Amex Hilton (Aspire and Surpass Only) CC Changes

[Sandy VDH]

I booked a flight just to ensure I burned through ones before the fix get put in my UA and I have to argue about it. I just purchased a TB in Jan and it clearly said 5 years on the T&C, yet it showed only 1 year in the TB detailed screen.

 

[hurnik]

I booked a flight just to ensure I burned through ones before the fix get put in my UA and I have to argue about it. I just purchased a TB in Jan and it clearly said 5 years on the T&C, yet it showed only 1 year in the TB detailed screen.

There's a bug on the UA website where everyone's TB dates are messed up.

Starts at post #472 and continues onward (it's not a dedicated thread, so you just have to kinda read through it).

FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - UA "TravelBank" Q&A , with option to deposit funds

Post 37553811 - FlyerTalk is a living, growing community where frequent travelers around the world come to exchange knowledge and experiences about everything miles and points related.

www.flyertalk.com

 

[Sandy VDH]

There's a bug on the UA website where everyone's TB dates are messed up.

Starts at post #472 and continues onward (it's not a dedicated thread, so you just have to kinda read through it).

FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - UA "TravelBank" Q&A , with option to deposit funds

Post 37553811 - FlyerTalk is a living, growing community where frequent travelers around the world come to exchange knowledge and experiences about everything miles and points related.

www.flyertalk.com

Yeah I was aware of the bug, buts its gone on for weeks without getting fixed.

So I was just being safe, and burning a few of the $600 I had in the TB.

 

[Zenichiro]

 

[hurnik]

Yeah I was aware of the bug, buts its gone on for weeks without getting fixed.

So I was just being safe, and burning a few of the $600 I had in the TB.

Yes, it's terrible. I can't really see/figure out easily what the expiration dates are. I will have to go through my credit card purchases for the last 5 years and start making a spreadsheet, it seems. Why UA can't fix it, is beyond me. Should be trivial, IMO.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Yes, it's terrible. I can't really see/figure out easily what the expiration dates are. I will have to go through my credit card purchases for the last 5 years and start making a spreadsheet, it seems. Why UA can't fix it, is beyond me. Should be trivial, IMO.

Not making an excuse, but my guess is the system broke when they introduced the option for different expiration periods, i.e., from the IHC card, etc, that have shorter use periods vs. the standard 5 years. Just a guess

 

[hurnik]

Not making an excuse, but my guess is the system broke when they introduced the option for different expiration periods, i.e., from the IHC card, etc, that have shorter use periods vs. the standard 5 years. Just a guess

Yes, it looks like it was that attempt. I know it was working fine/well about a month ago when I used my $200 TB from the Quest card. Hopefully they fix it, otherwise going forward I'll have to maintain the spreadsheet method (like with Hilton and their points). But, IMO, they didn't need to fix what wasn't broken. My Quest TB showed as expiring first, and then my other stuff 5 years from purchase. Now it's a complete disaster.

 

[Eric B]

Not making an excuse, but my guess is the system broke when they introduced the option for different expiration periods, i.e., from the IHC card, etc, that have shorter use periods vs. the standard 5 years. Just a guess

The credit from the IHG credit card has been in place for several years now and is not one that involves a purchase from a customer. The more recent change was the initiation of the credit to the UATB with the United Quest card as an annual benefit. I just upgraded my United card to the Quest card and haven't received the credit yet, but I understand it is an annual one with a one year expiration, which lines up better with the current errors being reported. The IHG credit is only good for 6 months and 15 days on specific dates (January 15th & July 15th) for expirations. I do agree that the likely cause is an IT issue introduced during some change.

 

[JohnnyO]

Aspire DP: Purchased HGVC Open Season nights at La Pacifica Los Cabos, Mexico, and the full amount received 14x points.

DESCRIPTION
HILTON GRND VACA DEP

 

[mountainboy]

Aspire DP: Purchased HGVC Open Season nights at La Pacifica Los Cabos, Mexico, and the full amount received 14x points.

