I was so excited about the Citi Hilton Reserve that I had the wife apply for one. Best thing I ever did. For those of you who live in a shed, the Hilton Reserve offers two free nights in ‘any’ Hilton property (there are a few exceptions, but these tend to be related to all suite properties or something… )anyway, never mind that. Two free nights, in the advent of Hilton devaluations makes this card worth 190,000 HHonors points!
The top award price for Hilton’s Category 10 properties is 95,000 per night, and you aren’t going to go for anything less than that, are you?
Well… as luck would have it, we actually ended up in the Conrad Chicago for our 2 free nights, and it was quite a mediocre stay. The problem is that you don’t actually get 190,000 Hhonors points – if you did this would be an amazing card, and probably in one of the many top 10 lists out there. The difference is that points are extendable, and divisible, though even when they are it seems that many expire worthless each year.
I think the Hilton Reserve card is a piece of marketing genius – it sells on the aspirational trip – because the value driven immediately think towards the highest possible redemption (hey, try actually going to the Conrad Maldives for just 2 nights..) but in reality, the certificates can’t be extended, and procrastination sets in.
Where can you go for a weekend, and what can you get from it? I studied this in some depth when looking for the best hilton properties for your buck, and the closest I came to great value was The Bentley in Miami. Not a bad hotel, don’t get me wrong, but when I got this card it was something far more exotic in mind.
So, why do I think it is the best card ever:
- It sells the dream
- The certs cannot be extended (there is some talk about booking and cancelling and squeaking out 6 months more, YMMV)
- Because it is certs, not points, you can’t spend a buck and extend the longevity of your options (in case you missed the above point)
- The redemption options are limited to weekends, whereas regular points are not.
- And I hear more stories about people struggling to use these free nights than any other award out there.
This could be the best card ever, for Citi and Hilton. What do you think?
PS I will only accept stories that start with ‘Oh I stayed in the Conrad Koh Samui and had great value from this’ if you actually got out of the hotel and ate street food once.
Its not bad for the Grand Wailea in Maui paired with the Fairmont or Hyatt nights as there all in a row. We did the Hyatt in Kauai an then flew to Maui an stayed at Grand Wailea an Fairmont.
Street food?
Not a whole lot of street food in Maui that I recall but did hit up Kihei Cafe in Maui and Kauai food truck and Da Crack in Kauai which were all pretty good.
Good stuff- comment approved! When I finally get to Hawaii I may have to apply for this card for myself…
Matt plays the devil’s advocate 🙂 Very insightful post! You talked me out of getting this card in 1 minute. and I had always “planned” on getting it.
I feel bad now! Get it 🙂 Just make sure you don’t end up in Chi-town like I did…
In reply to your comment to Tom, you will also need the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard®! 😉
im my humble opinion ALL of the various hotel cards which offer 2 free nights are useless
I’ve actually gotten good value out of this – stayed at the Conrad Koh Samui and got out of the hotel every single night to eat dinner – about a $15 car ride though. Ate street food once when I went to the Thursday night market ($50 car ride).
Have an upcoming stay booked at the Conrad Maldives using my annual free night (Rooms are listed at $2200/night during my stay). Booked the other days with points, a boatload of points.
And to purcitron, used my Hyatt free weekend nights at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands Inn ($500/night room rate) and was upgraded to a suite. Decided to pay the annual fee as there are some worthwhile Cat 4s to use my “free” (Read: Discounted to $75) night on.
Glad to hear that. And that you got out of the hotel! I’m not saying you can’t get great value out of it, I’m saying that as a card strategy shift, it’s a great one as you are very much in the minority.
I completely agree with you there. With these “free night” bonuses, you’ve really got to plan when and where you’re going to use them prior to signing up for the card, otherwise you end up redeeming them at a regular Hilton property on a quick weekend getaway.
@Stephen
good uses of the 2 nights. but to augment the 2 nights to anything substantive (4+ nights), provided your intent is to stay in one area the whole time… probably only suitable for a beachy vacay, youll need a “boatload” of points to supplement the 2 free nights. i, personally, would not dish out the boatload of points (let alone cash) to justify the use of the 2 free nights cert.
