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Pleasantly surprised by Cathay Pacific's service for oneworld emerald customers even in economy. Middle seat was automatically blocked off, multiple FAs came by to greet me, was given a bottle of water and a blanket / pillow
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Apparently in Germany, if your DB train arrives at your destination between 1 hour and up to 2 hours late, you get 25% compensation, and if 2 hours or more, 50% compensation.
Had a crazy delay going from Berlin to Munich where our train arrived 2.5 hours late 🥲
First published 4/6/2016. Last updated 5/2/21: Some devaluations this year, like IKEA.
Hi everyone! It’s been awhile since you last heard from me, due to all my traveling recently. Unlike Daniel and Michael, I have a hard time keeping up with computer-related stuff while traveling. But I am back now, and have a lot of things to catch up on and things I want to share with you! I seem to have a ton of friends with birthdays in the spring, so hope this is timely for some of you.
The Conrad is right at the Shiodome Tokyo Metro stop. If you have a JR Pass and don’t want to pay extra to take the subway, you can go to the JR Shinbashi station and take a short 5-8 minute walk on either the overhead sky bridges, or through several underground plazas. I recommend the overhead sky bridges, which you can access from the Karasumori exit, as they are less complicated and faster due to less staircases and people.
The Conrad’s location is also great, as it is within walking distance to Tsukiji Market (which if you want to see the tuna auction, you need to get there by 3:30am or so, so subways aren’t open then), the Hama Rikyu Gardens, and also has easy access to Odaiba (where I visited my friend’s booth at Anime Japan, at Tokyo Big Sight).
I got to the hotel somewhat early, around 10:30am. The entrance and lobby were gorgeous! Because it was sakura season, there was a potted live cherry tree right in the ground floor lobby, which was a really nice touch.
As a Hilton Diamond member, I was offered an upgrade, but it would not be available until around 12:30pm. I chose to take the upgrade offer, so I dropped of my luggage and went to wander around the city for a few hours before coming back to our room. And the room was amazing! We were on the 36th floor, one floor below the executive lounge, with an amazing view. We had a City View instead of a Bay View, but I still thought the City View was pretty nice.
I received an amenity of some madeleines as a HHonors Diamond Member. One regular, and one matcha. They were really good! Also, as usual for Conrads, we also received a duck, 10th anniversary branded as it was the Conrad Tokyo’s 10th anniversary.
I actually picked the Conrad in anticipation that we would be trying to shove 3-4 people in the room. I knew this was totally doable because when I checked the floor plans for the Conrad, I noticed a giant window couch, which looked spacious enough to fit at least 1 extra person. And indeed, the actual window couch spans the entire window, is super comfy, and could probably sleep 2 people if needed.
I’m pretty sure the beds were full sized, not twins, as they were quite large. One weird thing about the room is that the bathroom blinds, as they either tilted so that people from the outside could look in, but would block light going out at night, or would tilt so that you couldn’t look in, but light would shine directly on the bed closest to the bathroom. Weird.
We took a little tour of the fitness center and swimming pool, in case we wanted to use it later. Everything was gorgeous! We were advised that the swimming pool gets a little crowded around 7am, so if I wanted to avoid that I should come at 8am. I did, and at that time, there was actually absolutely no one else using the swimming pool. The fitness center required some kind of tennis shoes/trainers, and they weren’t very tolerant of other shoe types, like sandals or boots, so I ended up skipping the gym as rental shoes would have cost at least $10, though I don’t remember the exact amount. I did swim a couple of laps in the pool though, and I really appreciated the length of it, and the fact that literally no one else was in it at the same time. The changing rooms also have private jacuzzis and wet/dry saunas, which was awesome.
Onto the lounge. The lounge is accessible via the 37th floor. Strangely, it seems as if there are no restrictions to go up to the 37th, nor are there any barriers to just walking into the lounge. How they enforce entry is that they ask you your room number, either after you are seated or if you are attempting to grab a drink out of the fridge. Since we had 3 people in the room when there was only supposed to be 2 people in the room, we did some interesting hijinks involving rotating people in and out of the lounge sneakily. The lounge seems like it was converted from a top floor residential suite. During the off hours, there’s only light snacks as well as juice, soda, and water available. I don’t really recommend going then as there’s really nothing compelling in the lounge at the time.
Unfortunately, we missed all the afternoon and evening lounge services, but we did manage to get breakfast both days, with the layout you can see below. The food was really good, with some dimsum from their Michelin starred dimsum restaurant downstairs, and also a custom cooked egg section, with daily specials.