DESCRIPTION
HILTON GRND VACA DEP

OS should trigger Aspire credit also (as my Elara OS sais HGVC Elara Front desk on booking although I had used my Aspire credit by that time, so could not tell...)
TY!

 

[JohnnyO]

OS should trigger Aspire credit also (as my Elara OS sais HGVC Elara Front desk on booking although I had used my Aspire credit by that time, so could not tell...)
TY!

Good point but it didn't automatically trigger on my transactions statement. Maybe it was too soon after purchase? There was no indication it was at La Pacifica, which is on the list. We will have to keep an eye on it in the future.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

The credit from the IHG credit card has been in place for several years now and is not one that involves a purchase from a customer. The more recent change was the initiation of the credit to the UATB with the United Quest card as an annual benefit. I just upgraded my United card to the Quest card and haven't received the credit yet, but I understand it is an annual one with a one year expiration, which lines up better with the current errors being reported. The IHG credit is only good for 6 months and 15 days on specific dates (January 15th & July 15th) for expirations. I do agree that the likely cause is an IT issue introduced during some change.

I have had the Quest Card for a long time, I guess i thought the IHG card added the TB at the same time. I have never been a big IHG customer. I was probably reading a blog post about the changes to the Quest card, which referenced the IHG partnership, and just assumed they had added that around the same time.

We usually book a few flights a year with UA, so never had any serious concerns about the TB cash expiring, though that might happen if I had the IHG card.

 

[Eric B]

I have had the Quest Card for a long time, I guess i thought the IHG card added the TB at the same time. I have never been a big IHG customer. I was probably reading a blog post about the changes to the Quest card, which referenced the IHG partnership, and just assumed they had added that around the same time.

We usually book a few flights a year with UA, so never had any serious concerns about the TB cash expiring, though that might happen if I had the IHG card.

I used to stay at IHG hotels a lot for work due to their locations. Typically at Holiday Inn Express, though that didn't really make me feel any smarter. I kept the IHG credit card since then because the annual stay certificate is more valuable than the annual fee; I've always liked the Kimptons and the Intercontinentals are good. They've had the TB with the card for about a decade or so, IIRC.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I used to stay at IHG hotels a lot for work due to their locations. Typically at Holiday Inn Express, though that didn't really make me feel any smarter. I kept the IHG credit card since then because the annual stay certificate is more valuable than the annual fee; I've always liked the Kimptons and the Intercontinentals are good. They've had the TB with the card for about a decade or so, IIRC.

That makes sense. When I was traveling a lot for work, it was usually the Hilton or SPG that had the best options near my vendors. That is what originally got me into HGVC. I think business travel experience shapes our preferences later in life

 

[Reddart]

RE: Elara resort fee credit, third time is a charm. The CS representative on chat applied the $200 MF payment to the resort credit today.

 

[ljmiii]

RE: Elara resort fee credit, third time is a charm. The CS representative on chat...

So...that would be HUChA? ;-)

 

[Reddart]

So...that would be HUChA? ;-)

Yes!

 

[mountainboy]

Looks like a massive Hyatt deval happening...
@brp , remind me, are you our Hyatt aficionado?
Sadly I have many pts in that ecosystem (& have usually used my Chase UR pts for Hyatt mostly) so this will hurt :-(

Hyatt Devaluation - 5 Levels Per Category (20-37.5%+ Base Increase)

Hyatt has announced a ‘thoughtful update to the program…’ or in non corporate marketing speak, huge devaluation

www.doctorofcredit.com

 

[Sapper]

Looks like a massive Hyatt deval happening...
@brp , remind me, are you our Hyatt aficionado?
Sadly I have many pts in that ecosystem (& have usually used my Chase UR pts for Hyatt mostly) so this will hurt :-(

Hyatt Devaluation - 5 Levels Per Category (20-37.5%+ Base Increase)

Hyatt has announced a ‘thoughtful update to the program…’ or in non corporate marketing speak, huge devaluation

www.doctorofcredit.com

Yeah….. I have a metric ton of Hyatt hotel points (all those ones and zeros weigh something, right?). I cannot politely state how displeased I am with their devaluation. I just told my wife we are going to spend the summer in Europe burning off all of the points I have been hoarding for the last five years.