@matt
maybe combining 2 hyatt cert nights with 60k hyatt pnts for 4 nights total? still.. staying at an exorbitantly-priced telly for free means youll probably have to pay for at least 1 exorbitantly-priced meal per day at that same property. CAN be difficult to eat outside of fancy hotel for EVERY meal, esp if your presumable intent was to spend lots of time at the fancy hotel.. hence the redemption on the most expensive property possible… im beating a non-existent horse.
p.s. ..funny thing is im actually considering samui this winter
I personally did Carmel+1 night. Hotel was very over-rated, but the area was fantastic, and the rooms around there were quite pricey in general. I ate in the hotel there one evening….
I very rarely eat in a hotel when overseas though, especially in a chain hotel, I think that most of the time you will get a more authentic experience outside (though of course there are touristy places there too).
Wasn’t impressed with Samui, enjoyed Koh Tao
I actually liked the location of the hotel. Even though the hotel was “sold out,” I was upgraded to one of their suites. Large room, amazing view from the entire room, even the toilet. Am a HH Diamond so breakfast was free and was quite good.
Absolutely agree with you about the area. Gorgeous scenery, nice downtown, great restaurants. Our favorite excursion of the entire trip was the 4-hour hike around the perimeter of Point Lobos State Reserve – what an amazing place.
Loved the location too- just the hotel was dated- was in a regular room. Great views though.
The points are easy to come by: a combination of paid stays during 2x and 3x promos, signup bonuses and MS. I’m earning 300-400k points per year with a small amount of effort, which is great for a 5-night redemption (taking advantage of the 5th night free) + my free Reserve weekend night.
Koh Samui – Do it. It’s absolutely worth your while. The rest of the island is very mediocre, but the Conrad property itself is fantastic. You absolutely won’t want to leave the property during the day and it’s easy enough to get out at night. I was honestly the worst kind of customer for them – my final hotel bill consisted of nothing more than car service charges in the neighborhood of $100 or so. Never ate at the property beyond my free breakfast.
Applying for a card with a fixed number of night stays is pointless unless you have a specific trip in mind. It’s still good value, P.S the “street food” in Koh Samui is terrible. In fact the street food in southern Thailand itself is woeful compared to the north.
This card has value, as does the Hyatt. It’s not going to be the best option for most people, but I don’t think chain hotel stays in general are good value either but you still have the majority of business and points & miles enthusiasts staying at chains.
You can’t write off all of southern Thailand street food – that’s insanity!
but southern thighland’s taxi industry, on the other hand, is ripe for writing off!!
i hope the post-coup “clean-up” has pervaded all of the tourist areas.
i absolutely hated my 2 day trip to phuket this May.. PARTLY because of the taxi racket
Frankly, Thailand in general isn’t high on my lists of places I like. There are too many negatives there.
@Matt
agreed. its generally a tourist trap. generally.
but it is a very practical destination to combine with others in SE asia.
myanmar is on my list, but i find it difficult to plan.. hard to figure out whats actually worth seeing
Stayed at the Hilton Molino Stucky Venice on the certificate, right on the canal with a view of the canal to top it off. The free hotel ferry/boat make 2 stops to Saint Mark’s Basilica. Right in front of the first stop (i forgot the name) there is a pizzeria. 10EUR to go possibly the cheapest thing around there.
Nice- I enjoyed Venice, we stayed at the Westin there. Some great seafood near the fish market for about 5 euro a plate, next door to a wine shop serving in the square, sat on the floor and had a great meal!
I have had this card for over 2 years. I used my first certs for nights at the Waldorf=Astoria in NYC. It made for a good getaway for my wife and I since we were already upstate visiting family. Quite surprisingly, the staff still treated us like paying guests (diamond status helps), upgraded us, and extended us a late checkout. I agree with the premise though that I don’t think I would ever book a real vacation around two weekend nights, therefore I usually end up just using the weekend nights on short overnights in Raleigh.