Some other random details: there’s usually live music in the lobby, so the lobby bar will have a cover charge on those nights. We went to go chill in the lobby on a Sunday night, so there was no live music and therefore no cover charge. I had a very expensive, but very good Moscow Mule.
The chapel is very pretty!
Esther stumbled across an interesting bridal dress display in the lobby.
My only complaints were with the WiFi internet access, while not limited in number of devices, was just not stable at all. It constantly would just stop working at different times of the day. Also, the lounge access process was quite strange – I would much rather have either key card entry, or to be checked at the entrance, not when I am already inside.
Anyways, the level of service, the comfort, convenience, and sheer amount of exuded luxury of the Conrad made me fall in love with this hotel. I’m planning on staying here again, but obviously on free night certificates or points!
EDIT: There seems to be more datapoints for successful matches from IHG Platinum vs. Hyatt Platinum. Please leave us your datapoints, either here or in the reddit thread!
Also, make sure you send in .JPG files for the match, otherwise Hilton will reject your request and you will have to followup to send it again, as the form won’t let you send another request.
I first reported on Hilton’s status match program last fall, when the matching process was by email. In December, Hilton added the ability to directly request a status match online. reddit r/churning is reporting that it’s possible to match to Hilton Diamond from Hyatt Platinum or IHG Platinum, as long as you have a past stay in the last 12 months OR a future confirmed reservation. This is not guaranteed, as I’m getting data points that people are being matched to Gold as well.
Just go to the Hilton status match form, upload a proof of your membership status like a screenshot or photo of your elite status card, as well as a proof of a past stay in the last 12 months. People are reporting that future bookings work as well too.
I have been enjoying my Hilton status since I first got matched from Hyatt Diamond last fall, with stays at the Conrad Tokyo, Hilton Bogota, and Hilton Dublin, getting great upgrades and club access each time.
Both Hyatt Platinum and IHG Platinum can be gotten from their respective credits cards, so this shouldn’t be too hard to do as long as you have had a stay OR have a future stay.
Personally I feel like matching from Hyatt Platinum or IHG Platinum is a mistake similar to how Hyatt was matching anyone with any status to Diamond for a period of about 8 hours. It dilutes the benefits of elite status when the floodgates to elite status open up. This is a bit hypocritical given that I obtained Diamond in both Hyatt and Hilton through status matches, but I’ve definitely noticed a shortage in suites at Hyatt after becoming Diamond. But hey, if you personally are able to obtain elite status this way, why not enjoy the benefits? Also, Hilton should be able to better absorb an increase in elite members due to their larger footprint than Hyatt.
If you are able to get matched to Diamond from either Hyatt/IHG Platinum, please leave a comment to let us know!
For the no fee card, the new offer is 75,000 points after $1000 in spending, compared to the normal 40,000 points after $750 in spending. The card offers 7x points on Hilton purchases, 5x at restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations, and 3x everywhere else. It also offers Silver status in Hilton HHonors and Gold status if you spend more than $20,000 in a calendar year. I wouldn’t actually do this, or use the card for restaurants, supermarkets, or gas stations, by the way.
For the Surpass card (annual fee of $75 not waived) the new offer is 100,000 points after spending $3000 in 3 months. It offers 12x points for Hilton purchases, 6x for restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations, and 3x for all other purchases. If you spend $40,000 in a year, you can get Diamond status with Hilton HHonors.
Both cards have foreign transaction fees. Both offers are showing as valid until May 4th, 2016. No direct link to either offer, but all referral links now show the increased bonuses.
Referral thread on reddit for the Amex Hilton (no fee) card
Referral thread on reddit for the Amex Hilton Surpass card
I find the best value for Hilton points to be for lower category hotels. as category 1, 2, 3 hotels are only 5k, 10k, 20k points per night, respectively, while a top category hotel, like the Conrad Tokyo I just stayed at, would be 95,000 points in the high season. If you are aiming towards top tier Hiltons, something like the Citi Reserve would be better, which offers 2 weekend certificates usable at any Hilton as a signup bonus.
I believe the upgrade trick to get 50,000 bonus points when upgrading from the no fee card to the Surpass may still work, according to chatter on the internet. In that case, you could get both, cancel the Surpass, then upgrade the no fee card for bonus points.
Is anyone thinking of getting either of these cards?
Disclaimer: This is a big fat dud. Tomorrow’s on Marriott should be interesting, though, as there are a couple of angles from which to approach the hack.
I’m somewhat loathe to talk about Hilton hotels, since their HHonors program is one of the worst around in terms of redemption rates, and that’s if you can actually find award availability in the first place. That said, it is one of the largest chains in the world, and there is some value to be had if you look hard enough, so here it is.