 

[brp]

Looks like a massive Hyatt deval happening...
@brp , remind me, are you our Hyatt aficionado?
Sadly I have many pts in that ecosystem (& have usually used my Chase UR pts for Hyatt mostly) so this will hurt :-(

Hyatt Devaluation - 5 Levels Per Category (20-37.5%+ Base Increase)

Hyatt has announced a ‘thoughtful update to the program…’ or in non corporate marketing speak, huge devaluation

www.doctorofcredit.com

Yup, Hyatt guy. I read some detail on this and, so far, they're just adding more categories. The lower categories actually go down. Since we travel at off-peak times, this could work in our favor. And the biggest losses are on aspirational properties. We don't stay at those. Depending upon the specifics this will probably have little impact on us. Pas changes that have been "end of the world Armageddon" types of things in blogs have touched us minimally. I was never on the ledge to be talked down from. This is no different. And it's still leaps and bounds ahead of any other program, Hilton, in particular.

Have about 170K Chase UR. They'll all go to Hyatt.

Cheers.

 

[Sapper]

Yup, Hyatt guy. I read some detail on this and, so far, they're just adding more categories. The lower categories actually go down. Since we travel at off-peak times, this could work in our favor. And the biggest losses are on aspirational properties. We don't stay at those. Depending upon the specifics this will probably have little impact on us. Pas changes that have been "end of the world Armageddon" types of things in blogs have touched us minimally. I was never on the ledge to be talked down from. This is no different. And it's still leaps and bounds ahead of any other program, Hilton, in particular.

Have about 170K Chase UR. They'll all go to Hyatt.

Cheers.

If you look at the “standard/moderate” line, all properties have had a point increase. “Peak” is a substantial increase, and “off peak / lowest” is either a minimal decrease or no change.

 

[mountainboy]

If you look at the “standard/moderate” line, all properties have had a point increase. “Peak” is a substantial increase, and “off peak / lowest” is either a minimal decrease or no change.

Agree....
Not nice..

 

[brp]

If you look at the “standard/moderate” line, all properties have had a point increase. “Peak” is a substantial increase, and “off peak / lowest” is either a minimal decrease or no change.

Fair point. Overall, things will be going up. Given the frequent devaluations for Hilton and Marriott, Hyatt was offering outsized values for quite a while. it was only a question of time before they more closely matched the others.

Cheers.

 

[mountainboy]

Looks like Robinhood Platinum has added a bunch of wellness credits (Oura membership + Function Health + Wearable credit each year) + lots of other coupons & credits, some intriguing & useful, some not so much (like the useless Doordash benefit)..
Nice to see some competition to AmEx Platinum & CSR...

Robinhood Platinum Card

robinhood.com

Robinhood Announces Platinum Credit Card - $695 Annual Fee

Robinhood has just announced a Platinum credit card during their live keynote. Card benefits as follows:

www.doctorofcredit.com

 

[brp]

On the sub-topic of use for the FNC for the Aspire, I had mentioned that we don't target aspirational properties, but just use them where we're going. Sometimes, though, these coincide. For our 20th, we decided to go to Napa (fairly short drive) and go to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) for dinner. We had a 2-night stay at the lovely Hyatt Andaz planned, but we decided to look at using a FNC and reducing to 1 night (Napa only needs 1 night). I looked at a couple of properties, and the
https://www.carnerosresort.com/
stood out.

I called to see if we could do this one. She asked where, I said "Napa." She said, Carneros, right?" "yes, how did you know?" "People going to Napa always call about that one"

170K (not) points and a Garden Cottage King later, we have an aspirational stay booked .

Next one that just arrived may replace a standard 80K night we already have booked in Dubrovnik.

Cheers.