On the upside I do use the card quite regularly in order to reach my Diamond Status yearly, then switch to another card to maximize points at grocery stores. Since we travel often up and down I-95 on overnight trips for fun, we rarely actually pay for a “nice” hotel room, and generally still have a free week or so in some exotic location when we eventually get around to vacation time. Between this card and my HHonors AMEX, I haven’t paid for a hotel room in Beijing during two different week-long trips. Check out the Hilton Wangfujing Beijing… great property. They upgraded me to a junior suite for a week over Christmas even though I paid with points.
Oh, I stayed in the Conrad Koh Samui and had great value from this. I got out of the hotel every night in my rental car. I ate street food and found it OK, but I also drove around and had fun in both Lamai and Chaweng. I absolutely loved the resort and didn’t want to leave during the daylight, but ne nights? If I hadn’t had a car, I would’ve hated it, because… damn!
But Citi Reserve had nothing to do with my stay. I had booked it a couple of days before the devaluation. Now that the expiration date for both me and wife is drawing near (and she hates to fly), you have no idea how right you are.
I think one plan is if you are couple: get 2 Hilton credit cards (4 certs total) time your arrival for Friday morning from Bangkok. Use a total of 3 certificated or Fri,Sat,Sun and bamm….what a way to take care of your jet leg. Alternatively you could use your 4th day somewhere else for a quick <24 hour stopover in Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur on your way back.
I am actually booked for another nice place for 4 nights (3certs+95K Hilton). Not quite the same 140K for 4 night deal as before but when the rules change you gotta adapt.
Yeah yeah. I don’t need anyone to tell me how epic it can be, I thought about all that already 🙂 the reality is, I used the card once (to meet spend and then some) to cover my bill at Conrad Maldives, and I cashed in at Conrad Chicago, nothing like as much fun as the other.
Matt,
Your amusing article made the same insights that kept me from signing up for this card. I would have had at least $245 tied up in yearly fee ($95) plus $150 lost cash back on the $10,000 yearly spend (valued at 1.5% assuming money spent on a Capital One Quicksilver for a low estimate) so that exceeding that investment required extensive travel expenses to make the Hilton Reserve card pay – at least for me.
Glad you appreciate it, I like to think that there are some serious observations within the humor. It’s a very good play by Citi and Hilton and I would put money on this card having the highest rate of non redemption or poor redemption of all their cards.
Matt,
There were some serious observations in the humor. That is why I replied and why I agree with you. Have a nice day.
JimT
We went to the Waldorf Astoria in Shanghai on the bund. It was great. Came from the Conrad in Tokyo and we Lukes it way better.
Conrad Tokyo is ‘fine’ I don’t love the location, hotel is nice, free is awesome, but I have been just as happy at cheaper hotels there around $100 price points.
I opted for the AMEX Surpass with 60k points. I’ll redeem those for 6 nights at 10k point properties. That is a better value for me 🙂
Plus, I get Gold status!
Don’t sell yourself short. You will redeem them for 7. 🙂
You’ve got to be more aggressive than that! I had the AMEX Hilton, later upgraded to the Surpass, the Citi Reserve, the regular Citi Hilton multiple times over, and now I’m working on my spend on the Virgin Atlantic card so I can convert those worthless miles to HHonors. Earned signup point bonuses on all the cards and free nights on the Reserve. =)
I did all that pre Axon devaluation. Cashed in 3x awards, Maldives, Tokyo and Rome. Not sure I would again, though there is still good value to be had it is harder now awards seem further away.
Here’s another way to look at free hotel nights. Instead of trying to find a way to use them on the most expensive hotel possible, think of them as an invitation to a spontaneous mini-vacation you would otherwise never have taken. In our case it was a weekend trip to Chicago (sorry you didn’t like the Conrad – we greatly enjoyed the historic Palmer House). Had so much fun I decided to go for the $10K spend and earn another free night for next year. It may not be the Best Card Ever, but I think we got more unexpected enjoyment out of it than any of the more carefully planned cards in my portfolio.
You’re clearly just a happy person.
used mine at Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem. they even included their breakfast buffet!