Hilton HHonors divides hotels into ten categories, with the quirk that the prices of hotels in each category can float anywhere in a range as large as 30,000 points. Of course, this is just a way for Hilton to reduce the value of their points, since hotels can just increase their award rates during times when the cash rate is high.
You can buy points in increments of 1,000 at a rate of 1 cent per point, up to 80,000 points in a year. That in mind, here are the maximum room rates you should pay:
| Category | Points (Low) | Points (High) | Total Cash (Low) | Total Cash (High) |
| 1 | 5000 | $50.00 | ||
| 2 | 10000 | $100.00 | ||
| 3 | 20000 | $200.00 | ||
| 4 | 20000 | 30000 | $200.00 | $300.00 |
| 5 | 30000 | 40000 | $300.00 | $400.00 |
| 6 | 30000 | 50000 | $300.00 | $500.00 |
| 7 | 30000 | 60000 | $300.00 | $600.00 |
| 8 | 40000 | 70000 | $400.00 | $700.00 |
| 9 | 50000 | 80000 | $500.00 | $800.00 |
| 10 | 70000 | 95000 | $700.00 | $950.00 |
Basically, it sucks. I don’t have much else to say, except that points and money would be better were it not for the fact that availability is even less existent than points-only availability (since they’re not subject to the same rules). Here’s the chart I pulled from Loyalty Traveler, since Hilton doesn’t actually publish it:
Based on this chart, we get some significantly cheaper stays toward the upper end (note that the category labels here are irrelevant, and you should only focus on the original points cost):
| Original Cost | Points | Co-pay | Total Cash |
| 5000 | 2000 | $30.00 | $50.00 |
| 10000 | 4000 | $35.00 | $75.00 |
| 20000 | 8000 | $40.00 | $120.00 |
| 30000 | 12000 | $50.00 | $170.00 |
| 40000 | 16000 | $65.00 | $225.00 |
| 50000 | 20000 | $85.00 | $285.00 |
| 60000 | 24000 | $100.00 | $340.00 |
| 70000 | 28000 | $125.00 | $405.00 |
| 80000 | 32000 | $150.00 | $470.00 |
| 95000 | 38000 | $200.00 | $580.00 |
Honestly, they’re really hard to find, particularly because the points costs are generally so outrageous. That said, Hilton HHonors is the first loyalty program we’ve looked at that offers a fifth night free on award bookings, so if you’re planning on staying five days or more, you can get an extra 20% off versus the normal cash rate.
I really wish there were more to say here, but seriously, you could drive yourself nuts looking for award availability. That said, Hilton can offer good value for those who can generate their points cheaply or who are staying in areas with lots of low category hotels, but I’ll refer you to Freequent Flyer (the internet’s resident Hilton fanboy) and Travel is Free for details on that.
Happy (?) hacking.
Thanks Hilton HHonors!
Although HHonors points have been majorly devalued in the last couple years, there are some great opportunities to be had when redeeming for Category 1/2 hotels. Check out this post by Travel is Free for some ideas.
You can apply here.
As a reminder, this card grants you Hilton HHonors Gold status with the opportunity to achieve Diamond status with $40,000 in spending in a year. Additionally, it has the following (fairly lucrative) earning structure:
The 6x at grocery stores presents a good opportunity to earn lots of points for top-tier redemptions, but as always, you should be mindful of the opportunity cost (or imputed redemption value) of doing so. Additionally, this will use up one of your four credit card ‘slots’ for Amex, so bear that in mind.
Happy Hacking!
Since you can automatically get either HHonors Silver from credit cards like the Hilton HHonors American Express or the Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature, or HHonors Gold from credit cards like the Hilton HHonors Surpass American Express or Citi Hilton Reserve card, I would say it’s only worth it to match to Diamond or possibly Gold if you have neither credit card.
Given that I just got Hyatt Diamond from a status match, I figured I might as well try to match to Hilton Diamond.
The benefits of Gold are:
That reminds me that I completely forgot to check out the lounge at the Hilton Bogota because I didn’t know it existed even though I was upgraded to a floor with lounge access.
The benefits of Diamond above Gold are:
Just a quick collection of posts I saw that were interesting, as well as a short experience with the Hilton Best Rate guarantee.
Via Doctor of Credit, there’s a great Amex Offer currently running right now, where you can get $50 of $100 at AirBnB, including gift cards. Please read the follow-up post with all the details you need to know about the deal! If you are are buying gift cards, here are the key things you need to know:
