once. Finally, these members, like all Hilton Honors cardholders, will have access to the dematerialized room key in the programme's app in nearly 800 hotels and 2,500 establishments by the end of the year.
